I really enjoyed the original duology and Once A King was such a wonderful addition! I loved how it focused on different characters and gave us a different perspective on the world. Plus there’s a wonderful hate-to-love romance. Even if you haven’t read the original duology, I think you’ll still enjoy this one (Although, fair warning, there are some spoilers).

Set in the same world as the previous books in A Clash of Kingdoms series comes a new adventure featuring everyone’s favorite king! Get ready to swoon, scream, and cheer because King Aodren and Lirra are here to fight for both the people they love and readers’ hearts.

Once a King begins right where Ever the Brave left off, but don’t worry this is considered a standalone book. Having read the previous books in this series, it did make it easy for me to fall back into this world and even enjoy characters that get mentioned. I loved both King Aodren and Lirra from the previous books so I was stoked when I heard that this would be told through their POVs!

Lirra is confident, independent, and driven. She’s a Channeler (women who have influence over one energy it being land, air, fire, water, or spirit) who can control the wind. She has dreams of performing in this year’s jubilee during the summit where all the kingdoms come together to show off her glider invention. But unfortunately, her father who is Malam’s Archtraitor, is currently in the business of selling secrets and Lirra has a duty to help him with it. She is incredibly loyal to the people she loves so of course this causes conflict in her life.

Then there’s King Aodren. My precious Aodren. He’s the youngest ruler and after the events from the previous books, he’s now left to unite the people of Malam. How can he get his people to accept Channelers after decades of being prejudice towards them? I loved reading from Aodren’s POV because it was touching how much he truly cares about all his people and how he only wants the best for Malam. He is such a pure character.

King Aodren and Lirra’s lives eventually intertwine and with each other’s help they hope to fight for what they want in life and the people they love. Their chemistry is unreal, too. I was a little curious of how they would mesh when I first heard about Once a King, but the romance was perfection! It was honest, real, and the slowest burn.

There is plenty of schemes, action (a lot of fun scenes once the summit begins), and magic! The plot was a lot more fun than previous books as well. Erin Summerill’s writing has grown since I first picked up Ever the Hunted. There are great description and the characters in this book were relatable. I love when an author’s writing can make me feel as if I’m on an adventure with friends and that’s exactly what Summerill did for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed Once a King! Everything wraps up nicely, not too outrageously perfect but satisfying. I wish I could have spent more time with Aodren and Lirra! The message behind Aodren’s hope for the future of his kingdom was inspiring. I just loved it all. If you’re in the mood for a great fantasy story with fun characters then pick this book up.

This book surprised me.  It took me a while to read.  I'm so used to contemporary romances that you don't need to read every word because there isn't any intrigue going on.  Well, young adult tend to make you have to read every word, so I thought I could finish it in time for her release, but was unable to.  But this one was so good I didn't quit.  I carved out some hours and finally finished it to a resounding, AWESOME!!!

Although this is actually book three in the series, you can read it as a stand alone.  I haven't read the first two books, but I got a pretty good picture of what happened in them to be able to follow along and enjoy this one.  It is really awesome, usually in young adult series you expect a cliff hanger and no HEA until after the series ends.  That is not the case with this one.  You get your HEA and no cliffhanger, but room to keep the series going.  I think that is because the world she built is really five different kingdoms, each unique in its own right so although they trade and have similar magic, they each have their own story to tell.  

We start off finding out about Lirra's life and her background until she's asked to deliver a message to King Aodren for her father.  She thinks her time with the King is over and is moving on until he asks for her help getting him to the summit melee.  Against her better judgement, and because of the carrot he dangles for her, she helps him.  That is the catalyst for their love story.  They are both working through a lot of pain from their pasts and what they feel are their futures that they must overcome to find happiness together.  

Both are betrayed in horrible ways along the way and find they must really trust one another, and that sometimes even family can play a part in keeping them separated.  King Aodren really learns to trust his fellow leaders and follow his instincts where people are concerned, while Lirra learns to trust herself and her family.  She also opens herself up to the King and finds her focus.  

I'm definitely giving this a 5 of 5 because it shows a lot of things I think a young adult can learn from.  1.  It's OK to ask for help.  2.  Believe in yourself, sometimes that's all you've got.  3.  Family is a bond that can't nor should be broken.  4.  Young love is the sweetest.  5.  Loyalty counts when the chips are down.  Also there is a Happily Ever After and no cliffhanger.  Thanks Erin for a great book.

I went into this NOT having read the other two books in the series and was just fine following the storyline. This is a strong stand alone novel within the Ever universe. The characters feel human, you will have empathy for them. The plot is very well paced and friendship is a running theme. The split POVs isn't my favorite, but works really well here to give you both sides to a divided kingdom.

Once a King carries on the story of King Aodren and his fight to bring peace between his people and the Channelers who were persecuted under his fathers reign until most of them escaped to other kingdoms. This novel takes on the topic of drug dealing, although in a fantastical way. Someone is creating an oil called Sanguine that seems to give the non magical Channeler abilities, but in fact causes them to go mad with anger and cause death. Lirra, who we met in the previous novel, investigates the mystery of who is distributing this drug, reporting her findings back to Aodren. Whew!

While all of this is going on, there is a tournament between all of the kingdoms champions. It is a sort of Olympics but with jousting, sword fights and blood. Needless to say, this fake Sanguine (the real Sanguine is a miraculous healing drug and really rare) is being taken by the champions. Needless to say, bad things happen.

I really liked Aodren in the previous book and had looked forward to reading his story. I wasn’t disappointed! It’s easy to admire a character that wants to make a big change like racial discrimination and hatred. The tournament setting gave him the chance to be a “hero” in a physical way, which balanced well with the honorable aspects to his character. It made him come to life more than in the previous novel where he seemed to be not fully fleshed out.

I was a little confused by the Lirra in Once a King. In Ever the Brave she was more of a hard ass so I was surprised by how youthful she seemed. Yes, she was still heroic in investigating Sanguine but there was another side to her in this novel that was sweet and young. It made the budding romance between she and Aodren more believable. The young honorable King with the beautiful uncertain maiden.

I liked the story overall and enjoyed Erin Summerill’s writing again. She’s a very consistent writer and I know what I”m going to get when I read one of her books. An enjoyable fantasy written with a lot of heart. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

This third book in the Clash of Kingdoms series follows different characters from the first two books, but picks up not long after those events. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed following Aodren and Lirra compared to the original main character. The first two books didnt do a whole lot for me, but Lirra and Aodren were some of my favorite side characters so I was curious to see if Id enjoy this book more with them as the focus. Aodren is a lonely young king searching for a way to unite the Channelers and giftless in his Kingdom after years of persecution. Lirra on the other hand is a girl torn between duty to her family and following her dreams of using her powers to benefit the giftless and inspire the gifted to use their skills in new ways.

Despite having similar goals of helping both the gifted and the giftless I was easily able to tell whose chapter I was following without having to check the chapter header. I liked how Lirra was fantastic at disguises and Aloren was an amazing fighter, but I find it frustrating when characters dont connect whats right in front of them. They both seem intelligent so it just doesn't make sense that they werent paying more attention to the symptoms of the people around them. I dont think they changed very much except Lirra deciding to follow her heart and Aloren learning his voice can start to unite his Kingdom. I found myself rooting and connecting with both characters, but I wasnt completely invested in their story.

The hate to love romance was wonderful. I found their banter and tension entertaining. My love for Lief persisted into this book. Lief is Lirras cousin, but we get to see him in this book because he's Alorens captain of the guard and his only friend. Lirra has an awesome female friendship that kind of takes a back seat to the romance which I found especially disapointing at the end when we have no idea if they still see each other. I was happy to see a nice stepmother for once. The scenes focusing on Lirras relationship with her stepmother were heartwarming. I also enjoyed how Lirras struggle with the belief that she needs to prove herself to her father was resolved.

Im usually pretty good at predicting the plot twists, but I loved that I wasn't able to figure out who the antagonist was until the reveal. Im still not sure if I find it completely believable, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. The mystery surrounding the channeler oil with its terrible side effects kept me engaged. Their search into the maker and supplier of the oil was compelling. I still got a little bored at times and I dont think it needed to be as long as it was. I was worried the addiction element wasnt going to be handled well, but nothing stood out to me as being offensive. Im also not a big fan of seeing main characters imprisoned, but thats just a matter of personal preference.

One of my favorite things about fantasy is the world and sadly I found this one kind of basic. The focus is more on the characters and the plot. It might suit readers who like light fantasy, but I prefer more unique and complicated world. The magic is based on wind, water, fire, earth and spirit elements. Its also passed down from mother to daughter, but can skip some children. I enjoyed the writing and found myself flying through it whenever I was actually motivated to read. I liked the minor Poison Study vibes I got from this story since it one of my favorite series. This was a companion standalone, but Id definitely recommend reading the other books first. Overall I thought it was a fun time and Im glad I read it.

If you’ve read my other reviews on the series thus far then you know how much I love Britta and Cohen. With that being said, I was really upset to find out that they weren’t in this book. I did enjoy Lirra and Aodren from Ever the Brave, plus the world that Summerill had created so I pushed them aside and read on. I’m so glad that I did. The story was just as rich and complex like the first two books in the series. While you technically don’t have to read the first two in order to enjoy this book, I recommend you do. You get a better understanding of the troubles that King Aodren face with Malam. Also, the personalities of Aodren and Lirra are already established. Aodren is desperate to bring channeler’s back to the Kingdom of Malam and is hoping to use the All Kingdom’s Summit to help create a sense of unity. The creation of a channeler substance is being traded in Malam. This substance may be harmful to the people who ingest it which is not helping the image that Aodren is trying to set. Unlike, the first two books, there aren’t many subplots. We immediately know what the problems our characters will be facing in this book. While I enjoyed the main and subplots in the first two books, it would have failed in this one so Summerill made a wise choice to focus on the main problem. However, I do felt that the lack of subplots created moments in the book that seemed repetitive. The repetitiveness included events that felt like they already occured, or the description of how the characters were feeling.

Lirra and Aodren were fantastic characters. I remembered really enjoying them from Ever the Brave and was happy to get more from them. Lirra is smart, cunning, and wildly devoted. She is so loyal to her family and in fantasy books, we don’t see that very often. There is always some sort of loyalty but Lirra would risk everything, even herself, in order to help. Aodren is smart, intuitive, and wildly devoted as well. He truly cares for the people of his kingdom and wants nothing but the best. He willingly puts himself in danger without a second guess if he feels like it will help his kingdom be better. In a lot of fantasy books we get the evil rulers so being able to have a King who truly cares was fantastic. I loved the dynamic between Lirra and Aodren. They definitely work well together. We got a lot of new characters in this story who were developed flawlessly as well. It was good to see some remaining characters which brought the feel of the previous books into this one.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Once A King by Erin Summerill was a great novel. Even though this could be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend reading the first two books. There was some repetitive scenes in this book, which took away from the main focus. However, the story was brilliantly done and I enjoyed learning more about the other kingdoms while seeing Malam try to be the Kingdom is deserves to be. Lirra and Aodren were great characters and I’m glad we were able to get to know them better. I highly recommend this book for those who like mystery in their fantasy books and filled with action.

Title: Once a King
Author: Erin Summerill
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 5 out of 5

The kingdom of Malam has a dark history of persecuting Channelers, women with magical ability, but now the young king, Aodren is seeking to end the persecution and unite his kingdom. But decades of hatred cannot be undone with words, and rumors of a Channeler-made drug are causing fears to burst into flame, and violence to erupt.

Lirra was born in Malam, but her father fled when she was an infant, after her mother was murdered. She distrusts Malam and its new young king, and wants only to perform in the magic showcase, her chance to let her talents shine. But the deadly drug makes a kingdoms-wide summit even more dangerous, and soon Lirra is forced to work with Aodren as they try to find the source of the mysterious drug—and who’s behind it—before Malam’s future is destroyed forever.

This is a standalone, but it’s linked to the other books in the Clash of Kingdoms series, and I had no trouble picking this up without reading the first two (which sometimes does NOT work out). The worldbuilding was fantastic, and the sense of history gave so many compelling layers to this story! The characters are struggling to work together despite the many things that should make that impossible, as they do everything they can to overcome years and a culture of hatred. Highly recommended!

Erin Summerill is an award-winning author. Once a King is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Once A King, by author Erin Summerill, is the third installment in the authors Clash of Kingdoms series. For those who have not read Ever the Hunted, or Ever the Brave, this story actually takes place shortly after the end of the second book in the series. The story is told through the split narratives of Lirra Barrett and Malam King Aodren, both of whom have unique personalities that totally come through. The chemistry between Aodren and Lirra is electric. Readers will love their building tension and slow-burn romance.

Aodren is a character who readers will have met in the first two installments in this series. In fact, he had a sort of relationship with Britta Flannery who has since exited this series stage left to enjoy her happy ever after. Lirra and Aodren also have a history which I won't spoil for you since you can read the book and figure it out yourself. He is a young king who is trying to do whatever he can to fix the problems that were started by his father, and continued by a Regent who hated Channeler's and wanted to remove them from his country.

Aodren has struggles to move his country forward. His country is still deeply divided, and there are those who still don't trust the Channeler's who have access to the five elemental magics. There is also a strange new black market version of a healing potion which is only supposed to be found in one country in particular. If that weren't enough, this year is the All Kingdom Summit which takes place every 5 years. Aodren hopes that he can convince those from Shaerdan, and other countries to open up their trade to his country and that he is absolutely set on rewriting the past mistakes of his country.

Lirra is known as the Archtraitors Daughter and is well versed in espionage, and knowing the right people. She is a Channeler who uses wind magic and was instrumental in helping save the day alongside Britta in Ever the Brave. Lirra has been living in Shaerdan since her father took her away from Malam after her mother was killed. Lirra's father sells secrets to the highest bidder, which doesn't exactly make him popular, but he's trustworthy enough that Aodren asks for his help which leads to Lirra's involvement in a stunning mystery where the villain can be anyone.

Lirra finds herself working side by side with Aodren to uncover the mystery behind the fake Sanguine hitting the trading routes and causing so much animosity that it is clear someone is trying to destroy Malam and its King. The chemistry between Aodren and Lirra is electric. Readers will love their building tension and slow-burn romance. This story is the perfect combination of political intrigue, mystery, and action as Aodren races to find the truth before it's too late, and Lirra finds herself up to her hip in intrigue, suspense, and a future that she wants, not one that is to follow in her father's footsteps.

When I read the synopsis of Once A King I found myself eager to read the other books in the series, Ever The Hunted and Ever The Brave. I have been wanting to read those books since forever and of course that after loving the synopsis of this book so much – because honestly IT’S AMAZING – I immediately requested an ARC of the book. I jumped out of emotion when I got approved to read the book and I immediately started to read it.

Once A King is for sure one of the best YA, Fantasy books I have read this year and I can say with certainty that is definitely one of my new all time favorite books. As soon as I started to read this wonderful story, within the first five pages of the book, I knew I was going to love it. I was immersed into a fantastical world that I didn’t want to leave.

This is a gripping and beautiful written story that made me feel part of it, everything seemed so real and I found myself cheering for Aodren and Lirra from the beginning. One of the many things I loved about this story is that we get to read from Lirra and Aodren’s POV, it definitely helped me to understand the characters and the story in a better way. Their personalities were different from one another but they definitely complemented each other and the swoons….

Once A King has slow-burn romance! At the beginning Lirra isn’t very fond of Aodren and specially his kingdom because it took her mother away from her but as Lirra and Aodren start to work together, to discover who’s behind the creation of a powerful and deathly oil, she realizes that he’s not the person everyone, including herself, thought he was. These two will definitely make you swoon more than once!

Apart from the romance, the friendship in this book was amazing. Lirra and Orli have been best friends since forever and after a certain event that happened in the previous book, Orli is not the same. Lirra was very supportive of her and was always there when she needed her and Orli was always there for Lirra as well, she helped her when she needed her the most. And just as Orli, Leif, Lirra’s cousin and Aodren’s best friend, was an incredible character. He was brave and loyal til the very end. They all had dreams, hopes, fears and struggles and I was glad they had each other for support.

There was a lot of magic, secrets, betrayals and twists! Erin surprised me till the very end and it was impossible to stop reading once I started, this is definitely a book you REALLY don’t want to miss. It’s incredible and after reading and loving Once A King so much, I really can’t wait to go to the bookstore to get Ever The Hunted and Ever The Brave, I want to read more about the characters that were mentioned in this book.

Although they are calling this the third in the series it is really a stand alone set in the same world as the Ever the Hunted books. Which was a good thing, because I had not read the other two books. Didn’t realize it was set in that world until I was ready to start it. So you can trust me when I say that you don’t need to have read the other books to enjoy this one.

The book is told through the alternate viewpoints of Lirra and Aodren. They are both solid and likable characters. Lirra is a wind channeler and also a sort of spy with her father. She has to take a message to King Aodren and thus begins their adventure together. Lirra is a pretty strong female character who loves her family and her country. Aodren will do anything to help his country heal from their violent past and war. I like him a lot, he was a strong king, but always had his doubts that he was doing the right thing. He often talked about the loneliness of being the king, which I thought was an interesting take.

The plot was a little bit mystery and a little bit adventure with a little romance thrown in. It was pretty fast paced and easy to read although a bit predictable. I could have used a bit more of an explanation about the Channelers and their magic system, it was not well explained, although I did figure out that it was elemental in nature. I know this is the third book, and all of that information was probably in the first two books, but because this is a stand alone it would have been nice to get a bit more info. The magic doesn’t play a huge role in the story, but it was important enough that I wanted to understand it better.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read, and if you have read the other books and liked them then you will like this one too. And if you haven’t read the other ones, this one will still entertain you.

4/5 Stars!

I received Once a King as an e-galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

I liked that the story of Once a King takes place so soon after the events of Ever the Hunted, yet does not include Britta. She is mentioned a couple times but isn't in the book. Which I think was a great idea to have her off on her own enjoying her happily ever after.

At first I wasn't the biggest fan of Aodren but as the story progressed I started to like him more and more. I liked that even though he's a long he's fighting his own battles. And working on fixing the chasm of division with the people in Malam.

I think the best part of Erin's writing is how well she makes sure even the side characters are humanized and that we actually feel for them, even if they have tiny parts.

I do highly recommend you read Ever the Brave and Ever the Hunted first, and I would recommend this book.

You do NOT have to read the first two books to read this one IMHO. I had read the Ever duology, but this is more of a stand-alone in the same universe as Ever the Brave. You won't have a problem if you start with this book and skip the other two, but reading the other 2 will make it more fun, but that's just a cherry on the top. I really loved both of these characters fighting for a common good, and growing together from friendship and on to something more! Loved the split POV's and I really love the world Erin Summerill has built in Once A King! Highly recommend!

This was by far my favorite in the series. I know it’s technically a spin-off from the first two books, but it felt more like a final ending to the series. I think I also liked this a lot more because it was about my favorite character, Aodren. I loved him and I was glad to see him fight for his cause for peace. That and I liked that he had a love interest that wasn’t just one sided. He needs some love in his life, haha. Overall, I felt this was a good conclusion to the loose ends from the last book, Ever the Brave. I also loved reading about my favorite characters Aodren and Leif again.

I tried to start this book multiple times, but it felt like I was jumping into a story that was already half started. I had read that Once A King could be read without reading the others and I'm not too sure about that. There was a bit too much-assumed knowledge about the world. However, besides that, it came across very well written and a well-developed world. However, it was not for me. Thank you for the ability to give this a chance.

Together, two unlikely allies will try to bring in a new world of peace and trust while righting the wrongs of the past. As the young king, Aodren and a young channeler, Lirra struggle with their emotions, the political machinations of the kingdom and the people’s fear of magic in any form, they will uncover who is behind the black market version of a magical healing potion. But will they be in time to save its victims?

Told in two POVs, Erin Summerill takes us into another world in ONCE A KING where we can get lost in a story so well-told, we can forget this isn’t real. Wonderful characters, good, evil and misguided will take center stage in scenes that are vibrant and alive. The tentative friendship between Lirra and Aodren is so positive and so realistic, especially when their misunderstandings or misconceptions lead to personal enlightenment and trust.

If you like characters that work against the odds for a brighter future and acceptance of all, this tale is sure to have you, hook, line and sinker! Definitely can be read as a standalone to this series, so newbies like me can sit back and never feel lost!

I received a complimentary ARC edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Series: A Clash of Kingdoms - Book 3
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (December 4, 2018)
Publication Date: December 4, 2018
Genre: Fantasy YA
Print Length: 464 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Well, goofy me, I read this one out of order. Like, completely out of order because it became available on NetGalley. Anyhow, I dug it! I like flawed characters and, while these 2 were a bit pretty for my tastes, they were definitely flawed! And they made me want to read like crazy! I finished it in the middle of re-reading another series and it proved to be exactly the break I needed. I plan to look for other stuff by this author, as I like the flow of her books.

I have been waiting for the arrival of this book since I finished Ever the Brave two years ago and all of our teen readers have fallen in love with the Clash of the Kingdoms series and can not stop talking about it.

Once a King continues with Adoren and now the King that wants to destroy the dark legacy of his father and bring peace to his kingdom. Then we have Lirra a descendant of the Channelers with the power of wind set with a mission and duty to fullfill her family's prophecy. Adoren and Lirra join one another but can they trust eachother and are they out for the same purpose? Will the people trust Adoren and bring peace to the kingdom once and for all?

This is why I became a librarian, I love reading works that our young adult readers can relate to and love. We especially love series that take a unique spin on fantasy tales that have a few twists and turns and do not get to the end right away because we like to be guessing throughout each chapter and imagine what it will be like in the end. The readers will easily relate to Adoren and Lirra not just because of their personalities but with the obstacles and struggles they face as they bring their kingdom back to what it was united!

This along with the rest of the Clash of Kingdoms series will find their place on our shelves and will be circulated a lot and that is why we are giving Once a King 5 stars!

I do wish I had known this was the third in this series! I have had the A Clash of Kingdoms series on my radar for quite a while now but hadn't had the chance to pick up the first one. Imagine my surprise when starting this one - the netgalley description does not even hint at this being the third. Sigh. I wish there was a way to write my review without leaving a star rating, as once I realized this was the third I immediately put it down - I don't want spoilers before I read the first one!

Once a King was a truly incredible companion novel. This book is set after the events of Ever the Brave. While it’s possible to read this without having read the other books, you’ll get a better sense of all the characters involved if you have. I was really excited to get more from Aodren’s point of view because I’ve been cheering for him since Ever the Hunted. I loved the way we got to see the country of Malam trying to recover from years of fear and prejudice. This book was filled with the social aftermath of hatred, and the setting and political climate was perfectly described. I loved this book as much as the others.

4.5 ⭐️ for more in this in lovely world