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Summary
“The Return of a Lost Heir …
The kingdom of Mercia has been at war with the Shadow King and his dark army for ten years. To escape the seer’s vision of her capture, Mercia’s heir to the throne, Princess Norah Andell, is secreted away by her father to keep her safe. But when he dies in battle, so too dies the knowledge of where she’s hidden. She’s lost to the world—until three years later, when she’s found with no memory of who she is or the kingdom that now rests on her shoulders.
A Conflicted Duty …
Loyal and fearless commander of the Mercian army, Alexander Rhemus, has protected the realm against the threat of the Shadow King, awaiting Norah’s return. Not only does she hold the fate of the kingdom, but also his heart. However, when she’s found, he discovers she has no memory of him, or what was once between them. With war still looming, Norah is expected to wed and secure an alliance—one Mercia desperately needs to stand against the Shadow King. Now, with Mercia’s future at stake, Alexander finds himself torn between his duty and his heart.
A Twisted Fate …
Norah is thrust into a world she doesn’t know, in a role she’s unprepared for, to save a kingdom she doesn’t remember. Under the hardship of winter and a dark enemy against them, Mercia is on the verge of breaking. As things start to unravel, the Shadow King draws Norah down a path of twisted fate—and it could cost her everything.”
-From Amazon.com
Review
So I happened to stumble upon these series because @tata.lifepages posted a reel about it. Wow, wow, wow! I was not ready for this book at all. This is the second time I’ve been incredibly surprised by a recommendation on bookstagram. The last one was when @triologyofromance shared about the book The Predator by Runyx. Now about this book, was it ever a page turner! I literally devoured it in one day and was reading it on my e-reader while my family watched television.
You want enemy to lover? This got you!
This was the perfect enemy to lover book. It was kind of a slow burn for the first few hundred pages or so that I didn’t really know how it was going to ultimately go. I wasn’t sure who Norah would end up with, what would happen or if it was actually going to turn into romance in book 1. This is a series with at least 3 books (not sure if there will be any more as I am not reading up on the series until I’m done!). So you got lots of books to read through to see how the story progresses.
A loveable and hate-able enemy.
Ugh, the Shadow King! I sometimes wanted to smack him (thank you for helping me out Norah) and then was very much in love with him. He was a good character that I felt had a nice duality of being the firm bad guy to the lover that you started to fall in love with. I was certainly interested to see how Norah and his relationship would progress and until the last page you were guessing. Guess that’s why there’s a whole series because their relationship is certainly not a clean one!
A strong FMC!
You know me, I need a strong FMC. I don’t love when women are written as demure and gentle. I like when they have fire, will fight for themselves and will give other characters (especially men) a run for their money. Norah definitely did fit that bill. I enjoyed to see her relationship progress, her personality change and the internal struggle that she was having with the situation she was thrust into.
Parts of the story felt a little unfinished?
Maybe it’s because I have not finished the whole series yet but it did feel that there are parts of the story that were a little unfinished or maybe rushed. When Norah was attacked (no spoilers!) I felt that was just out of left field and wasn’t fully expecting it. I also felt the whole memory loss thing went from being a big part of the story to suddenly not being anymore but hauled back out at the very end. It was a little confusing but I don’t think it detracted from the story. I am sure the later books will begin to unravel it so as I complete them I will update this review accordingly.
Overall this was a highly enjoyable read. I just kept wanting to read it. It was a simple story but the characters drew you in, I did feel decently transported into that universe and certainly did enjoy the book. I read this as an ebook but depending on how the series goes, I may get myself a physical copy too! Definitely recommend.
I give this a solid 4/5 stars!
Happy Reading!
