As someone who didn’t love the first book, this one was so much more enjoyable. Maybe it’s the princess/guard, forbidden romance trope, but I devoured this book.

It did take me a little bit of time to get into the romance, because the first couple chapters are random scenes over period of two years. But once the background is established, I could not put this book down. The romance was swoon worthy, the male lead, Rhys, was delicious. His perspective was some of my favorite parts.

Even though there were some parts of the book that were easy to predict, there were still lots of surprises throughout the story. I really like the way this book was crafted, because even when you thought it was the end of the book, there was still more to come, and it didn’t follow the traditional climax of romance books. I will admit there is one reveal that was a little bit of an eye roll because it just made the problem-solving a little too easy. 

The smut was very detailed and delicious. I didn’t find it extremely overpowering, which I appreciated (don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of detailed scenes) but I appreciate it that it did not overshadow other parts of the book. There was still a lot of plot and character growth throughout the story. 

This book has renewed my faith in this author, and I will definitely be picking up the next one. 

I also listened to this one via audiobook, and the voice actors are the same as the first book, which is a little hard to get used to. But nonetheless, they did a phenomenal job.