**Warning**
The synopsis and review will contain spoilers for the first four books in the series

I absolutely adore the cover to this book, and infact all of the covers in the series are stunning, but this one was purple, my favourite colour so is extra beautiful in my opinion. I also loved the first three novels and, for the most part loved ‘The Heir’ (more on that later), so was really looking forward to find out what happened.  

As I expected the writing is as engaging as the other books, making for some addictive reading. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters more, not just the suitors introduced in ‘The Heir’ but also hearing from characters that I remember from the first three books and how their lives are now they’re much older. It was really great reading the selection process from the other side to the first three books. A few of books have the same story told but from the other person’s perspective, and while I think that can be done really well, it can also be very repetitive. However since ‘The Heir’ is the daughter of America and Maxon from the first three books, we have the perspective from the royal who needs to choose someone to marry, so you hear what it’s like to be royal and have many people trying to win your heart, but still not know what’s going to happen.  

This book picks up straight from ‘The Heir’, which ended on quite an emotional note, and it’s here where you really see Eadlyn start to grow. I mentioned I had small issues with ‘The Heir’ and Eadlyn was it. I found her brattish, spoilt, stand-offish with a superiority complex. Yes I realise she’s the princess but a small amount of modesty and something that people could relate to would go a long way. She was clearly meant to come across this way in that book, and I still wanted to know what happened, which is why it was only a small issue for me. This book made me do a 180 in regards to my feelings about her, obviously she goes through a more stressful time than she could ever have imagined and this forces her, basically, to grow up. That and the final push Ahren gave her (despite his many attempts) finally got her to become a better person. More likeable by far, and she still manages to maintain a strong determined mind. The weight that lifted off of my shoulders when I realised this was immense, I finally cared who she chose as her prince consort, rather than just enjoying the antics that happened.  

Now onto the men, loved Kile, Henri, Hale and Fox. While they aren’t the only ones left, they were my favourites going into this book, and remained that way. I would have to say my ultimate favourite was Kile, who is a true friend, you can see how much you can trust him, despite not being friendly with Eadlyn before the selection, he clearly grows to care for her, despite not really seeming a potential contender when he was announced.  

This book was a great conclusion to the series, the journey Eadlyn made throughout this book was great to read. Definitely read this book, and if you haven’t and fancy a nice easy read series, make sure to pick the others in the series up.  

Published by: HarperCollins
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review  

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