Reviewed by: Sue Eaton

TITLE: Cheshire In Heartsland

SERIES: Wonderland Ever After #2

AUTHOR: Ariella Zoelle

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 171 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 27, 2022

BLURB:

Cheshire is determined to convince King Rei to give them a second chance at happily ever after. But what if the only way to do that is for the cat shifter to team up with his enemy?

I could sulk about King Rei choosing his duty to his kingdom over our relationship, but it’s way more fun to get payback by stealing his crowns. Of course, my favorite form of revenge is tempting my fated mate with what he could have if only he wasn’t so stubborn.

We’ve been playing our will-they-won’t-they game since he took the throne, but the stakes change when a rival prince arrives in Wonderland to try wooing away my beloved. As a master of mayhem and mischief, I’m prepared to chase off the unwanted interloper by any means necessary.

But I quickly discover that the little princeling isn’t what he seems. And what’s more ingenious than working with my enemy to catch Rei by surprise? After all, I said I’d do absolutely anything to win him back.

Will my efforts finally motivate Rei to let me claim him as my mate?

REVIEW:

Welcome back to Wonderland to find out if Cheshire (aka The Cheshire Cat) and King Rei get their happy ever after.  I enjoyed this tale Cheshire is mischievous and misunderstood, he tricks and teases but only the stuck up courtiers in King Rei’s palace.

Cheshire has known for years that King Rei is his fated mate but after fate hands Rei the crown from the evil Queen of Hearts and his despicable brother, Cheshire worries that Rei would react badly to fate handing him a mate.

King Rei never wanted the throne and never thought he would get it handed to him.  He is atoning for all the damage his mother and brother have done to the kingdom with their evil, selfish ways.  He is determined to be a benevolent King putting the needs of his people above his own personal wants.  Cheshire fought against the evil Queen and used all his tricks and magic to help defeat her.

Before he ascended the throne, Rei and Cheshire were lovers and had a relationship, they were carefree, escaping from the palace and the machinations of the Queen, they were never happier and thought it would last forever.  Fate intervened and once he ascended the throne King Rei decided he couldn’t be with Cheshire as his people would never accept a shifter especially once that was feared and reviled.

Cheshire understood his reasoning but resolved to change his mind and thus the shenanigans began.  Cheshire was banned from the palace but using his invisibility entered all the time, seeking out Rei and stealing his crowns in an attempt to change his mind about them.  Nothing seemed to work and both Chesire and Rei were miserable, feeling that they would never get the happiness other people got.

I really enjoyed the introduction of Prince Renner as a rival love interest for King Rei, the expected tricks from Cheshire to get rid of him, never happened and unexpectedly they join forces.  It was lovely to see King Rei’s jealously as Prince Renner seemed more interested in Cheshire than in him.

The funniest scene was King Rei and Prince Renner going off to the local tavern to find out once and for all, what the people really thought of Cheshire.

This is a book about redemption and a second chance at love, it’s about perceptions and how those perceptions which you feel are right at the start change over time until the perception you started with is in fact wrong and is holding you back.  It’s a can’t see the woods for the trees and being stubborn and not seeing that in fact everything has changed, and that the relationship is possible after all.

RATING:

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