A Stolen Crown: An unbreakable friendship. One big mess in the making. When Princess Cecily Degalt travels south to wed a prince she's never met, she's ushered into a strange new world alongside her best friend and bodyguard, Rory Castille. With an MIA fiancé, his handsome twin brother, and a kidnapping gone wrong, life in Myrzel isn't quite what Cecily expected. Rory will do anything to keep Cecily from harm-but when Rory's darkest secret comes between her and Cecily, the greatest danger to the princess might be Rory herself. Torn apart for the first time, each girl will have to think like the other as she faces not only the darkness of Fangralee Forest, but a dangerous enemy closer to home. You may remember that we reviewed the first book in this series last April ( A Stolen Kiss). We loved it. In fact, I'm going to quote myself here: "When this kind of writing comes from a début author, I can't help but be excited about how good the sophomore effort is bound to be." And here we are, reviewing the "sophomore effort" - and it's fantastic!
I am surprised, Bubby, that you didn't mention the cover, because you usually do. So I will say it for you-the cover is another whimsical, engaging piece of folky art; one which, if seen in a library or bookstore, would entice readers greatly! Then, when you read the book, you find it equals the "engaging-ness" of the cover. I loved A Stolen Kiss, but I enjoyed A Stolen Crown even more.
Now you may be thinking, "Oh Bubby! I haven't read A Stolen Kiss! That means I can't just jump in and read A Stolen Crown!" Not so, dear reader! While the two books share a world and a few overlapping characters, both are delightful stand alone reads. But really. If you haven't read A Stolen Kiss, you're missing out...
So just read them both already! I've read some reviews of A Stolen Crown, in the which they talk about it being a fluffy fantasy novel. I disagree. While there are people like Bubby who prefer to plumb the hardcore depths of fantasy, this was just the right amount for me. Also, people like to dissect the whole thing in terms of world building and magic systems, etc., blah, blah, blah. But I say, stop thinking about it so much and just let this magical story carry you along.
O.K. Now hold your horses, sister. I enjoy fantasy in ALL its manifestations, from beautiful high-fantasy epics to fairytale retellings to urban steampunk dystopia and everything in between. And yes, I am one of the people who like to discuss world building and magic systems and so on and so forth but that's o.k. A good story is a good story, the end. A Stolen Crown is a really good story.
You also like to go to conventions where there are weird smelly people. Just saying.
Yeah. That's true. But so do half your children...
I blame you. There are meatier subjects addressed in A Stolen Crown, such as choice versus compulsion, the dynamics of friendship, and basic human rights. The characters are so dynamic - if you think you hate (or love) a character at the beginning, don't be surprised if that opinion has changed by the end. And Fangralee Forest - well that could be a whole post by itself!
I DO NOT want to be stuck in Fangralee Forest. Nope. No way. No thank you. No. I love all the traditional fantasy/fairy tale elements in A Stolen Crown, like the aforementioned dark forbidden forest, the prince under a curse, and the love spells. I even enjoyed the fighting and drama at the end. Kelsey Keating just pulls it all together in one fast-moving, enchanted journey. Go lock yourself in a room, Kelsey, and don't come out until you've written book three! Please!
A Stolen Wish! Scheduled to come out sometime this year (2017). But when? Book four, A Stolen Fate, is scheduled for 2018. Bubby and I hope Ms. Keating keeps cranking them out because we are solid fans.
