I don't think this book was good. Honestly, I don't think Alyssa Cole is a particularly good writer, at least not on the level of her prose.

But I kind of can't get enough of these contemporary romance books about fake royalty, and I'm not sure why. I'm firmly anti-monarchy, and I don't really get the whole royalty fantasy, but I'm fascinated by the way this series is exploring and questioning the role of monarchies in the twenty-first century. There are a lot of really interesting conversations happening here about history and heritage and decolonization and power—in the context of a fairly okay romance book.

Makeda was far too relatable as a main character. I experienced a lot of psychic damage from how personally targeted I felt by many aspects of her character. And Bez was hot. Very much my type. Very chaotic. Very fun. So I was invested in their relationship for sure, but I also thought the romance was just sort of fine. Very odd little book. Not as good as book one in the series cause the politics in that one were more interesting and we spent far too much of this one on a ship setting up book three, but I did definitely enjoy it.