The Trouble With Kings Review

348 pages

Princess Flian finds herself the unwilling object of desire of three royals. Is the one she wants a villain-or a hero? Waking up in a strange place, Flian Elandersi at first doesn't know who she is. One wicked prince tells her she is secretly engaged to an even more wicked king who wants to marry her right away. But before that happens, yet another wicked prince crashes through a window on horseback to sweep her off her feet. Memory returns, and Flian realizes that all any of them seem to want is her considerable wealth, not her pleasant-but-ordinary self. She longs to escape the barracks-like, military atmosphere and return to civilization and her musical studies. Flian endures another abduction, this time in the middle of a poetry reading. Who is the villain? Prince Garian Herlester-languid, elegant, sarcastic? Prince Jaim-he of the dashing horsemanship? Or King Jason Szinzar, whose ambiguous warning might be a threat? Flian decides it's time to throw off civilization and take action. The problem with action is that duels of wit turn into duels of steel-and love can't be grabbed and galloped away.

Review:
This would have been a much better story if the heroine was more of a strong presence instead of a mostly weak one. I really wanted her to be more proactive and intelligent but she was a pretty boring character. I can't say that I really liked any of the guys in the novel either since there wasn't much about them to love. The three royal men were all pretty creepy in their own way so it was difficult for me to say I liked one. I did start to enjoy the romance between Flian and Jason but it progressed a bit too quickly for me to completely love it. What kept me reading was the hope that somehow this story would get better and Flian would develop more as a character but didn't happen so I was left feeling pretty disappointed by the end. I can't say that I would recommend this novel because I didn't enjoy it  but that doesn't mean someone else won't.