This was such a refreshing fantasy stand-alone among all the long fantasy series. Don’t get me wrong I love a long fantasy series but when done well it is nice to get one I. Just a single book. This one was done exceptionally. I felt invested and really enjoyed the turn of events of the kingdom and how it originated on magic that was stolen and the consequences of this stolen magic.

The narrators did a very good job. I felt like they took me along on the journey and never felt a disconnect.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio arc of this book, all opinions expressed here are my own.

The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme is the first book I have read by this author and I wasn’t disappointed.

The King
The Heir
The Spare
The Usurper

In a land of stolen magic can true magic be victorious? This standalone fantasy tells the tale of the lonely Prince Alac and the vintner’s daughter Maralyth. Who is the rightful ruler? And can love prevail in the end?

I don’t want to give much away, but safe to say I loved this book. I found it reminiscent of Morgan Rhodes Falling Kingdoms series (which I also loved.) Told in dual perspectives narrated by Kirby Heyborne (one of my favourite male narrators) and Suzy Jackson who also did an admirable job. The only downside for me was the audio volume kept fluctuating for some reason.

Well written with intriguing characters this was a 4.5 star read for me. I look forward to reading more books by this author. The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme is out now.

Story of the book-
Maralyth, a winemaker's daughter, has a mystery on her hands. She was born with a magical power that the majority of people assumed had been misplaced or taken a long time before, and she uses it to aid the grape plantation. With a single murmur, she will have the organic ingredients ready and the grape plantations solidified. Her mother ran over her powers and told her that she could never do it again because if she did, her life would be in jeopardy. About the fact that her mother's absence and direction caused some to hear about the mystery on a regular basis, Mara's whole world is turned upside down. When she is kidnapped and told that she is the rightful beneficiary, a young lady who never wanted anything than to be an effective winemaker gets the seat thrust upon her. Mara must choose between taking the seat and being a chosen chief over the ebb and flow willing dictator, while her everyday life and the experiences of those she loves are jeopardized. When she is faced with the brutal reality of the takeover and sees the attractive and kind sovereign, her feelings alter. Will Mara be able to reveal her insider knowledge? Will she put her feelings aside and take the seat?
My review-
The Stolen Kingdom is told from the perspectives of two protagonists, Alac and Mara, and focuses on their thoughts and feelings. I like how you'll really get to know the two players – their motivations, desires, and interests – and then the possibilities are endless. Mara is kind, steadfast, and always considers others deeply. Alac is benevolent, trustworthy, and notable. He cares about people a lot and doesn't want to run if it means fighting a boring power. I believe the dual views have a legitimate inside and outside perspective on both Mara and Alac. It also demonstrates how comparable and acceptable they are. Alac and Mara's blossoming relationship is both sweet and perplexing. Regardless, it's not impossible to get behind this enemies-to-sweethearts feeling. Mara and Alac are both brilliant, brave, and kind. Winemaking is something they all like and are interested in. Mara, in particular, has a long and illustrious history of vineyards and winemaking. Her power responds to living things because it's in her blood. The two characters still seem to be trapped in their current situation. Alac is surrounded by obscurity and people who crave power (and enchantment). Mara's actions are limited by the individuals who need to usurp the position, as she is compelled to be essential for an upsetting undertaking. Dread, insecurity, and entrapment feelings bind the pair together, as do their similar great qualities. In their world of political interest and power, Mara and Alac believe they will behave instinctively with one another, which is anything but outlandish. The enigmatic parts of the plot are fascinating, and they include the well-known battle between greatness and insidiousness. Good magic and bad wizardry, like great people and terrible people, contribute to the story's activity, resources, and character development. Untruths, tactical chicanery, double-crossings, and old insider reality, many of which are associated with wizardry, add to the storyline. Alac and Mara are opposed to dim magic and all it entails, and they must find out how to rid their world of it. In either case, this seems to be nearly impossible.
No cliché dialogues like ‘I forgot that I was holding my breath’ or ‘she purred’ but this is a solid fantasy story with romance blended with thrill and adventure. If you are looking for mature main characters and an amazing story that is one of a kind, then definitely go for this book.
I am anticipating a sequel of this!
Finally, that you, Net gallery for providing me the ARC audiobook for this book. I loved reading it.
Cover of the book-
I just want to sit with a warm cup of coffee and admire the cover of this book. The dark green color, the golden cup, and the vines coming out of it – all hold significance in the story and it is so beautiful! The cover is a blend of royal and magic where something dark is hidden. Amazing!
Rating of the book- 4/5
Rating of the cover- 4.5/5

Is it bad? No. Is it good? Not particularly. There’s just absolutely nothing new or original - or even very interesting. I could have just listened to The Red Queen or one of a dozen others of similar genre. That, in and of itself wouldn’t preclude me from “liking” the novel. However, there is too much that jumps around and leaves holes that don’t make sense. If I was more interested, I probably would have cared more, but honestly, I kept “zoning out” and missing parts, but not caring enough to go back. One minute, when he first meets her, the prince derisively refers to Maralyth as “a bit on the plump side” and later says that he fell in love with her the moment he met her. Conveniently selective memory, similar to Maralyth seemingly forgetting to even mention her “beloved” father for major chunks of the book.
Speaking of Maralyth - I don’t think the author could have been less creative with names ... Zeth instead of Seth? Maralyth instead of Maralyn? (Oh, wait, that’s her “undercover” name. Oy!) Alac instead of Alec?
Oh, by the way, I guess it’s I must mention ... making sure readers know that the men have long hair was apparently very important to the author because she mentions it about 40,000 times. (Yes, there is a very brief mention about its significance for one specific character, but other than that, it’s just annoyingly repeated over and over.)

This was a fun YA fantasy with a great magic system and characters that were easy to connect with! With a fast-paced plot, this is a story that a reader can fly through. I would have enjoyed a little more time to have been spent building the world and the magical system, but overall this was a good read.

I think that readers that enjoy stand-alone YA stories with magic and some romance will enjoy this!

To start off, I believe Jillian Boehme is a good writer and I will keep an eye out for everything that she publishes in the future. I just think she missed the mark with this one.
The book itself was decent although I think it would have been better as a duology so things would have time to be more fleshed out. Unfortunately, the pace was the biggest failing in this novel. Although the author did also fall into the trap of telling too much and showing too little. Additionally, the side characters felt more realized than the main characters. I could track the motivations of almost everyone but the protagonists.
One of the most redeeming qualities though was the ending, I feel Boehme's writing really got the opportunity to shine in the last 1/6th of the book.

(Mild spoilers) The Stolen Kingdom reminded me a bit of The Remnant Chronicles, with the political intrigue and expansive kingdoms and royal magic. It’s starts off interesting enough, with a girl working on her father’s vineyard and dreaming of more, and a second-born prince who is terrified of what his royal family has become with the dark magic that possesses them. When it was revealed that the main character also had magic, and then is revealed as a secret heir to the throne, I was a little disappointed. I wanted her to have magic of her own, not because she was royalty. The book has a lot of other generic fantasy tropes too, and the writing was cheesy at some points. The best part of the book for me was the complex character relationships. It was what kept me interested. This is a true enemies-to-lovers story, in which the two lovers are actually enemies, opposing each other on a battlefield. The narrators did a good job, but I was not overly impressed. Overall I was entertained, but I would probably not read it again.

The Stolen Kingdom is great standalone YA fantasy novel, which I appreciate for it's rarity these days. The world building was great for a standalone novel and the narrators did a great job brining the characters to life. The elements of the book like enemies to lovers and teen girl finding out she's long-lost royalty are overused, but Boehme incorporates her world and some interesting twists in the plot to keep it from becoming too cloying. Overall it was a very enjoyable listen and I'll be on the lookout for other books by Jillian Boehme.

This was a pretty good YA fantasy standalone. It is kind of an overused plot. A simple girl finds out that she is actually a princess and plots to take over the kingdom. But there is a reason this plot is overused.. its good! It's one of my favorite story arcs. This one has Maralyth, a girl who has works on her fathers winery. She has the power to make the grapes grow. She has been told her whole life to hide this gift.. until she is kidnapped. She finds out that she is actually heir to the throne.

The story was pretty face paced and I loved the characters. Mara came across naive at times but she grows quickly. I think that there were times where just a little bit of communication could have fixed alot of the issues with the love interest. But other than that the book was very entertaining!

I had an advanced audiobook copy and I really enjoyed the narration. The narrator portrayed the characters perfectly!

Big thanks to NetGalley and TorTeen for providing me with a copy of this book! This did not affect my review.

I was cover whoring again and requested The Stolen Kingdom on NetGalley because of its cover (obviously). And let me tell you, the book did not disappoint. Lots of aspects of the book are quite common in other fantasy books, like a bad king, protagonist finding out she's royalty and insta-love. That did not make this book any less enjoyable though!

Fortunately, the book has some unique characteristics as well! For example the fact that stolen magic changes the personality of the one who stole it, or that the book contained both enemies-to-lovers and insta-love. The chain of events made an incredibly big impression on me as well. The protagonist's actions were really admirable. I wish I could elaborate, but that would spoil a big part of the story so I won't. ;)

What I didn't like however, was everything wine related. It was given quite a big role in the book, but I couldn't find any added value in it, other than the fact that it was their common interest. I would've put less emphasis on the wine, or given it a different role in the book (like extra symbolism or something like that).

The narrators of the audiobook did an amazing job! I loved how two narrators were used, and it added a lot to the story. I didn't get distracted while listening to the audio, and that is one of the biggest compliments I can give to audiobooks.

In short, it was an enjoyable fantasy standalone. It's not one of the best books I've read, but I definitely enjoyed it! The book had a slow start, but I couldn't put it down as soon as I got into it. It had an interesting mixture of insta-love and enemies-to-lovers that I'm sure lots of readers will enjoy!

Maralyth is a vine yards daughter who has magic and ends up being kidnapped so she can take over Perin Faye as queen. Alac is the spare and a second born prince to the king of Perin Faye. He would love to work on a vineyard. His brother is getting married and his father gives him an amulet to keep him protected until his brother can create a heir. Maralyth comes to the castle and the two get to know each other. Will she be able to over throw the king and his children without getting attached to Alac?
I really liked the relationship between Alac and Maralyth. I do feel like there could have been more magic and not so predictable. Still a good read.

I received this book from netgalley for an honest review.
#NetGalley
This was a really great race it helped get me out of a book swamp. Adventure in anything else to be really possibly one in a young adult novel.

WOW!! I love this book so much that I had to buy a hardcover copy right away. The story is just fantastic and so original. Of course the cover is beautiful too.

I do very much highly recommend this book.

I love fantasy books, I really think the storyline had potential but for me, it missed some things. The world-building was lacking, not expecting a huge description but a bit more to really get into the world, the secondary characters were undeveloped and I really wanted a romantic connection but that want was felt a bit flat as well, I know it's a YA but the emotions I wanted to feel weren't as strong. The story was entertaining so I read it all, it's standalone, the blurb intrigued me enough when I got the book, I think if it's a bit reworked it would be a better book. That's just my perspective, but also I've been reading very well-written fantasy novels lately, and perhaps comparing even unconsciously had me rating this way. The audiobook was narrated by Kirby Heyborne and Suzy Jackson and I think it was better than just reading it, they both nailed their characters.

ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review
I am so glad I picked this book up on a whim. The Stolen Kingdom was such a fun and magical read I was really blown away. As someone who does not seek out Fantasy I thoroughly enjoyed this book even with a common type plot. The author did a great job creating her own kingdom and magical rules. I liked the main characters and the small bit of romance thrown in, it added another element to the story that made it much more interesting and enticing. I was worried at times things would be too predictable and I am so happy I was proven wrong. The first half of the book was a lot of plot building and character development and then all of a sudden life blows out of control and became very fast paced which kept me on the edge of my seat. I'm almost sad this is only a standalone because I would love to read on and see how both the MC's live on in the 'new' world. At the same time I'll keep this author on my radar because this book made for a really exciting read!

I love reading standalone fantasies and I so glad I found this one because sometimes not all of them are good and well done.
This book had everything: a forbidden romance that turned out to be enemies to lovers; the well-introduced magic system, even if the author did not add depth to the magic; secret bloodlines and betrayals, and so much more.
From both MCs, my favorite was Maralyth. Having had her life changed in a few days, she handled it well and was not an annoying mc that doesn't want to change the kingdom for the better, and all she wants is to go home. No, she grabs her chance to make her word a better place and doesn't let go, even when a handsome prince cats her eye. Said prince, Alac, was an okay character. During most of the book, I saw him as a spoiled child that complained a lot without having the courage to change anything. I am glad he changed and I could enjoy his character, especially toward the end when feelings were acknowledged. The romance was present but it was not the main plot, I would say it was 65% fantasy and 35% romance.
Regarding the plot, the book was so well-thought and strategized, and no holes were left and with each page read, I just wanted to read more so I could find out what was going to happen next. It was addictive, with a well-developed plot and characters mixed with lies and love, and I wish I could have more.

I read the book and listened to it on audio at the same time and I so glad I did because I read it so much faster, Both narrators could not have voiced Maralyth and Alac better, especially the narrator for Maralyth, her voice was exactly the one I imagine the Mara to have. The only complaint I have of the audio is the when I added speed to it, the sound was duplicated so there was an eco while listening to it, but overall, it was perfect.

The Stolen Kingdom: 3/5

Thank you, Tor Teen and NetGalley, for providing me with a physical and audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I heard of this book, I had to have it. We have royalty, magic, court intrigue, secret bloodlines, AND forbidden love all wrapped up in an extremely digestible YA Fantasy standalone. The Stolen Kingdom is perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Shadows Between Us.

The Stolen Kingdom follows two perspectives: Maralyth, a daughter of a winemaker who has secret magic in her veins, and Alac, the reluctant second son to the throne of Perin Faye. When Maralyth is kidnapped, she learns the magic in her blood proves she is the rightful heir to the Perin Faye throne, and the current monarch has stolen the magic from her bloodline and has twisted it into a catalyst for destruction and death. Maralyth is thrown into a scheme to plot the king's and his entire bloodlines, assassination, and take the throne for herself. This all changes, though, due to betrayal, ulterior motives, and of course, an unexpected attraction to Alac.

The Stolen Kingdom plot is absolutely incredible, and I binged it in a matter of hours. I was so enthralled by these characters, the royalty, the unique magic system, and how deep these bloodlines run. I fell in love with the world of Perin Faye and their obsession with wine and spirits. It is a perfect combination of The Cruel Prince and The Shadows Between Us.

Where this fell apart, for me, was the execution. I believe this standalone had the potential to be five stars since the plot was THAT GOOD. Unfortunately, the writing was repetitive at some points, specifically regarding the magic system. The reader quickly picks up on how the magic works, but the book reiterates the rules at almost every possible chance.

We have a fabulous setup at the beginning of the book that really pulls the reader in, but it unraveled towards the second half throughout the end. Once the plot had finally fully taken shape, which was already about halfway, the book moved so fast that it felt underdeveloped. As I was reading, I genuinely felt like paragraphs of explanation were missing.

The parts that could have been shortened felt dragged out to explain this further, but the imperative and intriguing plot lines were breezed over. One of these parts is at the very beginning when Maralyth is kidnapped, and she agrees to assume the role of queen and assassinate the current king along with his entire bloodline, for almost nothing in return. At the same time, she was reluctant one chapter before. This felt highly unrealistic, even within the context of the world. Furthermore, at the very end, where we get a stunning final moment, or climax, it's simply over the next sentence, and everybody is unscathed. There are no repercussions, nobody is hurt, and the characters shrug it off and walk away like nothing happened. This was an extreme juxtaposition to the paragraph before when everything was falling apart. These pieces happened throughout the entire book and led to the world feeling unbelievable.

Overall, if you are looking for a fast-paced read with an intriguing plot and romance, I believe The Stolen Kingdom is worth it. The potential is definitely there, and I think if this book was a bit longer and more fleshed out, it could have checked all the boxes and been incredible.

--

Audiobook:

I am a complete fan of Suzy Jackson. I think her work is phenomenal, and she did NOT disappoint in The Stolen Kingdom. She really brought Maralyth to life, and I was obsessed with her chapters. Kirby Heyborne, on the other hand, let me down. His storytelling was unnatural, and it took me out of the story because I felt like I needed to roll my eyes at some of his inflection. It felt over and underexaggerated at the same time. Overall, this was a great listen, and I think the audiobook adds a lot that contributed to my enjoyment.

Thank you to #Netgalley and RB Media for the advance listener copy of #TheStolenKingdom, in exchange for my honest opinion.

First off, happy release day to Jillian Boehme!

I got an ALC copy of this audiobook just in time for a solo roadtrip, and it did not disappoint. This is the first book of Jillian Boehme's I've experienced and I really enjoyed this standalone fantasy novel. Lots of magic and palace intrigue and plots and secrets and twists. The narrators did an excellent job in bringing Mara & Alec's voices and Ms. Boehme's written words to life. I found the pacing and action really good and thoroughly enjoyed this character driven story.

Standalone YA fantasy's are few and far between, which is why I was so excited when I got approved for this advanced audiobook. At least until I saw that I only had 3 days before it released and I began to panic! That panic was short lived. The second I started listening I found that I was unable to stop and I managed to devour the entire book in one day!

The Stolen Kingdom follows Maralyn and Alec, one a wine makers daughter with a dangerous secret, the other the third in line to a throne and unspeakable trove of stolen magic. Everything changes the day someone throws a sack over Maralyn's head and whisks her away to unwillingly aid in a coup.

I found this story to be a well written and absolutely capturing adventure that had me losing track of time. The two main characters were the sweetest individuals, and I couldn't help it but to find myself routing for them! While I do agree with others about the predictability of this storyline, I actually found myself shocked by some of the twists of espionage and betrayal!

One of the biggest facts that brought down my overall rating was the lack of world building. I am all for a character driven book, but I still felt like I just did not know enough about the kingdom of Perin Faye to invest myself in its world 100%.

Overall, I am giving this this book 4 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend The Stolen Kingdoms to fans of magic, espionage and low-key enemies to lovers, especially to those who enjoyed The Red Queen or Ruined.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for the alc of this book!

Maralyth has wanted nothing more from her life than to be able to work her secret magic on her father's vineyards. Alac wants nothing to do with the dark magic his bloodline has stolen, making themselves kings. When Mara finds out she is the true heir to the throne, her and Alac are set at odds with each other even though they feel something else.

I really loved the writing in this book. It was captivating and flowed well. I felt it did a good job not info dumping but still providing necessary world building!

I really loved the two main characters and thought they had great charisma. The plot was intriguing, even though the heavy focus on vineyards seemed a little odd to me.

I really loved Mara's magic, and would have liked to see her use it in even more ways.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read, and the audiobook narrators were great!

Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence