Protect the Prince

April 29, 2019
Estep’s follow-up to 2018’s Kill the Queen is lots of fun, but it doesn’t truly distinguish itself in the crowded fantasy adventure field. It’s been nine months since the massacre that claimed the lives of the Bellonen queen and much of the royal family. Now Everleigh Blair is queen, and the magic-wielding assassins from neighboring Morta just keep on coming. Evie heads to Andvari to negotiate a treaty and soothe relations with King Heinrich while showing solidarity against Morta; when she discovers that Heinrich’s son, Dominic, is also in the crosshairs, she’ll need her magic and the help of her friends to keep him safe and stay alive. Evie struggles to come to terms with her abilities (including an immunity to magic and a preternatural sense of smell), her new responsibilities as queen, and her bittersweet romance with mage Lucas Sullivan. These challenges add heft, but so many fight scenes don’t allow for much of what made the first book enduring, such as Evie’s friendships. Perhaps in the next book, readers will get to see more of fun characters such as Sullivan’s charming niece, Gemma, and her gargoyle, Grimley. Nonetheless, a satisfying finale neatly sets up Queen Evie’s next chapter.

May 1, 2019
Estep returns to the fantasy setting established in Kill the Queen (2018) to follow the new queen as she embarks on a reign complicated by treachery and duty alike. Previously, Evie claimed the crown of Bellona after she killed her cousin Vasilia in vengeance for Vasilia's orchestrated butchery of most of the royal family. But keeping the crown will be the hard part. Evie and the nobles of Bellona struggle to get along--Evie certainly remembers every insult she ever received as a girl who was 17th in line to the throne and had only meager magical abilities. Now, she must earn the nobles' respect and keep them from outmaneuvering her--especially into a marriage with one of their families. That's in addition to making peace with neighboring Andvari, which lost a prince to Vasilia's attack; fighting off more assassins from the evil kingdom of Morta; and daydreaming about handsome, brooding Lucas Sullivan, her friend...and the bastard son of Andvari's king. It's a lot to handle; sadly, the plot doesn't always manage it. A sham betrothal to the other prince of Andvari does nothing but drive a gratuitous rift between Lucas and Evie--it's not clear why Evie feels it's necessary to use her betrothal to lure out assassins when they've already tried to kill her several times by then. Of course, the best way to fight magic-using assassins is just to be immune to magic: Evie's secret gift, which grows only stronger in this book. The thin plot is somewhat redeemed by a genuinely poignant twist, but it's fighting uphill against monotonous setting descriptions, a clichéd romance, and the notion that high-stakes courtly intrigue is best shown by peppering dialogue with f-bombs. The second book of the trilogy struggles with its own expectations, just like the heroine herself.

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May 1, 2019

Everleigh Blair, 17th in line to the throne and the last member of her family, has become the Winter Queen of Bellona. But her problems have just begun. The nobles still look down on her, and an assassination attempt happens right in her throne room. To protect her people, Evie travels to the province of Andvari in hopes of securing an alliance against the Mortan kingdom, but there she's held in contempt, as many Andvarians, including Crown Prince Frederich, died in the Seven Spire massacre. The only way to secure an alliance now may be to marry the new crown prince, Dominic, despite feelings for the Andvarian king's bastard son, Lucas Sullivan, that may or may not be returned. There is trouble brewing in the Andvarian palace, as assassins make their presence known, and Evie's magic immunity starts acting weirdly. Is she strong enough to be a Winter Queen? There's not much time left to find out. VERDICT Estep ("Elemental Assassin" series) follows up Kill the Queen with a tale as action- and character-driven as its predecessor, proving that strong female protagonists are still in fine form.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Everleigh Evie Blair has had a target on her back ever since she defeated her cousin Vasilia in a deadly battle for the throne of Bellona. She didn't start it; Vasilia orchestrated the royal massacre that Evie barely escaped. Being queen has its difficulties, especially when it comes to dealing with the petty nobles who want to take the crown from her. The impending diplomatic visit to neighboring Andvari doesn't sit well with the nobles, but Evie knows this visit is what's best for Bellona. Not only is the trip a way to foster an alliance between the two countries, Evie sees it as a small gesture of condolence and apology to the king of Andvari, who lost a few countrymen in the massacre. Now if only those dastardly Mortans would stop trying to assassinate her. . . . The second installment of best-selling Estep's Crown of Shards series is full of the same magic, action, and romance as the first, Kill the Queen (2018).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)