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Title: The Bridge Kingdom
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Sub-genre: Fantasy
So I originally read this book a year or two ago when it came in a book box I was trying out. I liked it when I read it, mostly because the world building is fantastic, but I didn’t full on love it for one main reason (more on that in a minute).
Lara has been raised with one purpose in mind: marry the king of Ithicana so she can learn the secrets of the illusive Bridge Kingdom, then report those secrets back to her father so he can infiltrate and take the bridge down from the inside. When Lara meets Aren, there is immediate interest, but also immediate distrust. Aren might be a young king, but he’s not an idiot and he knows his wife needs to prove herself. Lara becomes the perfect spy, working her way into Aren’s inner circle by fighting for his people. Aren and Lara start to develop real feelings for each other, but Lara still puts a plan in motion to send information back to her father. Until Aren shows her the truth of what’s actually going on–it’s not Aren keeping supplies and goods from reaching her people, but her father. Once Lara has indisputable evidence her father is the real bad guy, she tries to put a stop to her information leak, but it is too late. Her father receives the information he needs to attack, and when he does, Aren knows Lara has betrayed him. Just to be super duper clear, there is no HEA or HFN in this book, it leaves us with a cliffhanger leading into book two.
So the lack of an HEA was the main thing that bothered me with this book, as it does make it technically not a romance. But I loved these characters and watching them fall for each other. I am very much a fan of the I thought you were the bad guy but it turns out I’ve been the bad guy all along storyline. And again, the world-building in this book is fantastic. I will definitely be picking up the sequel because more than anything, I want to know how things end for Aren and Lara (and it better be happily). I know cliffhangers aren’t for everyone, but if you can handle them, this is a good one!
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars