This book is my first 5-star read this year! Incredible story and characters. This one was much better than the first book, even though I really liked the first book (and wouldn't have read this one without it!). Handsome bodyguard Rhys Larsen is taking over for Princess Bridget's previous bodyguard, Booth. She defies his rules at every turn and he is attracted to her (she is also attracted to him). It does take them a while to admit it though, and there is a lot of delicious sexual tension along the way! Bridget eventually has to go back to Eldorra to see her aging King grandfather. Her brother has also abdicated the throne for love (they are unable to marry commoners). This book very much reminds me of Princess Diaries 2, except with a lot more drama and sexual content. Rhys eventually follows Bridget to her home country, becoming her bodyguard once again, and they secretly begin a relationship. They fall in love (or are already in love) and have lots of amazing, possessive, approaches-on-dom/sub-sex. I loved the scene where Rhys sits Bridget on the throne and they have sex. Also in the gazebo the first time they met secretly - that was amazing. Bridget begins to look for a suitor and finds Steffan, who is also in love with someone else. Rhys is, of course, absolutely possessive. They both look for loopholes in the law. Rhys finds out that Bridget's cousin Andreas is his half-brother and that Rhys is actually a royal (but unacknowledged as the son of a prince) and Andreas wants to help them. They essentially blackmail the speaker of the house (Rhys' long-lost, dead-beat father) to repeal the law of royal marriages, and they succeed. The story absolutely captivated me and there were lots of twists and turns, emotion, and true romance.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent