Reviewed by Chris

TITLE:  The Painted Crown

SERIES:  Unbreakable Soldiers #2

AUTHOR:  Megan Derr

PUBLISHER:  Less Than Three Press

LENGTH:  89,000 words

RELEASE DATE:  November 16, 2016

BLURB:  

Prince Istari has spent his life reviled: his parents wish he had never been born, the royal court of Belemere avoids him for fear of angering the king, and everyone else is kept away by his notorious reputation as a deadly sharpshooter. Now a hostage of peace in Tallideth, he is subjected to their hatred as well—even that of Regent Vellem, who once considered him a comrade in arms.

Unexpected solace comes in the form of Lord Teverem, a sad, quiet lord who assumed the title when his brother was killed in the explosion for which Istari’s father is to blame. He is kind and sweet and a sorely needed bright spot in Istari’s life—until Istari meets his family and learns of a dangerous family secret with unexpected ties to Istari’s past, a secret that could drag Tallideth and Belemere right back into war…

REVIEW:  

To secure a peace between Belemere and Tallideth, Prince Istari–the legal son of Belemere’s last King–is to be held hostage in Tallideth. Istari’s father, in his madness, had tried to assassinate the royal family of Tallideth and use the chaos it caused to win the long war between them, and almost succeeded. Now, the new King of Belemere–Istari’s brother–has sent Istari to Tallideth as a hostage and a promise that Belemere will keep its side of the peace barginned between them.

It would be an understatement to say that Istari is disliked in Tallideth. But, seeing as he wasn’t all that popular in the Belemere court either, that is hardly new. He had hoped that away from his father’s hate and judgement he could find a place of his own, but the people of Tallideth can only see the son of the man responsible for so much death and destruction. It soon becomes clear that the best he can hope for is indifference, and to wait out the years he is to been held in this foriegn country.

That all changes when he runs into Teverem, a Tallideth lord. By all rights Teverem should should loath Istari as the others do. For he lost family to Istari’s father’s plots. But for some reason the young lord is able to see past the stigma of Istari’s familal connections, and to the man who is slowly drowning in pain and loneliness. When a new threat crops up, this time against the adopted nephew of Teverem’s, Istari is set to help the man however he must. Even if that help might end up hurting him and those he holds dear.

Ok, first off, if you haven’t read The Engineered Throne (book one in this series) you are really going to need to read it before you start The Painted Crown. Hell, even if you have read the first book, but not recently, I urge you to go back and give it a reread before starting the second book. I ddin’t have the time to reread book one, and as a result spent the first quarter of the book trying to remember all the key players in this universe. I would have had a much easier time if I had just done even the quickest of rereads. It is in your favor to do what I did not.

Now that that is covered…

I have to say that I loved this book. While The Engineered Throne was a highly entertaining read, I must say I found this book a bit more cohesive when it came to the plot. I think this has a lot to do with the way it was written (if I am not mistaken, Throne was written as a serial novel which had each chapter posted on Less Than Three as they came along before it was finally released as a whole book). On the whole this book was better balanced between the action sequences and the down-beats of relationship stuff. Every chapter did not have to have some big twist, but instead let the reader enjoy all the parts for what they were. The bits of action worked well to push the story, but it was the interactions between Istari and the various other characters that built up the backbone of this book. I found that they worked very well together.

I love the whole forced-marriage trope in fantasy (and in other books, but it doesn’t really come up all that often outside the fantasy and some scifi books), and I especially how Megan Derr writes them in her books. The relationship between Istari and Teverem was a bit of a slow burn, so don’t go in expecting a lot of declartaion of love and dancing hearts in their eyes within the first half of the book. Also, because both characters are asexual don’t be expecting a bunch of sex scenes either. But no matter what thier sexuality, I have to say that this book is my favorite kind of romance. Slow and deep and steady. It takes them a while to work around to what they are, or what they could be, to each other, but the interactions along the way are well worth the wait.

I can’t quite remember if there is to be a third book in this series, but I do hope so. I found this book highly entertaining and a great sequel to the first one. The characters a fun and I loved getting to know them. Plus I’ll always be happy to find well written asexual characters. I reccommend this book without hesitation. Go forth and enjoy.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Less Than Three

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