Palace Secrets by Ravyn Rayne Source: Netgalley My Rating: 5/5 stars My Review:

Book lover problem #593: you forget what a book in your TBR pile is about by the time you finally get around to reading it.

Every book lover has been a victim of problem #593. Here’s the difference between other book lovers and myself. Most of you are smart enough to reread the synopsis before diving into the read so you have some idea of what to expect. Did I do that with this read? Hell no, I just dove right on in. Wowsa, what a surprise I got  Palace Secrets starts out naughty and ends naughty with some serious drama and action in between. In less than 85 pages, Rayne takes the reader on a wild ride of political intrigue, murder, ambition, power and, sexual desire all revolving around Princess Isabella.

The Princess is 23 and not yet married, a fate worse than death in some time periods. Isabella has spent the vast majority of her life avoiding the institution of marriage for a variety of reasons not the least of which is her love for Hannah, her lady-in-waiting. Isabella’s position in the world demands she marry and before Prince Alexander arrived, she had no interest in any of the suitors brought before her. Prince Alexander is instantly interesting, attractive and, quite proactive. It is widely known the Prince’s father is on his deathbed and waiting to marry is no longer an option for the Prince.

Isabella has only one condition for marrying Alexander, her ladies must be allowed to stay with her at court. Alexander instantly agrees to the condition and the two are duly married within 24 hours. Inside of that 24 hours, Isabella discovers two startling truths: she very much enjoys sex with her new husband and he killed his father. Needless to say, Isabella totally freaks out and turns to the one person she has always trusted, her lover, Hannah. From this point forward, all kinds of Hell breaks loose as Isabella and Hannah are outed, there is an attack on the castle and, Alexander surprises everyone with both his words and his actions.

The Bottom Line: I am all kinds of wanting more of this, NOW!!!! The length of the read is perfect for the amount of information covered/introduced, the plot is fast-paced, the naughty bits are excellent and, the characters are interesting, bold and, exciting. My only complaint is the sort of uncertainty about the time period this all takes place in as a result of the mixed language. For example, some speech among the characters feels older and some feels very modern. This complaint certainly didn’t keep me from enjoying this read and I have to say, I sincerely hope there will be more to this story. There are certainly elements and characters that can be further developed but as of now both Amazon and Goodreads show Palace Secrets as a stand-alone. More. Now. Please. 

What a fab short story! This had me hooked from the very first page and I was intrigued the whole way through. I felt so many emotions which is pretty impressive due to the length of the book. I really liked the characters too.