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ARC Book Review-When A Princess Proposes by Kerrelyn Sparks

by | Apr 16, 2022 | Book Reviews | 3 comments

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

DESIRE AND DECEPTION

All Princess Eviana needs is an escape. Possessed of an unfortunate and unusual Embraced gift, which she’s been banned from using, she required no training. Now, her overprotective parents want her to wed. As a result, the palace is crammed with obnoxious noblemen. . . . Until Quentin, the enigmatic eagle shifter and royal spy, maneuvers several of the unsuitable suitors into revealing their most embarrassing secrets before the court. Finally, Eviana has an excuse to free herself. If only her family knew the blow that’s shaken her: golden-eyed Quentin’s refusal to let her near . . .

Heroic, but low born, Quentin’s infatuation with Eviana is as inappropriate as it is unshakable. He must keep away from her, for his own sake. But after a series of suspicious deaths, and the princess’s narrow escape from kidnapping, Quentin knows that only together can they expose the danger stalking Aerthlan’s Embraced. On foot, in disguise, they’ll need trust and quick wits to uncover the vicious conspiracy closing around them. But finding the truth might break down their own defenses as well . . .

My Review

First Impressions

I felt so blessed to be able to have been gifted this ARC from the publisher on this one here, I was so thrilled to see that Sparks decided to continue the series, and I didn’t know if she would or not, as there has been a long length of time since the last one in the series “The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea” What we get with this one though, is a continuation of the series that features the children of the couples in the first five books of the Embraced series. I was really fascinated by this one here though, and I adored the cover of this one here too. This was quite an interesting story though, and even though I didn’t quite love it like some of the previous books, it was still a solid story. And it features some fun tropes such as “road trip adventure” and “unrequited love” which are two of my favorites. I don’t get a chance to read road trip adventures too often, but I was in love with the way that this one was written and seeing this romance blossom.

Summary

Princess Eviana has always felt like the black sheep where her gift is concerned. She is the daughter of Luciana and Leo, but her gift is dangerous and many fear what she would do with it. Even her family has kept her shielded and locked away. But now she is of age to marry and is now able to venture out in the world, Then enters our hero, Quentin, who is valuable but he is also low born and has loved Eviana for years but has stayed in the shadows, yearning for a woman he can never have. But when he reaches out to protect her and reveals the true intents of her suitors at a ball, secrets of the royal family are revealed but becomes a turning point for Eviana to be herself and find the freedom to fly her wings from her overprotective family. When there are suspicious deaths happening and the princess is almost taken captive, Eviana and Quentin begin a journey together in discovering the true intent of the villain, and they discover their enemy wishes to destroy all fo the embraced. That the peace that has been cultivated for years, could be lost. But will Quentin’s secret be revealed in trying to protect her here? Will his love be revealed and when it does will Eviana fight for the man who deserves a HEA just as she does?

What I Loved

There were so many things to this story that I was all the way in for. I was so stunned by the way that this author wrote this unrequited love. I absolutely adore unrequited love and it was done so well here. And I really respected that Sparks didn’t drag it all the way out. Eviana learns of it and even though there is this forbidden love, with their class difference, Eviana becomes such a fighter for the relationship. She knows what they have together is powerful and worth fighting for. Seeing Eviana go about attempting to court Quentin, was beyond adorable. I understood where Quentin was coming from though. I understand why he didn’t feel he was worthy of her, but Eviana doesn’t see it that way. Quentin has protected her for years and sees who she really is when her own family doesn’t see the power and passion she is capable of and what a leader she is. Quentin understands Eviana and only wants her to break free and show what she is capable of and doesn’t stand in her way when it matters to her. The plot of the story was well done and we do get a POV from the villain so that was really interesting. I was intrigued by the way this story was built and what was hinted at for future books. The romance between Quentin and Eviana was beautiful, and so many sweet and sexy moments were built. The chemistry was well done, but it is more slowly built due to the forbidden nature of the relationship and Quentin being so resistant to them being together. But seeing their HEA and how they achieve it …well it was just BEAUTIFUL IN EVERY WAY!

What I Struggled With

I will say that the pacing is the only real aspect to this story that could have been improved upon. It’s what kept it from a five-star read for me, it just didn’t quite engage me quite as much as I was expecting considering the last book in the series completely I couldn’t put down.

Overall View

When A Princess Proposes was a magnificent read, that combines themes that are built within this fantastical world that Sparks has grown so beautifully. It’s a story of adventure, hidden love, and embracing one’s self!

Title: When A Princess Proposes

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks

Genre: Epic Fantasy Romance

Format: eARC

Source: Publisher

Length: 336 Pages

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| StoryGraph| Literal Club

Book Evaluation

Storytelling Quality: 3.75

Story Itself: 4

Character Development: 4

Writing Style: 4

World Building 4.5

Feels + The Romantic Heart 3.5

Pacing 4

Plot 4.25

Cover Art 5

Ending 4.5

Book Ratings

Overall Rating of the Book

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Steam Level

Simmering—soft warm touches and light intimacy

Warm- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.

Steamin’ up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

Series Order

Embraced by Magic

How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days-Pub 2017 #1 in the Series

So I Married A Sorcerer-Pub 2017 #2 in the Series

Eight Simple Rules When Dating A Dragon-Pub 2018 #3 in the Series

How To Love Your Elf-Pub 2020 #4 in the Series

The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea-Pub 2020 #5 in the Series

When A Princess Proposes-Pub 2020 #6 in the Series

About The Author

Kerrelyn Sparks apparently has issues with reality. After writing more than a dozen books about vampires, she has now completely gone off the deep end and wound up on another planet. But how thrilling that she can share this magical new world with her readers! Although she is best known (so far) for the Love at Stake series, which has hit as high as number 5 on the New York Times list and 22 on the USA Today list, she hopes her readers will love The Embraced as much as they did her merry band of vamps and shifters. To learn more about her paranormal, historical, and upcoming out-of-this-world fantasy romances, please visit Kerrelyn on Facebook, Twitter, or her website at www.kerrelynsparks.com.

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3 Comments

  1. Jen

    YEA! So glad this was a win for you!

    Reply
  2. Sophia Rose

    Nice that she came back to the series. I love road trip tropes, too.

    Reply

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