Confessions of a Book Stalker

Plot Summary

A queen now in exile as a traitor, Lara has watched Ithicana be conquered by her own father, helpless to do anything to stop the destruction. But when she learns her husband, Aren, has been captured in battle, Lara knows there is only one reason her father is keeping him alive: as bait for his traitorous daughter.

And it is bait she fully intends to take.

Risking her life to the Tempest Seas, Lara returns to Ithicana with a plan not only to free its king, but for liberating the Bridge Kingdom from her father’s clutches using his own weapons: the sisters whose lives she spared. But not only is the palace inescapable, there are more players in the game than Lara ever realized, enemies and allies switching sides in the fight for crowns, kingdoms, and bridges. But her greatest adversary of all might be the very man she’s trying to free – the husband she betrayed.

With everything she loves in jeopardy, Lara must decide who – and what – she is fighting for: her kingdom, her husband, or herself.

Trigger Warnings: Violence/ War/ Sex scene

Spoilers: Please note that my review will contain spoilers!

My Review

Following the events of The Bridge Kingdom, Lara finds herself exiled after Aren discovers her treason. Now she has to stay far away from her husband and has to hide from her father who doesn’t take betrayal kindly. As soon as Lara finds out Aren has been taken hostage by her father, she knows he’s only alive as bait. And she fully intends to ‘fall’ for it, for she’s the only one who can save Aren.

After returning to Ithicana, Lara is imprisoned by Aren’s sister, who  still feels deeply betrayed. After many pleadings from Lara, Ahnna decides to let her help save his brother. Lara stops at nothing to save Auren, with whom she’s deeply in love with, but she also intends to save the Bridge Kingdom from her father’s domain. Besides saving the Kingdom and Aren’s life, Lara still has to find strength in her heart to deal with a deeply hurt and betrayed Aren, who can’t forgive her that easily. 

“She knew he was right, but still she said, “I love you.” Aren only walked toward the door. He paused with his hand on the latch, before turning to look at her. “I’m sorry.” Then he disappeared into the night.”

I enjoyed this book better than the first one. The action starts right at the beginning of the book and lasts till the end. Not one dull moment in its pages. I felt the rocky relationship between Aren and Lara very deeply, despite knowing there had to be a happy ending somewhere. The plot was really good and the writer was able to show the reader perfectly the characters emotions. It was really hard to feel Aren’s anguish for his people and Lara’s gutted guilt. The romance wasn’t much nor the steamy scenes but with everything that was going on I didn’t quite miss it and the few romance between the characters was quite good!

Highlight Moments

– When Lara found her sisters

– Lara saving Aren

– Aren forgiving Lara

– Lara trying to stitch herself after being injured and Aren helping her before the sex scene

– Lara fighting her fear of water to save Aren

– Aren saving Lara from her swim with the sharks

Quotes

“Forgive her. She loves you.” He dropped the old woman’s arm, feeling Lara’s gaze on him. Knowing she was listening. “She doesn’t know what love is.” “That’s why you should forgive her.”

“Trusting you was my mistake. Loving you was my mistake.”

“I swore to fight by your side, to defend you to my dying breath, to cherish your body and none other, and to be loyal to you as long as I live.”