Published: June 9, 2020 (2nd ed.)
Publisher: CLA
Series: The Bridge Kingdom #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 356 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
Synopsis:
A warrior princess trained in isolation, Lara is driven by two certainties. The first is that King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And the second is that she’ll be the one to bring him to his knees.
The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara’s homeland. So when she’s sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.
Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she’s the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she’ll save… and which kingdom she’ll destroy.
A friend told me this had far too much political intrigue for her tastes and that actually spurred me to pick this up even sooner! I loved a good tale of deception and plottery, especially when it’s combined with some romance. This was a super slow burn romance, if you could even call it a romance at all, as the two main characters never quite reach a romantic point in this book.
Lara has been raised alongside her sisters in isolation, training for the sole purpose of marrying and then assassinating the young king of the Bridge Kingdom. You see, the Bridge Kingdom is aptly named, as it is a series of islands that make up the supports of a massive bridge across a wide channel of water. “Oh, can’t the other kingdoms just use boats?” you might ask. Well, there are massive storms that come through for much of the year and the bridge offers protection from the dangers of the storm and the sea. Lara’s kingdom wants to control the bridge so they can control trade and have unfettered access to the kingdom on the other side for invasion purposes. I’m very pleasantly surprised at how well thought out the strategic and political aspects of the story were because to be honest, I was expecting straight up romance beforehand!
Lara is an interesting character to follow – she’s quite ruthless, as she so shockingly proves in the opening of the book but she slowly begins to soften to the people of her new kingdom and sees that perhaps her father wasn’t as truthful as she believed. Aren, the young king is a hardened warrior, always defending his people even at the cost of his own safety. Despite this, he still finds time for his own adventures, even if they do tend to be of a business (ie. spying) nature. The minor characters were less well developed, but I expect we’ll be seeing more of them in the sequel.
Overall, I was really pleased with this! It’s a great blend of politics and a very, very slow burn enemies to lovers romance trope. I’m excited to pick up the sequel a bit later this year when my ARC reading list slows down a bit (I really have to stop requesting so many books!). I honestly have no idea what to expect from the next book since this one ended on such a cliffhanger!
Powder & Page 
Oh this looks a great one too. You’ve got great reading taste! 🖤
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