2023 fantasy, last of its trilogy. Princess Gemma has got her man,
but still has other problems to solve, including his murderous brother
and their scheming mother.
There are no real surprises in the overall plot: this person is
clearly going to die, that person is going to be at least a bit
redeemed, there will be kissing. The action scenes are good,
particularly a break-in at a royal treasury, but having the skeleton
so clearly laid out in advance removes even the ghost of tension. And
the earlier part of the book is largely talking, which feels at times
like rehashing things we've dealt with before.
It's fun, but it's very slight. (And it looks as though I read this a
few months ago and forgot to write a review at the time - and it's
already mostly faded from my memory.)
There's a dangling thread left for what I assume will be a third
trilogy. If there is, I'll be along for the ride; Estep sometimes
disappoints me, as in Spider's Bite which is the first of what seems
to be her most successful series, but I've enjoyed everything I've
read of hers that isn't trying to connect with the real world.
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