the conquerors princess
i am literally 1 and a half chapters in and i am HOOKED

mom and dad were enemies to lovers? evil stepmother? little sister has powers? i need answers

forced marriage is one of my favorite tropes tbh

“choice is essential to me” we stan a feminist icon

wait nevermind this feels a little like assault. he didn’t force her but that’s still…. eh

okay i lied i think beating my best friends ass for a woman i just met may be a new fav trope lmao why is it so funny to me?

oh so this is detailed smut — nice

very emotionally immature main character // evan needs to grow up for someone who’s been conquering countries for 12 years

more smut than plot and i LOVE IT

i like alternating view points but the switching between every chapter is slightly tedious

i LOVE a mc who is illiterate and i have no idea why

if this man doesn’t say i love you back i swear to god

oh my god the slaves being reunited with their families i’m SOBBING legit ugly crying

okay what a happy ending i love it

I loved this book. I thought Charlie and Evan were great together and we all know that the Grumpy/sunshine relationships are some of my favorites. The writing was smooth and captivating, you can definitely see the evil step-mother coming through and I am sure she is poisonings the father. But seeing the build in tension, and then Evan's men slowly learning to trust Charlie as she became a part of them was so nice. I can't see where the story goes in the next book.

I cannot express to you how much I fell for these characters.

Evan has the range of “I am what they made me. And now, they will see firsthand what they created.” to “It’s her. She’s my home, the one I never dared to dream I would have.” and we love a simp in this house

Princess Charlotte is forced into marriage with the enemy in order to save her family. The Conqueror's Princess is introduced as a fantasy warfare novel, with an intense storyline of a princess being forced to make a decision for her people.
Obviously expected a romance storyline of between enemies, but I mostly hoped for a more fantasy focused storyline. Nope.
While the beginning was very fast paced to get the story started, the rest of the story was also fast paced. The focus was mostly on the romance for the first quarter of the book (which is all it took me to drop it). The love was too instant (no slow-burn).
There were major character flaws too. Evan was the enemy, who was secretly not so bad (typical). He played the nice knight-in-shining armor role, but in reality he was the morally-gray character gone wrong. Charlotte started out as the fierce princess, who isn't going to back out a fight, but she later (like 2 chapters later) becomes the (useless) damsel that needs saving and protection ALL the time. I mean she very much hates this man, until he tells her that he values consent (the bare minimum) and all of a sudden he's her soulmate.
This may sound really cruel since it seem I have nothing good to say, but it really was a huge let down. The book was just a NEW ADULT romance novel disguised as a fantasy.
The good thing is that it really is very fast-paced and easy to get through. It was the not-so strong characters that drove me to not finish the book. I very much wanted to like this book but just couldn't.

I started reading this and very much enjoyed it. But the more I kept reading I just couldn't keep interested. The love story was instant love and it kind of through me off. Therefore, I did not finish this book.

This book has a dynamic between the characters that I have been craving for so long! Forced marriage between a royal and an enemy! It is done so well within this novel. It is honestly one of the best enemies to lovers romance that I have read.

Charlotte has strived and fought to control her own life and choices for so long. She doesn't let anyone take the power she has worked so hard to acquire. Her kingdom means the world to her and she would do anything to keep it safe. Even if it meant having to face one of their biggest enemies.

Evans's life has been one hardship after another. All he strives for now is for a free world. He has had a disdain towards and for royals since he was five when he was sold into slavery. Now to achieve the one thing he wants most he will have to become what he hates most- a royal. When Evan rips away all of the power of choice she has with one simple threat to marry him or he'd kill her father and still marry her either way.

These two have such an amazing dynamic that starts with them despising each other to eventually not wanting to be without the other. Something neither of them expected to happen.

So much was so well done within this story. One part that made me beyond happy to see included within with story was the mute general and the use of sign language being incorporated within the story. It's not something added into a story very often. I couldn't get enough of this story. I truly love it so much. I need more like it in my life. Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this phenomenal book in exchange for an honest review.

I actually rather enjoyed this book. My only issue is that it is so darn long and nothing huge ever happens. It's impressive when a book over 500 pages keeps my attention, so it's even more so here because it is a very low key read. Even the people who are written to be bad people with nefarious goals have absolutely nothing happen with them. And in one case it was an unbelievably huge surprise that they actually walked away without doing anything .

I really liked Evan and Charlotte together. I was so thrilled that Charlotte quickly accepted that what she had heard about Evan was not true and she was more than willing to give him a chance based on her own observations. It was great to see these two actually act like adults and talk things out when they had fights. Charlotte was very understanding of Evan and the way he has lived his life so she accepts the way he is. Evan constantly doubts that he is ever going to be good enough for Charlotte, and he fights himself constantly between his desire for her and doing what is right for his men, but he never ceases to always try and put her happiness first.

When Evan was very young, he was ripped away from his parents and sold into slavery. When he was 16 he killed his master and freed himself. Raising an army of other freed slaves and even some nobility that held the same ideals as he did. Him and his army travel the kingdom enforcing the outlawing of slavery by sword. The end game is for Evan to marry a princess so that he will be the future king. Then he can set about changing the kingdom from a place of power and provide a home for all the slaves he has freed and who have fought so hard for him and their freedom. And that's where Charlotte comes in. She was supposed to just be pawn to him, but that all changes the very first night.

Charlotte is not a spoiled, arrogant princess. She makes a point to know her people, she studies and works hard for them. She wants to be better for them. She even outlawed slavery in her own city when it was the main form of income. Because what she has always valued was choice. For years she has put off marrying because she wanted to choose her husband for love, not political reasons. But when Evan the black surrounds her city and demands her hand in marriage in exchange for the lives of her family, she finds her choice suddenly stolen from her. All of what Charlotte has heard paints Evan as a monster and she dreads what her life is about to become. But it doesn't take long for her to see Evan as he really is and to already start falling for him.

I typically hate inta-love, but it didn't bother me here. I don't know why. These two both go very quickly from hating one another to being completely infatuated with each other. But it just somehow worked. Maybe I'll just chalk it up to this world having such a thing as true soul mates. We'll go with that.

Really, nothing truly exciting ever happens here. There was a lot of just normal stuff we read. Like Evan having to leave because a city is floundering without the income from slaves, or when he has to leave because he hasn't heard from someone he send on a mission for far too long. We get Charlotte starting classes as way to try and get Evan's men to accept her. When these two are together they walk thru the city, they discuss what happened when they were apart, and they get to know each other...in more ways than one. As a side note, I loved how Charlotte loved Evan getting rougher and rougher with her. When you think that something big is actually going to happen, it just doesn't. I honestly don't understand why I enjoyed this as much as did. So that's a plus for the book I guess. The ending was good, with Charlotte clearly making her choice known to all her people and, more importantly, to her husband.

I'm not sure if I would want to check out the next book. The relationship forming between Thalia and the Mountain seemed really awkward to me. Perhaps I missed it, but I don't remember if we ever learned the sisters' ages. And I always felt like Thalia was around 16. So that's what I'm picturing with her. While the Mountain I see as this giant of a man in his mid 20's. Now, I could be wrong on both accounts but it always just seemed off to me. But I also don't know if I'd want to read another 500+ page book at such a slow and steady pace. Guess we'll see.

3.5 rounding up for the goodreads.

**I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

This book hooked me from the first few chapters! Immediate enemies to lovers with an arranged marriage trope.

It’s an NA fantasy romance with spice!

The beginning had me flying through pages but the pacing definitely slowed down in the middle and end. It felt pretty repetitive and the MCs kind of got annoying with miscommunication and inability to make a decision.

However, the characters were really well rounded and set up for many more stories to add to this world the authors have built. It was a really happy, lovely story

Evan the Black; A name feared throughout the entire region of Aellolyn. Notoriously ruthless in his conquering of kingdoms, his final conquest is Candonia. Rather than eliminate the royal family, he forcefully marries the heir to the throne, Charlotte. Seeing no way out without risking her loved ones, she begrudgingly complies. Unfortunately for Evan, she still has a few surprises up her sleeves. She refuses to be controlled, even by her new, admittedly handsome, and charming husband.

One of the best elements of The Conquerer's Princess is how it depicts the long-term repercussions of war and slavery. Even when the world begins to improve, some obstacles come up that need solving. It shows the logistics of meaningful change and that it's worth it, even when it's challenging. There are some endearing moments of triumph when people overcome their pasts and work towards their future. My favorite example: when one of Evan's top soldiers became mute, everyone learned sign language to communicate with him.

Readers may not enjoy the pacing of the love story. They go from hating each other to intense feelings within a few days of their meeting, and it leaves no room for tension to build. It also falls victim to the "experienced rake man and virginal bride" trope. Additionally, most of the drama and angst are simply a result of miscommunication. The two main characters could sit and have an honest conversation and eliminate half the plot.

While there are a few issues, it's still an enjoyable read, with lots of heart and heat. So I rate The Conquerer's Princess 3.5 out of 5 stars. It's a romance novel with fantasy and plot, rather than being plot-heavy with a bit of romance. Overall, it's a fluffy, angsty, and adorable story, complete with realistically flawed characters.

The Conquerer's Princess is a new adult novel, so it's strictly for an audience of 18+. I would say it's mildly explicit, with the intimate scenes centered around the emotions involved rather than the graphic details. If you're looking for a cute and easy read with a little bit of heat, I recommend giving this one a try.

The Conqueror's Princess was a lovely read. I really enjoyed the fast pace plot and the swoons romance between two intriguing characters.

This book has all the right bones for an epic fantasy romance, but some of the dialogue just didn't feel natural in some situations. Some readers don't like instant attraction, but I am not one of them. I really enjoyed their relationship and how it paced and developed the plot.

Congratulations on a wonderful debut novel, and I hope it finds the hands of readers like myself who can't refuse the forced marriage trope! Thank you for the ARC.

DNF at 21%

A big part of the reason I didn’t enjoy this book was the characters.

I felt like their personalities and stories didn’t really match up. Our female main character, Charlotte, is forced into a marriage with the man taking over her city in order to keep her family and citizens safe. She actively hates the male main character, Evan, for attacking her city. But he kisses her softly as they are getting married and somehow that single detail is enough to change her mind about her unwanted husband.

Evan also has moments where I don’t understand what is going on in his head. As a former child sex slave, he’s a strong supporter of consent and making sure no one else has to go through the same things he had to. Yet he forces Charlotte to marry him… and then gets angry with himself for forcing her.

This book heavily features insta-love, and while I generally don’t care about that sort of thing, it really bothers me that a book calling itself an “enemies-to-lovers” story is actually just characters instantly falling in love with each other with maybe two pages of hating each other.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content warnings: slavery, gore, sexism/misogyny, child abuse, pedophilia, off page rape & mentions of rape,

Rep: forced marriage, enemies to lovers, sisterly love, ASL rep, animal companions, family relationships

Thoughts
Neutral thoughts:
This is dual narrative and we switch back and forth between Charlotte and Evan throughout the whole book. This literally felt like a movie script in my head, it is VERY cinematic. I could literally picture everything in my head. And the chapters are VERY short so I was flying thru this book

There were also full on sex scenes in this one. Not that, that bothers me in any way, I just wasn’t expecting it. But they were spicy so if you’re looking for that, there’s that in here for you!

I think that if you liked <i> The Savage & the Swan </i> by Ella Fields then you’ll like this!!

Pros:
There is ASL rep in this! I honestly CANT recall a book to have a deaf or mute character in a book before & not have it be seen as a negative thing. Essentially everyone was open to learning ASL or having already learned it in this cast of characters so that they could all communicate with Mountain (also known as Seamus)

I loved Evan’s relationship with his horse Black. It was so cute. I’m a sucker for animal companions/bonds

I liked learning about the different “Ancients” or, Deities, that we learned in the book.

There were female warriors in this & it was pretty cool to see.

I liked the ending. It was cute (even if the book as a whole was a bit of a mess) & I was satisfied with the ending.

Gripes:
I had some issues with the magic system. It was never clearly explained what the limitations were. Yes we learn the “who” can do it (to an extent), symbols & some explanations of the Deities in this world & what they can and can’t do, it was just really lacking overall. So while it was interesting it wasn’t fleshed out. Maybe in the next book we will learn more, but it was just very underwhelming in this first installment.

I had trouble believing/understanding the shift in seeing/determining who was the “enemy” and who were “allies”. Understandably Evan and Charlotte see each other as the enemy to one another (Charlotte comes from a family that is involved in slavery and the mistreatment of the enslaved; while Evan is “evil and a barbarian taking away their kingdom/lives”) Yet the moment they meet and they get married, like that *snaps* they no longer see each other as the enemy and they want make sure that they have the other’s trust before we even hit the 100 page mark. It just had me very confused.


I just wish it was slow burn? That we as the reader actually had to suffer thru the “will they, won’t they” tension that usually comes with enemies to lovers. But this just did not have it. And when we DID experience the “will they, won’t they” it was completely unnecessary.

It kind of got on my nerves that he kept calling his horse “The Black” instead of just Black. Or there’s a character who was only referred to as “The Mountain” when he could have just been called Mountain. The “The” was not needed.

The romance(s):
Charlotte & Evan:
It was VERY insta-lovey. Evan right off the bat was all like ✨“She’s making me feel things that I have NEVER felt before & I can’t get her out of my head” ✨ And in this respect, it was nice to see that it was the MALE going all goo-goo-gaga for the girl, opposed to the female because “she can’t help it🥺” 🙄 BUT AS SOON AS THEY KISS, it is essentially game over 😹 They had this very “we’re soulmates” thing that was being hinted at in the beginning of the novel, which I would have been MUCH MORE on board with if there was some kind of indicator or talk about soulmates in the VERY beginning. NOT 100 pages in.

LITERALLY, 2 days in & they both think that they’re in love with the other essentially. The epitome of init-love.

I overall wasnt a fan of how quickly their relationship started, not giving us a GOOD slow burn romance. They did have some good moments and conversations, but I just couldn’t get over how QUICK they were to fall in love with each other & the unnecessary drama.

<b> Characters: </b> (that I think are worth mentioning)
Charlotte: Heir to the Kingdom. I overall didnt really care for her. She just felt like a cookie cutter cut out of Plain Jane. She was very caring, she was just really naive to not my liking.

Evan: Our “Villain” (but he’s honestly not bad, AT ALL). He’s one of those who wears black all the time & people just think that he’s scary because all he wears is black. He, however, does have a temper & he does act rashly because of it. And it led to a lot of “angsty moments” because he would always assume the worst of something & I was over it by the end 🙄😹🤷🏻‍♀️

Eleanor: Charlotte’s youngest sister, and she has magical powers that are shrouded in mystery

Ben: Evan’s squire. He was cute! I hope we get to see more of him in the next book or that him & Eleanor get their own book in the future!

Thalia: Charlotte’s younger sister (the middle of all 3 of them) & I really liked her! She was a badass warrior in training & she didn’t put up with a lot of shit. She had a lot of love for her sisters & I loved seeing it.

Mountain (Also known as Seamus): He is our mute character. He was really caring and I’m interested in seeing where his character goes thru in the next book 😏

“The Black”: Evan’s horse, who is a black horse

I think I would rate this story a 3.5
I really liked Charlotte, she was willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family and her kingdom even if that means marrying a man everyone says is a monster.. Evan is a conqueror, he wants to stop the slave trade at all costs even if that means forcing a marriage between him and Charlotte.
I did think that Evan and Charlottes romance was very quick.. I completly love instant attraction and chemistry, but the feelings seemed to come so fast., even if they werent what each other thought I thought there should be some mutual distrust, at least for a little while.. Although farther along in the story I did begin to really like them together. They were a cute couple that did their best to not keep any secrets from each other.

There were some plot points that I expected to play a bigger role and just kind of pettered out into nothing.. Im hoping that they will pick up in following books
However I did love the overall plot line of Evan taking over kingdoms in order to force them to stop the slave trade.. I loved the world building, and what strong women Charlotte and her sisters are. I can't wait to see what her sisters get up to in the future, and while Im pretty sure we were introduced to their future love interests, I can't wait to see how they get a HEA.
.

I really wanted to like this book, but to be honest things fell a bit flat for me. There just wasn't enough pizazz to draw me into the story and the characters. I really like the general premise of the story; princess forced to marry, enemies to lovers trope, which is my favorite when I read romance but I just felt like in some instances, the story really dragged or the development in characters didn't make a lot of sense. Either there was too much unnecessary information or I was left wanting more of an explanation out of things. The 'spicy' scenes weren't too bad but even those I felt were a little meh for my tastes. I also feel like the development of the main characters was kind of speedy and soft, meaning that I feel like they just instantly had a connection and that zoomed forward quickly. I enjoy types of books where there is a good build up, enemies to lovers typically has that, but I just feel like the characters grew soft and fell into the I love you part too fast for my taste.

I received an arc from Rose and Star Publishing, LP, in exchange for an honest review. All written ideas are my own.

This book will be released November 5th 2021!!!

This review will contain spoilers.

I really really enjoyed this book, I think the story has a lot of potential, and I really am interested to see where else the authors ago in this world. Without doing any other research, the book reads as a standalone inside of a bigger series. I think the sequel will be about a different character, possibly one of her sisters. I will definitely be reading the next book when it comes out.
The world building was sort of rushed to the beginning, but by the end of the book I was left wanting more. The magic system isn’t quite established, they allude to certain magics at the beginning but nothing concrete until later. Do soulmates actually exist? We never got confirmation on that. It would’ve been much more interesting to read Charlotte and Evander‘s relationship through a bond they had. But I also like the element of disagreement between the two lovers where she believed in soulmates and he doesn’t. It’s not often we have lovers with different belief systems that may actually clash.
I also want to learn more about the religion/belief system. They allude to “The Ancients”, and she names off a bunch of the beginning of the book, but there isn’t much discussed later. I really want this expanded on in the next book, because I really like how unique the system seems. Just the difference of them being called “Ancients” as opposed to gods or goddesses is such an interesting twist and I don’t think I’ve read that before in another book.

This love story was so sweet, I absolutely adore Charlotte and Evander and I would LOVE seeing more of them in future book.
That being said there are some small things that I wish were different. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers, but the angst was not really drawn out enough for this to be considered enemies to lovers. <spoiler> Evander comes in and conquers Charlotte‘s kingdom, she hates him for about two chapters. I’m chapter 5 she’s already softening up to him and drawn to him. By chapter 9 she literally says that she’s willing to give Evander a chance, and there wasn’t NEARLY as much “enemies” part to the enemies to lovers trope. <spoiler>
I think this book should be marketed more towards Insta love that just happened to work out in a forced marriage situation.
There was a really sudden “where did that come from” moment at the end I didn’t like. Of course every love story has to have a part where they break up, and realize after being apart they were truly meant to be. The way the authors did it in this case seemed very sudden, <spoiler> even though we saw Evans anxieties about it leading up to it, the way he just stormed off and wrote up annulment papers out of nowhere seemed very rushed and out of character for him. Especially since he was just fighting to be back with Charlotte after being gone for a couple weeks. Of course they get back together, but not until the very very end and it just seemed like a last minute thought on the authors part, and not really integrated into the story. <spoiler>

I think the main characters were very well developed throughout the entire book, but I think some of the side characters could be developed a little bit more. We only see Charlotte‘s father sporadically through the book, he doesn’t even bother trying to demand to see her after being taken away by the conqueror. Also we don’t hear much about how everyone else views her marrying the conqueror, I would almost expect more resistance from her people than anything else. Almost like all the side characters were on pause while off page, and then when they were on the page, they were back in action. I think the relationship with the stepmother as an antagonist could’ve been a little bit more present. Aside from Evander’s “don’t touch her or you die” scene, I don’t ever get to see the stepmother get her ass handed to her like she deserves. The author may bring that up in the next book if it’s about her sister, since her sister is the main victim of the abuse, but I really expected to see a little bit more animosity or tension with those characters.

There were some editing issues that I may email the publishing company about, or try and message the authors (is that acceptable? I’m not quite sure honestly…). They were big enough that I noticed and it confused me, and I had to go back and reread a few times to get it. The notes I took are as follows:

<spoiler>
Chapter 4:
“Any other problems with the locals?” followed by 2 pages of inner monologue and world building, no response to the question.

Chapter 44: a mix up with the timeline? Evander proposes Charlotte’s idea of trading coal and fur to Lyra (and gives her credit for the idea) before Ben arrives with the letter that tells him about it.

Chapter 78: Evander’s father his wife Margaret, but then in the epilogue Charlotte says his parents names are Leah and Ian.
<spoiler>

Overall I give this book 3.75 stars, because I really absolutely did love the story between Evander and Charlotte. Even with editing errors (which is not unusual with a galley) this is a story that I would be happy to read more than once, and enjoy it each time.
I personally feel like three stars is too low, and four-star is a bit too high given that the enemies to lovers is just not done very well here. I would’ve loved it if 1/3rd if not HALF of the book just pure angst to really go along with the trope. But I will round up and give this book 4 stars on good reads because I think that a lot of people could really enjoy it.

All in all, this was an interesting story. I liked the characters. It was just a little difficult to get through the writing. There was a lot of unnecessary information at the beginning, which made it seem messy. I think my favorite thing was how strong the women were. They weren’t your average cower and cry. They stood up and was willing to fight.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy of the book for review

This book wasn't what I was expecting. This book was much more of a romance than I was anticipating. Evan and Charlotte were very strong characters with well thought through pasts and morals.

The relationship started faster than I think was believable. I think if more time, or even the appearance of more time would make the relationship feel realer. However once the relationship started. It was so well written. The problems felt real as did the solutions. I was rooting for them and thought they were perfect for eachother.

Unfortunately while Evan and Charlotte were incredibly well developed, other things were not. Most of the other characters fell flat. We didn't get nearly as much history or emotion or anything. The plot of the story also felt vague. What could be the plot of the story, instead felt like the situation in which the characters were moving from while their relationship was the plot. Which is completely acceptable and well done, but I wish more was given to having a cohesive plot their relationship could grow in. I think it would have helped the relationship from feeling as though it was happening too quickly.

Despite my criticisms I really did enjoy the book. The relationship as I said was crafted, the world felt full and left me wanting to see more of it. I want to know more about Thalia and Eleanor. What's going on with the king? I want to see what comes next in this world.

Thank you NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

Charlotte and Evan are supposed to be an enemies to lovers story. They are more insta-love in my opinion. Evan is supposed to be a morally grey character but is more of a misunderstood character.

I really enjoyed the story building/scenes of the story. Charlotte was an independent character which I enjoyed. I wish we got to see more showing in the storyline. A lot of it was telling rather than showing. Also the king and queen weren’t really in the story? And then there have been attempts on Charlottes life but once she finds out nothing happens with it. So I feel like there were a lot of details that weren’t explored or ever touched on again.

Evan was a misunderstood conqueror who was hung up on being a slave. He also thought he didn’t deserve love or that Charlotte was his weakness. I would have liked to see Charlotte prove him wrong. She did train but that was basically useless. I also would have liked to see how her classes helped the men or more about the families she reunited.

Overall this was an interesting world building book. I would have liked to learn more about the magic and seen Evan and Charlotte tackle things together.

I completely adored this book. The characters, the world building, the plot were just…*chefs kiss*. I will now only be referred to as the number one simp for both Evan and Kian. I cannot wait for the next one! Absolute perfection!

This starts out so good and then goes flat. Both characters turn into marshmallows. Lines were repeated and too often used sentiments were all over the place. So much could have been done to build this world and the characters in it but the author sole focus was on the two of them and their love making that was frankly repetitive.