Series: Reclaiming the Crown by Rachelle McCalla. Love Inspired Suspense, 2011-2012.
A while ago Kara, blogger and encourager extraordinaire over at A Booklover's Heart, reviewed this series and reminded
me of its intriguing covers and descriptions. I took her suggestion and found a
way to read them. So glad I did! I really enjoyed each book but especially the
series as a whole. Each book is full of adventure, danger, learning to trust
and forgive, and a sweet and clean romance. I think I even found myself wanting to pray for the characters at times - that's how real they felt.
The modern day series begins with Princess in Peril and follows Princess Isabelle as she flees the
attack on the king’s motorcade. She has a very perilous escape route – both physically
and mentally challenging.
Loved the adventure and the budding romantic tension and the
international aspects. But as someone who has flown internationally many times,
I can say with certainty that the airport scenes were not realistic. Especially
post 9-11. I haven’t flown into JFK but have gone through Newark several times
in recent years and there’s no way Isabelle and Levi could have gotten through
security and customs so quickly and easily or dodged those following them so
simply. Still a fun story though.
Book number 2, Protecting
the Princess is Princess Anastasia’s tale. She missed the motorcade and is
whisked to safety by a man she’s not sure she completely trusts. Kirk is a
royal guard and the only one who knows what happened to her older brother who
disappeared five or six years ago.
Theirs is an interesting escape route and during their flight and
search for answers we learn a lot more about the magnitude of the attack on the
royal family. I like how the mystery unfolds a bit more with each book and I felt with Anastasia how helpless and frustrating the situation seemed at times. Also, Kirk is awesome.
The 3rd book, Prince
Incognito is about Prince Alec. Problem is, he doesn’t remember who he is
and the Lily the woman who rescued him doesn’t know it either until he’s in danger
again. Then they are both in life threatening danger. Then they’re rescued,
then they’re both in danger again. Then they flee into the desert and are still
in danger. It’s quite an exciting tale.
In all of these I’ve really liked the characters and the struggles
they each face. But especially so in this one. Lily is helping Alec but it’s her
family that is threatening him. Trust and forgiveness play an important part of
this story. Also the reader learns quite a bit more about the plot against the Lydian
royal family.
The 4th and final book, The Missing Monarch, tells the tale of the missing crown prince. His
is an interesting story and we finally find out who is the mastermind behind
the plot. I don’t want to say too much more since that spoils some surprises.
Even knowing who this last book is about is a bit of a spoiler if you haven’t
read book two yet.
I wish the ending could have been a bit longer as things seemed to
wrap up a bit quickly and conveniently but then again most of the loose ends
were not very exciting, political threads.
The author has written five more stories about the Lydian royal
family, two of which are historical and I really enjoyed those. The other three come after this series and I hope the royal family and their guards will have learned
some lessons about modern technological safety and its surveillance capabilities.
Five stars for this series as a whole
Go read them!
#1 Princess
in Peril: Amazon ; Barnes & Noble
#2
Protecting the Princess: Amazon ; Barnes & Noble
Disclosure:
I borrowed these books from a library. The opinions I have expressed are my
own.
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Rina, you and your review rocks!! Thanks sooooo much for your kind comments about me, you put a dazzling smile on my face :) I'm soooo glad you got the chance to read the entire series and that you enjoyed it!!!! All right for 5 stars, big time hugs to you :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! And your comment put a smile on my face! :-) Hope you get a chance to read the historical books about Lydia. They're good. Now I'm waiting for the books that come after this series. :-) Hugs back!
DeleteI'm intrigued. What level of romance do this books include? I'm not a huge fan of descriptive romance (even kissing), but I am a fan of great characters, mystery, action, daring escapes, and missing monarchs. ;)
ReplyDeleteHannah, there is some kissing nothing beyond that. ... Ok, just went back and searched for "kiss" in the first two books. There are several kisses in each book. Some to throw pursuers off track. Some because of the attraction between the two. I don't think it's too descriptive. But you might have a different opinion. You could read the first one and then decide if you want to read the rest - they're all about the same in regards to the romance.
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