The Orchid Throne – Jeffe Kennedy

Welcome to the world of Forgotten Empires from award winning author Jeffe Kennedy that begins with The Orchid Throne.

A PRISONER OF FATE

As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Euthalia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…

A PRINCE AMONG MEN

Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Euthalia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 4 Stars

First of all, can we just take a moment to bask in the GLORY that is this cover? Seriously it is so freaking stunning…I just want to stare. Not only is the cover gorgeous, the synopsis had me hooked immediately.

I think what I loved the most about The Orchid Throne is the reality of the flawed characters. Con and Euthalia are both flawed in their own ways and reading as they faced these flaws together and worked to overcome them while uniting in their goal really got me invested in not only the overall plot, but the characters themselves.

The world building was really intricate and well done, and the villain was ridiculously easy to hate. Nothing ruins a good book like a villain that the reader feels indifferent towards – fortunately that was NOT an issue in The Orchid Throne. I hated the Emperor so so sooo much and almost immediately.

While I did overall enjoy the book, it was slow to start and took me a while to get into. The pacing was a bit off for the first third or so of the book, but once it got going, it was impossible to put the book down. The plot is so well set up for the next installment of the series that I am dying to get my hands on it! I will absolutely be continuing this one.