By Jody Hedlund
Emmeline, raised as the daughter of a charcoal burner deep in the forest, has always known her true identity as a princess--and she has never wanted to embrace it. She's perfectly happy living with her adoptive parents away from civilization, other than the fact that she's constantly afraid they'll be found. When her parents tell her it's time to join her two sisters and claim her true identity as a princess, fighting against the evil King Ethelwulf, she doesn't want to. Before she can figure out a different plan, however, King Ethelwulf's soldiers arrive at her home, and in order to spare her parents from being tortured, Emmeline agrees to go with them. She hopes to be able to escape, particularly knowing that the plan is to force her to wed Ethelwulf's heir, Ethelrex, but she's not counting on her reaction to Rex, who is different than she expected anyone associated with Ethelwulf to be.
Rex has trained to be the most elite warrior in his father's forces. He is deeply loyal to his father and will marry Emmeline as he's expected to--but he's not expecting to fall for her, especially not so quickly. With his father and his wife at odds, Rex, who is just as committed to his marriage vows as he is to his father, must reconsider his path in life.
I've enjoyed the previous books and prequel novella in this series, but this book is easily my favorite. I just loved it. Rex was such an intriguing character; the heir to an evil, brutal ruler, he has been taught violence and domination, but he also has a deep moral compass and wants to do what's right. I loved seeing how he interacted with Emmeline--both the times he was totally sweet and the times he failed her as he struggled to figure out how to please her and his father. As for Emmeline, I really liked seeing her try to figure out what she should do to try to establish peace in the kingdom as well as trying to sort out her feelings for Rex. This was a great conclusion to a terrific series...and I already want to go re-read it!
5 stars.
I read an ARC provided by the author. All opinions are my own.
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