I got to a point in this book where I was utterly shocked that I thought the plot might be suggesting a poly relationship - so I texted my friends about it and then just felt silly at the responses of “the blurb basically tells you!” And “and just look at the title!” which made me laugh at my own obliviousness.

I’ve seen the reviews for this book swing wildly either way and I think if I didn’t find the romance very appealing then I might have gone down the bad review path too - outside of that and the development of feelings, there’s isn’t a tonne that actually happens on page. It’s almost a travel book through a medieval style world, with the romance taking centre stage.

I also thought that the fantasy part of this romantasy also could have been cut and honestly I’d still find it pretty much the same book and story - but I love fantasy so much I appreciated its presence regardless.

I suppose I would have liked a bit more action to happen in this book but I’m hoping that’s coming in the sequel. And I hope there’s also a LOT more of the romance in that too.

The best part of this book for me was the characters and the steamy-ness of it all. I loved how unique each chapter felt through Jory/Ky/Asher’s eyes and how I didn’t have to check the chapter heading to remember who I was reading in the perspective of ever. They each had such unique voices.

If you’ve read a lot in A Court of Thorns and Roses, I think I’d rank the romance as more of the second book than the third, lots of angst and desire with a dash of actual steam close to the end. My hope is that now they’ve started, this will continue to develop in the sequel too, and I’ll be looking forward to it for sure.

4.5star rounded up to 5

Warrior Princess Assassin is a why choose romantasy between a Warrior King, who has an arranged marriage alliance agreement in place with our Princess and our Princesses childhood best friend who is now an Assassin.

Honestly, I was hooked from the first couple of chapters, I loved that the story had each of their POVs and each chapter had me drawn in, going "just one more chapter".

Throughout the book there was such fun banter between our main characters and the side characters and the slow burn really did burn and was worth the wait!
Hearing our characters stories was incredible and the world building feels like it's just going to keep going deeper which is very exciting.

The cliffhanger still has me on the edge of my seat and I will require book 2 as soon as possible!

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the arc, I can't wait to shout about this and purchase special editions for my shelves!

5⭐️ Warrior Princess Assassin is a character driven MMF why-choose Romantasy where an arranged marriage is being brokered to bring two countries together to fight for their survival against war and famine.

Warrior - Ky, the King of Incendor. A country suffering famine due to dry lands which are unable to grow crops and sustain livestock but whose King has fire magic and an experienced army able to fend off attacks from Draegonis.

Princess - Jory, the Princess of Astranza. A rich country led by a King with weather magic and a Prince with ambitions who offers an arranged marriage between his sister, the Princess and the King of Incendor in return for their army’s protection from Draegonis.

Assassin - Asher, the hunter and the Princess’ childhood friend who was exiled from the palace and forced to survive a decade of torture as a slave.

I adore Brigid Kemmerer’s writing which is always captivating and so easy to read that you can completely lose yourself in the story. Warrior Princess Assassin was Kemmerer at her best, with three well developed, complex characters whose interactions were sometimes fiery, sometimes deep and insightful, often full of challenging banter and always complicated.

Being a romantasy, and book 1, I’m not surprised, or disappointed that we only get hints of the world and barely any explanation of the magic system. I’m looking forward to learning more as we move into book 2 and thoroughly enjoyed the focus being on our three main characters.

I absolutely loved this book and all three characters and I cannot wait to continue the series.


Spice - For those who don’t love a spicy scene, there is only one and it’s easy to create your own fade-to-black experience by skipping chapters 32, 33 and 34.

Triggers - talk of torture, abuse (physical and sexual), death of parent (mothers)

3 ⭐️

This started as such a strong story, but it just didnt hit for me.

TW: SA and violence associated with this discussed throughout the book.

This was a decent Romantasy book, I did enjoy reading it but it fell a little flat for me on several parts.

Story: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Spice: 🌶️ 🌶️.5 (rating chart at bottom for ref)
Pacing: 2.5/5
Plot twists: 3/5
Magic system: 3/5

The story starts with Jory (Princess) the week of her arranged marriage to King Maddox Kyronan (Warrior), with her childhood friend Asher (Assassin) continuing to make pilgrimages to her window. There is a wonderful spark of intrigue and tension at the beginning of this book that I was loving. I really enjoyed the interaction Jory had with the King, and her fiery nature. And the tender friendship between her and Asher was well established.

But from then on, for me, it spiraled a little.

The plot took directions that seemed like side plots, and on reflection nothing really happens within the story. The book is very concentrated on the characters themselves, rather than a story, but not necessarily on their relationships.
You spend a lot of time in their heads, with not much happening outside of them. So there is a lot of introspection and repetition, as each character sees a part of the previous scene from a different perspective. It is helpful to building a picture of the characters, but takes up so much room that you miss out on characters actually interacting with each other or having a deeper sense of worldbuilding and plot.

I enjoyed the writing style, it was descriptive without being bogged down and very easy to digest. There were some really great moments of dialogue and banter, and I wish there was more interactions like this.

The magic system was just there, there was no explanation of why it only sat within the royal family or why it manifested in the ways it did. I'm guessing it was mainly based on it being hereditary, but as only Ky had magic we saw very little apart from his take on the system.

I enjoyed the three POVs at the start of the book. But it did become clear quite quickly that Jory was the least developed of the three, and potentially the writer hadnt invested as much in her. She initially seemed like this strong, badass Princess who'd been oppressed by her older brother, and she just needed an opportunity to break free. However, she very quickly became a cliched coy and prudent Princess who knew nothing of the world. And moments where she broke out of that cliche and became more assertive and battle-savvy just seemed out of character. The girl was fine with a threesome with butt play, but only pages before had blushed at an erection? She seemed like she was a little confused in herself.

Asher and Ky had the best chemistry, and I did enjoy their story progression a lot more. Although, as I mention below, that was marred a little. However, I think their relationship was the most believable to me.

Now I have to address something, and that's the use of SA in the story. I am a firm believer that this subject is only added to a book as an absolutely necessary part of the plot. However, here I feel like it was just to get as many traumatic events into the character's backstory as possible. Considering the amount of violence and pain they had endured I dont think the story required the additional lens of SA to justify the way they reacted to certain situations. It felt uncomfortable, and actually seems to unintentionally set up a power hierarchy between the three characters.
I know there was verbal consent, but considering the history of the character I question if they had been conditioned to accept what they are given. It just sets an edge on the relationships which felt uncomfortable and unnecessary.

The ending was a good set up for the follow up book. I found the plot twist a little predictable, but I think that was due to the focus not being on the complexity of the storyline.

I did enjoy the read of this book, but I definitely went into the first couple of chapters thinking this would be a higher rated book. I think it lost itself in exploring the minds of the characters, without any further depth in story or the character relationships.

Spice rating:
🫑- low to no spice, just kissing
🌶️ - Low spice foreplay, fade to black/closed door sex
🌶️🌶️ - One or two open door “soft” (not overly explicit) sex scenes and/or spicy foreplay
🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Multiple open door explicit/detailed sex scenes and detailed spicy foreplay
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Lots of open door sex scenes and spicy detailed foreplay
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️- more sex than plot

This definitely a more romance forward fantasy with the rest of the book feeling very slow. I ultimately give this book 4 stars for the romance because it was so well done, the 3 characters just balance each other out perfectly. I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

Warrior King Maddox Kyronan seeks a marriage alliance with the royal family of Astranza whose ability to manipulate the weather offers salvation for his burning kingdom. Princess Jory of Astranza needs an alliance that will protect her kingdom from the threat of invasion, and assassin Asher of the Hunter’s Guild has been given orders to kill the woman he loves and the king she’s about to marry. Inextricably linked, Kyronan, Jory and Asher must choose between betrayal and love in this adult romantasy debut from Brigid Kemmerer.

I ate this up. I will admit it did start a bit slowly – we have three characters, all of whom offer their own POV, and there’s a lot to get your head round – but once I’d settled into the book’s rhythm, I was fully invested. I loved having the three POVs – I felt like I got a good amount of time with each character and could really understand their motivations. This has the potential to get frustrating at times – knowing something the other characters don’t – but actually the puzzle pieces slotted together so well that all I really felt was a sense of complete understanding of the situation our characters found themselves in.

I also felt this was an important element for the development of the relationship in this book. [MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR RELATIONSHIP] When I started reading this book, I full expected a love triangle with Jory having to choose between her childhood love in Asher and the king who could protect her kingdom in Maddox Kyronan. As the story developed, it quickly became clear that we were heading towards more of a polyamorous relationship between our three main characters. I can’t say that this is a type of relationship I typically lean towards in my reading, generally preferring the two-person dynamic, but the multi-POV really allowed me to see the development of the relationship between the characters and as the slow burn burned, I reached the conclusion that the dynamic between them really worked. I particularly loved that the romance wasn’t reliant on them as a three, and that they were able to develop separate relationships as well. I do admittedly have a favourite pairing within the throuple though. [END OF POTENTIAL SPOILERS]

Outside of the romance, I felt the world was well developed, with an intriguing magic system and a lot of political intrigue. In terms of action, there was perhaps a bit less than I would have liked – there was a lot of travel in this book – but I think it set things up really well for the sequel and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Having absolutely adored every Brigid Kemmerer YA book I’ve read (so far), I am ecstatic to have found this such a fantastic adult debut and I can’t wait to see what comes next. Massive thank you to HarperVoyager and NetGalley for the chance to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review.

OMG I’m actually losing my mind over Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer 😭🔥 This book had me in a chokehold from start to finish. It’s everything I want in a romantasy: slowburn, banter, morally grey men, found family, and a romance that doesn’t just sidestep the love triangle trope—it obliterates it.

Because guess what? She gets the boy… and her boy gets a boy too. YES, IT’S POLY. YES, IT’S MMF. YES, I’M SCREAMING. 😭💘

The tension between Jory, Ky, and Asher is ridiculous. I was feral. I was blushing. I was giggling. I was making deals with the universe to keep them all together. This isn’t a “choose between them” story. It’s a they all choose each other story, and it feels so right. No one is the third wheel. Everyone matters. The emotional development is as satisfying as the romance (and trust me, the spice delivers).

Ky is your classic warrior-protector type—commanding, dangerous, fiercely loyal, and just a little too soft where it counts. Asher is the tortured assassin with a tragic past and so many layers I want to peel back like an onion (and cry over). Jory is a sheltered princess coming into her power, and while she didn’t shine as bright as the boys yet, I can feel her arc is just getting started. The dynamic between the three? Electric.

This book is low fantasy done right. The worldbuilding is simple and easy to follow, which lets you focus on what really matters: the characters and their connections. There’s just enough magic, politics, and betrayal to keep the plot moving, but the true heart of this story is the romance—and I loved every second of it.

Also: forced proximity, sharing beds, hurt/comfort, sexy sparring, one bed, huddling for warmth, knife-to-throat moments, and all the tension tropes your little romantasy heart could ask for. Plus the explicit scenes? Genuinely well-written and actually hot. And they evolve with the characters, which makes me so excited to see how their dynamic shifts in book two 👀🔥

If you’ve ever screamed “why not both?!” at a love triangle—this is for you. If you want your fantasy with tension, yearning, tenderness, and swords crossing (in every sense), then run to this book immediately. One of my top reads this year, no question.

OH. MY. GOD. I loved this book so much!!! This was my first by Brigid Kemmerer but it will definitely not be my last. I had way more fun with Warrior Princess Assassin than I expected—a perfect romantasy full of tension, banter, chemistry, and just the right amount of spice. I was hooked from the start and totally fell in love with the three main characters.

The biggest reason I picked this up? I saw there was no love triangle—and THANK GOD. This isn’t a “choose one” story. This is a “why not both (and all together)” story, and it works so well. The polyamorous MMF dynamic was handled with care, depth, and a ton of sizzling chemistry. There was no “third wheel” energy—just three people who balance each other beautifully, with slowly building trust, emotional intimacy, and yes, some very hot scenes that felt earned and character-driven.

Asher absolutely broke my heart—tortured assassin with a tragic backstory? I’m in. Ky had me instantly—he’s ruthless, protective, and deeply loyal, especially with his soldiers (who were such a highlight). And Jory, while not my favorite of the trio just yet, definitely has potential. I found myself wishing she lived up more to the praise the guys constantly gave her, but I’m holding out hope that she’ll grow more into her role in the sequels. Still, the dynamic between the three of them worked for me in a big way, and I’m rooting hard for their throuple.

The romance was a glorious slowburn. It takes its time, and the payoff is absolutely worth it. I was clutching the book, screaming internally at the buildup. From forced proximity, sparring, sexy baths, shared horses, huddling for warmth—it hits all the classic romantasy microtropes but in ways that didn’t feel overdone. And when they finally get together? CHEF’S KISS. I needed a fan.

The writing had me in a chokehold. I loved how this book introduced a fantasy world without overwhelming me with lore dumps or complicated maps. It’s low fantasy in the best way—accessible, easy to follow, and character-driven. Yes, the worldbuilding is pretty minimal, and I still don’t have a clear picture of the kingdoms or their histories, but I didn’t care much because I was so into the characters and their journey. I do hope the magical elements—especially the fire vs. weather theme—get explored more in the next books, because there’s a lot of cool potential there.

It’s true that not a ton happens plot-wise until the end, and yes, some scenes and conversations felt a little repetitive, like we were circling the same trust issues. The traitor reveal was also a bit predictable. But honestly? None of that took away from my enjoyment. This book was more about laying the emotional and romantic groundwork, and it did that beautifully.

Also—can we talk about how rare it is to find a poly romance done this thoughtfully in fantasy?? There’s no drama-for-drama’s-sake, no cheating or jealousy tropes. Just real emotional growth and connection among all three. The ending gave me everything I wanted and more, while still leaving plenty to build on for the next installment. The MMF dynamic was so well done, and for everyone calling this MFM… please do your research, because there are swords crossing, people!

OH. And listen. I’m gonna be honest. The amount of times they talked about going to the bathroom?? 💀 I didn’t hate it, but I was like PLEASE. STOP. I did not need to be reminded of body fluids that often. Like PLEASE. I don’t need that much realism in my escapism!!

When I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it. I’m already desperate for the sequel, and the worst part about reading it early is now I have to wait even longer for book two. I’ll absolutely be grabbing a physical copy the second it’s out. This was one of my favorite reads of the year—fun, sexy, emotional, and just incredibly satisfying. I’m feral, I’m obsessed, and I’m not even sorry.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where do I even begin? Warrior Princess Assassin absolutely wrecked me in the best way. The story hooked me from the first page, a princess who is to marry a king to forge an alliance and an assassin trying to kill them, and a why choose trop? I am sat. 😳
Their dynamic that had me squealing. (First time reading this trope? Consider me converted.)
The chemistry between the characters is everything, how she loved them both and how Ky is so considerate with Asher, and just everything about them is amazing.
And that ending?! I demand the sequel immediately because I’m already obsessed with this world and these three. If you love badass heroines, morally grey love interests, and emotional tension that could cut glass, grab this book the second it’s out. I’d read the entire trilogy in one sitting if I could. Like he would wage war for them 🫣

Thank you to the author and publishers for an e-ARC via NetGalley! That has not influenced this review and all opinions are my own.

Let me jump right into this and say I’d heard so many great things about this book, so I thought I’d give it a try. I am not usually one for love triangles/MMF, however this was actually really easy for me to read and I found myself intrigued. That’s a huge credit to the writer as I really enjoyed the romance/longing aspect of the love triangle, and I just feel it was written so perfectly.

The characters were so multidimensional and I feel that this was pretty consistent throughout the book. We get more information about certain characters and relationships towards the end of the book which was really satisfying and it was slotted in to such a great part in the book. All of the characters have their own demons and insecurities that they’re battling and it’s refreshing to have characters that aren’t just ‘likeable’ immediately.

The pacing was really good, I didn’t feel there were any slower periods during the book, and it was easy to read. I got to the end of the book much quicker than I thought! The depth of the characters and the world building are the best parts of this novel and I was so immersed

If you’re looking for a romantasy with morally grey chaotic characters, this is the book for you.

Raging: 4/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Romantasy and political shenanigans!
We have three main characters -
- Jory, a very sheltered princess
- Asher, Joey's best friend since childhood, now an assassin
- King Maddox Kyronan, the 'husband to be' of Jory
And there we have our Warrior (Ky), our Princess (Jory) and Assassin (Asher) of the title. The story is told from the PoV of the three characters which adds an interesting dimension and extra depth to the storyline. Though, I liked the character of Jory, I preferred the sections as narrated by Ky and Asher as Jory was a little too naive. Though, she was learning rapidly as the storyline progresses and her naivety is the behaviour that leads to the action kickstarting in the first place.
There's plenty of spice with numerous sex scenes and swearing, so this is definitely a more adult themed book than the author's previous hugely popular novels so very enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series to see what happens next for our three heroes.

Slight spoiler:

This book was such an enjoyable read. It delivered exactly what I expected, and in the best way. While the romance developed quickly and had a bit of an insta-love feel, it didn’t bother me. The plot kept me engaged throughout, and although the characters felt a little flat at times, I still connected with them and hope to see more depth in the sequel.

Asher completely stole the show for me. He was easily my favorite among the main characters. Even so, I thought the entire group had great chemistry and complemented each other well. I’ve seen a few reviews mention disappointment over the fact that it is not a love triangle, so I want to point out that this isn’t that kind of story. Instead, it features a polyamorous relationship, which I found refreshing and actually one of the more interesting aspects of the book.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to the next installment. This is a perfect pick for anyone craving a romantasy that focuses heavily on the romance side of things.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was an unexpected delight! This is a perfect romantasy filled with political intrigue and I loved every page. It was exactly what I was looking to read and I am so glad I requested this ARC!

This book follows Jory, a sheltered princess, her childhood best friend, Asher, who is now a skilled assassin, and Ky, the feared warrior king of a neighbouring kingdom that she is betrothed to. I loved reading from all 3 POVs, and I absolutely loved our main characters. The story itself is low fantasy, but there is some good worldbuilding, and I found it very easy to read. The characters got a lot of the focus in this book which I enjoyed.

I also loved the scenes with Ky's men, how all of them felt developed and like individual characters rather than just faceless guards following a king about. I loved reading about their interactions with each other and our main trio.

The relationships between our main trio were so good. I was hooked from the first page, and although it was a very rocky start, watching it progress as the book went on was excellent.

I cannot wait to continue this series! Highly recommend for anyone who wants a fast read filled with court politics, romance, and a queer poly relationship rather than a love triangle.

Brigid Kemmerer is a popular young adult fantasy writer, and the badly titled 'Warrior Princess Assassin' is her first adult book. It's actually very similar in style and content to her young adult books, with the addition of some swearing and an explicit sex scene. Kemmerer is very good at writing compelling sword-and-sorcery romantasy with likeable characters, and that is true whether her audience is teenagers or those who waved their youth goodbye long ago.

The title actually reflects the three narrators of the story, rather than a single individual who is all three (the idea of reading about such a character put me off greatly but I was convinced by Kemmerer being the author). The novel opens with Princess Jory getting ready for an arranged marriage to the king of a neighbouring country, a man whom she's never met but has a fearsome reputation. King Ky (the 'warrior' of the title) is a military commander with the ability to conjure fire, but he needs this alliance to access Jory's father's weather magic to help feed his starving population. The same morning the betrothed pair finally meet, an assassin named Asher is handed an order to kill them both. Fortunately Asher is the beloved childhood friend of the princess, and decides to warn her instead of kill her. Thus begins a compelling adventure as they try to evade assassins, work out who ordered the killings and why, and navigate the complicated stages of a new relationship.

Like every good fantasy adventure, there is plenty of incident from beginning to end, with action and excitement at each step. The romance interweaves the action rather than being separate to it and is well done - I'm not a fan of romance but Kemmerer writes sexual tension really effectively, and her 'racier' sections are really well done. My only criticism is that the very long and detailed sex scene towards the end took us away from the action at a critical point of the plot.

If you enjoy romantasy then I'd highly recommend this book. There are two more to come which I'm already looking forwards to.

While the premise seemed promising, along with the why choose trope, unfortunately this book did not deliver. My issuer center around Jory really. As a main character she had no personality, nothing to make her stand out except for apparently being pretty and obviously incredibly naive. The naivety could be used as a plot device or end in character development, but that wasn’t the case. The male main characters were just in love with her for no reason. Ky and Asher‘s chemistry was, by comparison, much better written and the only thing that kept me from dnfing the novel.
Another issue is that there is really no plot. They traveled from A to B back to A on to C but it was really just wasting time in order for the romance to develop in the meantime. The "plot twist" at the end was the most obvious thing in the world and really should have occurred to every one of these characters on page 10 already.
I‘m really quite disappointed because from the premise it seemed so interesting, but unfortunately almost nothing delivered in this project.

I enjoyed this immensely! Let’s get rid of love triangles all together and stick with why-choose, if we had more of these the world would be a better place.

The title says it all and I’m so glad to see a new take on this romantasy. I enjoyed all 3 pov’s and we got a deeper understanding of each one’s past.

The build up is great for book 1 with its twists and turns it just makes waiting for book 2 even more exciting, I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

4.25 stars

Very little actually happens in the book, but it's a fantastic romantasy. There's a lot of travelling and longing looks, so if you're looking for a book with an intricat plot then this wouldn't be the book for you.

However, if you're looking for a romantasy where a Warrior, Assassin and Princess (MMF) fall for each other then this is definitely the book for you!

I devoured this book in under 24 hours and had a wonderful time doing so. The main focus of the book is the three main characters (it's multi-POV):

Princess Jory, who has been bethroed to King Maddox Kyronan in exchange for military support for her kingdom, and is best friends Asher.

Maddox Kyronan, a warrior king who has bethroed himself to Princess Jory in exchange for access to weather controlling magic to help his kingdom.

Asher, an assassin and childhood friend of Princess Jory who receives order to kill the King and the Princess.

The romance is set to the backdrop of kingdom politics, but it's very much in the background. You learn information as the story progresses and there's enough that there's an overarching plot, but the focus very much is the growing relationship between the three characters.

Usually in a multi-POV book I come to favour as specific POV, but that wasn't the case in Warrior Princess Assassin. They are all such different characters, with very different histories and personalities, so I loved seeing their individual perspectives.

Honestly, the fact that it's a multi-POV romantasy should be shouted from the rooftops. It's really refreshing to actually understand what the MMCs are thinking and feeling.

I will definitely be continuing with this series, I had such a fun time! I want to see how the relationships continue to unfold and the overarching plot that's happening in the background peaked my interest throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

Two royals; Princess Jory of Astranza and King Maddox Kyronan aka Ky are pushed into a political engagement. King Ky has fire magic that will reinforce Astranza’s armies and Jory’s father, the King of Astranza, with his ability to manipulate the weather, shall be able to help the land of Ky’s kingdom flourish and provide his people with food. But nothing is as it seems and Jory’s childhood best friend, Asher, an assassin, gets thrown into the story as well.

This story is very character driven and it’s something I really loved at the beginning. We get the POV’s of the tree main characters; Ky (the warrior), Jory (the princess) and Asher (the assassin). I really enjoyed getting their différent point of views and being able to learn a lot about Ky, Asher and Jory. To me, Asher and Ky were the most interesting characters and my heart broke learning about Asher’s past 🥹

I also really enjoyed the fact that this book is a ‘why choose?’ and doesn’t fall into the more traditional ‘love triangle’ category.

Sadly, you very quickly discover their pasts and the story lacks depth. Jory in particular felt very one dimensional as a very sheltered and naive princess. The three différent POV’s also become very repetitive and it feels we are reading the same inner monologues over and over again.

Even though this book is an adult book, it has spice, it reads very YA and the characters feel very young and they lack complexity. The world building is very minimal but as it’s the first book of a series I’m sure we will learn more in the next books.

Even though the romance between the main characters can be considered a slow burn; it still falls in the ‘insta lust’ category.

This story had great potential and just fell short for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I thought I was done with Romantasy as I had gotten tired of the same storylines and toxic relationships. This however, I really enjoyed. Not only do all three prinicipal characters feel unique and well developed but the three POV's also work beautifully with each other. Even the side characters each had their own distinct personality and back stories. There was also a decent buildup to the relationship starting to form, no instalove to be found here. I also enjoyed the underlying story, and will eagerly await the next instalment.

This book had all of the tropes that I absolutely love - why choose, marriage of convenience, forbidden romance and just a dash of tragic backstory and trauma. I loved that we got POV’s from all three characters, the warrior, the princess and the assassin - it shows that all three are pivotal to the story and one character is not less to the others.

Was there predictable elements in this book? Yeah, but I still had a really great time with this book and it has kept my attention enough to want to tune in to the next book and see where the storyline goes - along with how the relationship between Jory, Asher and Ky develops further. Rated 3.75 ⭐️ as I feel it fell *just* short of 4⭐️ for me but rounded up.