Book Blurb:
The half-dragon King of Torva needs a queen, but the human bride he has captured may prove to be more trouble than she’s worth.
Evelyn is on a mission to find her mom, who left her family soon after Evelyn was born. But things go terribly wrong when crashing a high school graduation party leads to her being mistaken for her sister, kidnapped, taken to another world, and married to the king of the realm.
As she plots her escape with the assistance of a handsome and mysterious duke, she becomes a pawn in a bigger game, a game of betrayal, murder, and revenge. Someone wants her dead, and the only way to avoid assassination is to escape Torva.
But the King isn’t willing to let her leave easily – and neither are the assassins.
Rayleigh’s Review:
A king with a shattered past and a girl who just wants to be loved, collide by mistake in Captive and Crowned. Only time will tell if they can unite for Torva, or separate in the name of their own hearts.
Captive and Crowned has been on my TBR since it came out in 2019. The cover is eye-catching and what’s not to love about the plot?! Half-dragon king? Yes, please!
I loved both Alaric and Evelyn so much. Alaric is a beautiful character, in both description and the brokenness that he represents. He carries so much pain and heartache, yet instead of being a bitter king or snobby character, like many other characters in this trope, he’s broken but still strong. He’s still caring, he still wants to be the best king that he can, and he loves his kingdom. Alaric is an easily loveable character! Evelyn is much the same, though I did find her to operate in her hurt a little more selfishly, which is understandable since her pain comes from loneliness. I thought her character was also very well done and loved to watch her grow through her mistakes and triumphs.
As for the story, I was always curious as to what would happen next! It’s exciting, with attempted assassinations, a mystery, and world jumping. The only reason that I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because in between the exciting scenes, the story did move a little slow for my taste. The ending also felt a little rushed, but it wasn’t bad.
I do want to add that I love how this author introduced the concept of “love” as a choice rather than a feeling. In real life, that’s just what it all boils down to: love is always a choice and the feelings come and go. So I love that this author illustrated that in a very intent and beautiful way.
Overall, I think Captive and Crowned should be added to the shelves of every “clean fantasy” fan!
Trigger Warnings: Parental abuse (physical and verbal). No cursing. Very little gore (by my standards, I would say “no gore”). Sexual topics include: some detailed kisses and conversation topics of consummating marriage. Mildly detailed body kisses.
Physical Copies/Ebooks:
Audiobooks/CDs: Unavailable
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