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A review by the_librarians_daughter
The Prince & The Player by Tia Louise
5.0
Royal intrigue, American con artists, a King with a mission
I loved this book! I’m totally hooked into this world.
Fair warning - the story twists and turns. You are left with a happy ever after AND a cliff hanger.
Never fear, this series is complete and available for purchase, so if you find yourself falling for the good guys, or the not so good guys, or the in-betweens, we’ve got you.
The story kicks off in two different continents. Two divergently different families. A glimpse of two orphans running from abusive foster care. The concerns of a young prince watching his father while he fights for their principality.
The story speeds forward several years. Our young orphans have been on the run for a bit now. They’ve gone from sleeping on beaches to running low bit cons. We have two leading ladies. Both feisty, smart, cunning, and vulnerable. We have a ring leader. His role in the deeper plot is still veiled. He isn’t trusted by the girls, but he’s necessary.
Then there’s that moment where the con woman gets conned. In the middle of her “job” run by fellow grifter Seth, an older French gentleman pulls a trick from Hitchcock and “accidentally” looses a valuable casino chip down Zelda’s dress. Zelda, being the quick study she is, attempts to turn the gentleman’s play on him. With the help of her sister Ava, they manage a swift swap out and the girls are off with their loot.
Until the next day when they are hunted down by the mysterious gentleman and talked into a larger game.
This brings the ladies to meet King Rowan and Prince MacCallum. Zelda is supposed to woo and wed Rowan as part of her job. However, Rowan isn’t as he was described to Zee. He’s not the evil ruler and he falls in insta love with Ava. To make it more complicated, Zee finds herself falling for Cal.
As the ladies spend more time with the King and Prince they begin to suspect and then know that they have been pawns in a larger game than was sold to them.
Zee tries to extract them from the job, but the plot twists again, swiftly. They find themselves racing against newly discovered enemies, old coworkers and an assassin.
Just as the dust clears and we find that our main characters are safe in the moment, Zee begs Rowan for a favor that will save and protect her sister, but leaves Zee on the playing field to draw out the bad guys.
I was flipping through the pages so quickly as the last scenes in Rowan’s book played out that it was like running into a glass wall when Zee just vanishes.
Ms. Louise writes a very gripping love story and intrigue plot. She teases you with a bit of the next book in the series, but it’s just enough to let you know Zee is still on the move, but Cal is a few steps behind her.
The build up of the mystery, the unveiling of the larger plot, the character arcs combined with the flip flopping of whose love story this book’s is kept me glued to it. The writing is wonderful, the plot is engaging and the characters are deep with more to be revealed.
The series is complete and published, so please, dive in. The cliffhanger will only last as long as it takes you to get the next book.
I loved this book! I’m totally hooked into this world.
Fair warning - the story twists and turns. You are left with a happy ever after AND a cliff hanger.
Never fear, this series is complete and available for purchase, so if you find yourself falling for the good guys, or the not so good guys, or the in-betweens, we’ve got you.
The story kicks off in two different continents. Two divergently different families. A glimpse of two orphans running from abusive foster care. The concerns of a young prince watching his father while he fights for their principality.
The story speeds forward several years. Our young orphans have been on the run for a bit now. They’ve gone from sleeping on beaches to running low bit cons. We have two leading ladies. Both feisty, smart, cunning, and vulnerable. We have a ring leader. His role in the deeper plot is still veiled. He isn’t trusted by the girls, but he’s necessary.
Then there’s that moment where the con woman gets conned. In the middle of her “job” run by fellow grifter Seth, an older French gentleman pulls a trick from Hitchcock and “accidentally” looses a valuable casino chip down Zelda’s dress. Zelda, being the quick study she is, attempts to turn the gentleman’s play on him. With the help of her sister Ava, they manage a swift swap out and the girls are off with their loot.
Until the next day when they are hunted down by the mysterious gentleman and talked into a larger game.
This brings the ladies to meet King Rowan and Prince MacCallum. Zelda is supposed to woo and wed Rowan as part of her job. However, Rowan isn’t as he was described to Zee. He’s not the evil ruler and he falls in insta love with Ava. To make it more complicated, Zee finds herself falling for Cal.
As the ladies spend more time with the King and Prince they begin to suspect and then know that they have been pawns in a larger game than was sold to them.
Zee tries to extract them from the job, but the plot twists again, swiftly. They find themselves racing against newly discovered enemies, old coworkers and an assassin.
Just as the dust clears and we find that our main characters are safe in the moment, Zee begs Rowan for a favor that will save and protect her sister, but leaves Zee on the playing field to draw out the bad guys.
I was flipping through the pages so quickly as the last scenes in Rowan’s book played out that it was like running into a glass wall when Zee just vanishes.
Ms. Louise writes a very gripping love story and intrigue plot. She teases you with a bit of the next book in the series, but it’s just enough to let you know Zee is still on the move, but Cal is a few steps behind her.
The build up of the mystery, the unveiling of the larger plot, the character arcs combined with the flip flopping of whose love story this book’s is kept me glued to it. The writing is wonderful, the plot is engaging and the characters are deep with more to be revealed.
The series is complete and published, so please, dive in. The cliffhanger will only last as long as it takes you to get the next book.