I love the concept of this series. Whomever described it as “Assassin’s Creed meets Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was spot on. The heroine is an exiled Beast Charmer and the hero is an assassin who is hired to kill her. They team up instead, (or do they?) when Leena barters four of her beasts in exchange for her life.
This was a good, solid fantasy romance. There were times that I felt like the story and pacing could have been tighter, and I will admit to a few pages skimmed during the hunt for mystical animals to charm, there were 400+ pages after all, but all in all I enjoyed myself. The characters are engaging and interesting and I enjoyed their banter. The worldbuilding hints at interesting backstories for the main cast and some of the lands they visited.
I know this is just book one of a trilogy and I’m hoping this author focuses more on the world building and fleshing out of both the main and secondary cast in the next two releases. I didn’t expect the romance so solidify so quickly, but now that it has I’m hoping we get more focus on the beasts and character backstories and facts about the world they reside within.
Kingdom of Exiles was a wonderful debut in the fantasy romance genre. I’m looking forward to getting to know the Leena, Noc, and their friends better. Looking forward to The Frozen Prince, which releases next year.
Final Grade- B-
I’m usually a big fan of this author, but for some reason I just could not connect with these characters or their romance. From the very first page readers are dumped onto the island where Her Other Secret takes place and thrown into the middle of a conversation between the hero and heroine. They have this odd she wants him, but finds him annoying/he wants her, but finds her annoying relationship. I found them both kind of meh. There is a mystery I think, but I didn’t get too far into it. I think this is a case of it’s me, not you. I may try and pick it up at a later date if it sparks my interest.
DNF
On my Kindle for this week… A couple of ARCs and a couple from my TBR pile.
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