Brienna, Cartier, and the gang prepare for the Lannon family trial and the possibility of Lannon’s followers resisting the new queen.

I love that this book picked up right where the first one left off. I was really looking forward to reading about how things went after the uprising, and I was not disappointed. I was immediately caught up in the story, the drama, and the new characters that were introduced. Not gonna lie, I didn’t love the MacQuinn people from the start, but I did love the Morgane people almost immediately. I loved how they supported Cartier even when he didn’t really believe in himself. And, I loved his new little friend Tomas/Ewan.

I really, really loved the first 75% of this book. But then Cartier and Brienna got split up, which I’m not opposed to at all for the plot of the book, but that’s when I realized I was waiting for some grand romantic moment between them that I wasn’t going to get. It didn’t even need to be grand. It could have been small or mundane, but it would have gone a long way towards adding a little bit more substance to their relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I love them. I adore them. But I wanted more.

I also really appreciated how this was a different take on a kingdom type fantasy book. I’ve read a lot of books where the main characters were the rulers (king/queen/heir) of the land. It was nice to read from the perspectives of the queen’s council/supporters where ALL of the pressure wasn’t on them. And I loved their loyalty.

As for the end of the book, I liked it. I was surprised by a few things, which was good. I love how everything came full circle and how traditions were kept. I thought it was nice. Overall, I really enjoyed this duology and would highly recommend.