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Monday, July 1, 2019

Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep

Series: Crown of Shards #2
448 p.
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Published: July 2, 2019
Source: Edelweiss
First, Evie has to deal with a court full of arrogant, demanding nobles, all of whom want to get their greedy hands on her crown. As if that wasn’t bad enough, an assassin tries to kill Evie in her own throne room. 
Despite the dangers, Evie goes ahead with a scheduled trip to the neighboring kingdom of Andvari in order to secure a desperately needed alliance. But complicating matters is the stubborn Andvarian king, who wants to punish Evie for the deaths of his countrymen during the Seven Spire massacre. 
But dark forces are at work inside the Andvarian palace, and Evie soon realizes that no one is safe. Worse, Evie’s immunity to magic starts acting in strange, unexpected ways, which makes her wonder whether she is truly strong enough to be a Winter Queen. 
But Evie’s magic, life, and crown aren’t the only things in danger—so is her heart, thanks to Lucas Sullivan, the Andvarian king’s bastard son and Evie’s . . . well, Evie isn’t quite sure what Sullivan is to her. 
Only one thing is certain—protecting a prince might be even harder than killing a queen…
My thoughts:

I loved the first book and I couldn't wait to get to this one. I was not disappointed and loved this book too. Also note that  I will try to make sure I don't spoil anything... which will be hard.

The book picks up right after the last book and it is filled with lots of action. Evie is no wilting royal and protects herself well (both mentally and physically) and has a great mind for sussing out mystery. There is a mystery in the book which was unfortunately not hard to figure it out, however, this really wasn't an issue as it was only a part of the whole story and it all fits together so well. In other words, it was a well executed mystery despite it's ease.

I will also say that if you are reluctant to start a fantasy but really enjoy UF, give this series a try. It feels more UF and isn't a heavy handed book at all. Also, for those wanting romance, there IS romance in the book even though it was frustrating for most of the book. Still loved how it turned out for at least 2 couples. I also suggest you read the first book as these really do need to be read in order like most fantasy.

I give this book 5 stars and I really love these characters (which you will find more to love) and how Evie's brain works. I can't wait for the next installment.

32 comments:

  1. Yay! So glad you loved this, I really did too! Such a great series!

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  2. I love fantasy books. I haven't read the first book, but this sounds like a series I could get into!

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  3. My review posts tomorrow and I loved this one too Melissa! Fantastic review!

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  4. I am still curious about book 1 since I have not read it

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  5. I love when you love a second book in the series just as much as the first!! Thanks for sharing.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  6. I'm using audio more and we're only two books in so I think I'll start this series. I
    m way to far behind on her other one at this point lol

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  7. There's already a second book in the series?! I feel like the first book just came out. I really need to catch up on this. It sounds like a great read and I really liked her Elemental Assassin series.

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  8. How's that for a coincidence? I've just literally come away from visiting a blog in which this very book was reviewed - the blogger in question also loved it.

    A cover I really liked, I'm so glad that you enjoyed the book.

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    1. Oh I do hope you'll try it. I do think you'll like this series.

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  9. I actually won a copy of the first book, but haven't had a chance to read it yet! Clearly I need to read it sooner rather than later, since people only seem to have wonderful things to say about this series. I'm happy you were able to enjoy it!!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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  10. I haven't read this author yet but I have her books in my wish list so I will at some point.

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  11. glad to see a positive review, I saw that people loved the first and where meh on this one. I want to try her writing.

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    1. Really? I've been seeing a lot of positive reviews on it.

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  12. I haven't read book one, but this one sounds like so much fun already, and I've been wanting to read more urban fantasy, so I need to check this out!

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  13. This sounds like a great series and I like the cover. Wonderful review!

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  14. I love seeing you give this one 5 stars! I still haven’t read the first book but it is so high on my TBR. It’s great to see that the second book is every bit as strong!

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  15. I'm excited for this one! Glad you like it!

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  16. Excellent review! I liked the first book, but this one won me over. It's a wonderful tale - and yes... it's "fantasy lite." I felt some of the things like, same days of the week, made it feel more UF than F.

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    1. Sweet! It does feel UF and I think that will help those not into fantasy.

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