Book Review: A Stolen Crown (Stolen Royals #2) by Kelsey Keating

Swanifide Publishing
Published June 17, 2017
307 Pages

When Princess Cecily Degalt travels south to wed a prince she’s never met, she’s ushered into a strange new world alongside her best friend and bodyguard, Rory Castille. With an MIA fiancé, his handsome twin brother, and a kidnapping gone wrong, life in Myrzel isn’t quite what Cecily expected. 

Rory will do anything to keep Cecily from harm–but when Rory’s darkest secret comes between her and Cecily, the greatest danger to the princess might be Rory herself.

Torn apart for the first time, each girl will have to think like the other as she faces not only the darkness of Fangralee Forest, but a dangerous enemy closer to home.- Goodreads

This book was way better than the first one but still had some issues for me. What I liked about this book was the genuine feeling of love between characters. You knew it was there; you saw it, felt it and was just rooting for it throughout the entire book. This was the sole focus of the book. The love/friendship between two girls and how they handle their worst possible situation.

But I had issues. Rory and Cecily are both thoroughly annoying together and apart. Rory completely babies Cecily and bother have this really whinny tone when they speak with each other.

For best friends, they made a lot of bad assumptions about each other and it was almost as if they didn’t know each other at all. To me, Rory was justified in hiding her secret, however, Cecily didn’t trust Rory and she was a butt. Rory fought for Cecily but the effort wasn’t the same for her. This was repeated more than once throughout the book. it really shouldn’t take someone telling you that you’re a crap friend, more than once for you to actually go be a friend. And in all honesty, it is a big circle of who said what, and internal arguments.

The story is straight forward to a certain extent. There are some twists but you see where it is going once it starts. There was good fighting in this book. Rory is hotheaded, so she isn’t as strong as she could be, which was disappointing.

As previously mentioned book two, is a step up from the book one. The pace keep me interested and invested. Although I wish for more magical elements, this was a decent read.

3 Pickles

Book Review: A Stolen Kiss (Stolen Royals #1) by Kelsey Keating

Swanifide Publishing
Published March 1, 2016
346 Pages

Derric Harver is nothing more than a palace stableboy or at least that is all he should be. When Princess Maria’s curse stops her from accepting a Prince’s proposal, she ask Derric for his help and as if a knight in shinning armor, he gladly assists.

With the help of his sister, who is the Princess’s maid and a Prince, Derric and Maria embark on a journey to find the sorceress that cursed the Princess. Although the journey is dangerous, the secrets that will be reveled will be the most dangerous of them all. 

This isn’t a YA book. Just because the characters at 17 years old doesn’t make the book YA. In most cases, it does but not in this case. Why? Because of the way the book was written.

The main characters, Derric, his sister, the Prince and Princess were all very childish. The decisions that they made, they way they spoke and addressed each other were simple minded. I appreciated this because they showed each other respect and care but it made the journey a bit too easy. Overall, the story was fairly easy. There were complications but it was nothing that they didn’t get over by the next chapter.

I felt that this story could have been more dramatic, which is why I get the middle school vibe. In regards to romance, I didn’t feel it from anyone. Attraction? Yes, that was there but not love.

The story was too cute and I did like it. It just wasn’t what I thought it would be. I loved how the author incorporated magic into the story, where it didn’t seem like a stretch or that she was completely relying on it to move the story. I also have to give credit to the shocking twist of events. It was nicely done.

The book moved slow and it was long, which bugged me out but it is finish-able. Although I felt the book was written for a younger level, I was drawn to it and completely believe it is an adorable read.

Overall,

3 Pickles