I Went Into This Fantasy Series Skeptical… And Came Out Obsessed

I went into this book series with zero expectations… Actually, that might be generous—I probably started it with abundant skepticism. I’ve never really used Audible’s free-with-subscription reads, and as a fantasy reader, my brain immediately thought, Free? What kind of low-budget world-building am I about to stumble into?

I love being proven wrong about a book being bad. And wow—this series was such a ride!

This series is cleverly structured around three romance-driven plots. What I wasn’t expecting was that these romantic arcs, while fun and leaning into familiar tropes, actually served as catalysts for world-building. I didn’t even realize it until book three, and by then my jaw was on the floor at how many Easter eggs had been dropped in books one and two.

Large fantasy series—especially those that hop between kingdoms with different rulers and backstories—often get murky for me, even when well written. What Danielle L. Jensen did here was give us two books at a time to really get to know each kingdom, its ruler, and its challenges. By the end of the series, I was impressed—I didn’t need any refresher on which kingdom was known for what, or who ruled where.

Spoiler zone ahead.

Books one and two focus on Lara and Arin romantically, and Maradrina and Ithicana politically. I won’t lie—while these books introduced me to the world and I enjoyed them, they are the weakest romance in the series. If you’re a vibe reader like me, you’ll have no problem with these books. They’re good, even fun—but not quite fantastic.

Lara is an assassin/spy who was raised in isolation with her half-sisters, trained to one day be married off to the King of Ithicana and act as a full-fledged espionage agent. Her mission? To gather intel for her father, the King of Maradrina, so he can steal Ithicana’s bridge.

This bridge isn’t just a piece of infrastructure—it’s the key trade route used by surrounding kingdoms. Naturally, everyone and their mother wants control of it, and the tension over the bridge remains a central theme throughout the series.

Lara, raised to believe her mission is righteous, slowly realizes the truth: her father isn’t a good king; he’s a greedy dictator, motivated by ego rather than justice. As she uncovers this, of course, she falls for Arin, the King of Ithicana. But just when we think things might go smoothly, some of the intel she gathered—stuff she thought would never surface—makes it back to Maradrina. And, of course, those bastards seize the bridge. Arin can’t even look at her without blaming himself.

Book two is all about undoing the fallout from book one. Lara and Arin navigate rebuilding trust and love while trying to reclaim the bridge and save Ithicana—well, what’s left of it after all the killing and seizing from book one.

What I love about books one and two is how they introduce Lara and her cleverness. From the very start of book one, we see her saving her sisters by faking their deaths and sacrificing herself to be married off—immediate grab. I also loved her being described as a “cockroach” because she just keeps surviving, no matter what.

Books three and four are where the series really sunk its teeth into me because every new detail felt like a full-circle moment. These two books happen at the same time as books one and two, but we follow a new perspective.

We follow Keris, the King of Maradrina’s son (and Lara’s full brother, even though she doesn’t know they share the same mother!). He hates his dad, the way he rules, and the endless war between Maradrina and Velcotta. That’s right—Maradrina is having problems with everybody.

Zara, niece and named heir of the Empress of Velcotta, also starts questioning the endless war between the kingdoms. She wonders what good it’s doing when her kingdom keeps losing people to it.

These two—their romance is the best in the series. Star-crossed lovers with no silver lining in sight, they fall in love with each other and their ideals long before realizing they’re both heirs on opposite sides of the war.

We watch Keris desperately scheme to save Zara after she’s captured on their side of the border. She ends up “his prisoner,” while he pitches the idea of leveraging her as a hostage to his father—who thinks, Hey, look! My son, who detests me and the crown, is finally playing the game!

All of this is happening while the aftermath of book one is still unfolding, and Arin is currently a hostage in Maradrina. Lara, at this point, is figuring out a rescue plan that we’ve already seen executed—but here’s the twist: we find out that Keris was actually orchestrating the escape to use Lara saving Arin as part of his plan to save Zara.

In book four, we deal with Zara as a prisoner again, but this time her aunt, Empress Petra, sends her to Devil’s Island as punishment for… letting the enemy between her legs. But actually…

On the island, there are cannibals and gangs, but most importantly, we learn about the rebels—people who believe Empress Petra is a usurper and that the rightful heir is Zara. Why? Because it’s true, obviously. Petra orchestrated her sister’s death years ago when she learned her sister was named heir and aimed for peace between Velcotta and Maradrina.

Petra, whose entire personality is the endless war, decided she didn’t want to find a new hobby and orchestrated the deaths of both her sister and niece. Except King Silas (jerk-face King of Maradrina) was like, hahaha, I’ll leave the rightful heir alive, that should be fun. But Petra said, PIVOT, and decided instead she would raise Zara to love the endless war too—as her final middle finger to her dead sister.

No notes—6 out of 5 stars. These two books, their romance, the layers added to scenes we’ve already read, and the journey were my favorite in the series.

Book five had me thinking back to books one and two—fun, but not fantastic. In fairness, I was still riding the high from Keris and Zara’s epic love story and all the political intrigue—but still enjoyable!

We follow Ahna, Arin’s sister, who is off to Herandale to marry their heir as part of the 15-year treaty that originally put Lara and Arin together. Ahna and her twin brother, who used to be very close before Lara came in, betrayed Ithicana, and got a bunch of their people killed, are still figuring out how to be siblings. Ahna is pissed at Arin for loving Lara, but it’s deeper than that—she blames herself every time she looks at Lara and is still dealing with PTSD from the night the bridge was first seized by King Silas back in book one.

Ahna is supposed to marry Prince William, but she can’t stop noticing Prince James, King Eddie’s bastard son—and that forms a big chunk of book five.

But of course, it ends with a murder! King Eddie—maybe slightly unhinged by the end, but absolutely a good guy at heart—is dead. Queen Alexandria frames Ahna, who now has to go on the run. James, recently revealed not to be a bastard but the actual rightful heir (except literally no one alive aside from James can prove this), is after Ahna for murdering his father.

Book six is where that magic returns that I got from books three and four. Literally every kingdom we’ve met and their rulers are tangled into Queen Alexandria’s web—because guess what?! She plotted with Maradrina and Amarid back in the bridge-seizing days from book one. When Silas failed, she and the queen of Amarid stayed in cahoots, and Ithicana remains with a big target on their back—all at the expense of Ahna’s reputation as the accused killer of good King Eddie.

We get all of our favorite characters back in action during this book, and it was a very satisfying close to the series.