Never read the first book, but I loved book. Unconventional heroes. Unexpected romance. Enduring friendship. & the plot twit OMG!! didn't not see any of those coming!

"A Stolen Crown", the second book in the series by Kelsey Keating was an enjoyable and entertaining read. It's a fun fantasy with strong and intelligent female characters as well as endearing and likeable men. The action is fast moving and engaging, making it a quick read.

In the story, Princess Cecily and her loyal BFF Rory, who is also her magically powerful bodyguard, travel to the kingdom of Myrzel for her royal wedding to Prince Rakesh. However, as soon as they cross the border a chain of events unfolds putting more than just Cecily's happily ever after in jeopardy. The girls must rely on their friendship, loyalty, and the help of some devoted friends to survive.

Keating has created a charming and lively world for her characters. The descriptions are in vivid detail and add to the magic. The characters are relatable and likeable in their strengths and flaws. The emphasis on the relationships between the characters adds a depth to the story and allows the reader to connect more with each character. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone wanting to be part of a fun adventure.

I wanted to LOVE this book. I thought it was right up my alley but it just didn't keep my entertained. I found myself putting it down and coming back to it expecting something else .... expecting more but the story and the characters didn't enchant me enough to keep me reading. I stopped reading around page 40 but I imagine it will be a perfect read for others.

A great fairy tale adventure. Although not necessary for following this story, I recommend reading the first book first. We follow our princess, Rory and friends as the head to meet Cecily's prince and to marry. Much adventure, love and magic follow. A really enjoyed it!

This is a hard book to review. I really disliked it from the beginning but about halfway it picked up and I enjoyed it. My problem at first was the characters. We are quickly introduced to Cecily and Rory but given no reason to like or care about them. Then we meet a bunch of forgettable rude ladies maids who never give us reasons to care which one is which. The story is very slow going until we finally have action about halfway through and the characters develop. If you read the first book in the series this book lacks the charm and fun of that book. There are a couple of cameos from the first book but for the most part this is a standalone book. This book actually felt like it was written by less experienced author than A Stolen Kiss. There was a lot of amateurish dialogue and tedious repetitive scenes. A Stolen Kiss had characters that I cared about from the beginning whereas this book neglected to properly introduce and develop the main characters. I usually read darker books like mysteries and thrillers and found myself charmed by A Stolen Kiss and expected a fun diversion with this book but instead I was bored and had a very hard time sticking with it which is not at all what I expected. I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book. Very interesting and original story. Good world building. I was emotionally connected with this book. The only reason I don't think I loved this book is because of Cecily. I really liked Rory, Gene, Tom, Kel and even Muriel but I just could not connect with Cecily. She's selfish and self-centered and I know that if she wasn't there wouldn't be a book but I couldn't get past just how selfish and self-centered she was. Overall this a really good fairytale. It has all of the things a good fairytale needs. Princes and princesses, spells and magic, love and hate, really great friendships. It's a good book and I plan on going back and re-reading it and maybe my mind will change.

Enchanting and captivating.

Mystery and magic, forming a peculiar world of fantasy and adventure surrounded with an amazing characters who will make you believe that a bond of friendship is as strong as love within itself.

I haven't read A Stolen Kiss, the first book of this series, yet I fell in love with how Kelsey Keating create an imaginative world of the Fangralee Forest where dark, hideous creatures live like shapeshifters, arachnae, gargantupede, ko'oxol and so much more, WITHIN a story outside of it where two kingdoms, Dellsby and Myrzel united through the marriage of Princess Cecily Degalt and the Crown Prince Rakesh Nohchil.

And the adventure begins...
When Princess Cecily travel to Myrzel to finally meet her betrothed with Rory, the only woman in the King's guard born with an incredible strength who also happens to be her personal guard and best friend, along with the other lady-in-waiting and Dellsbian guards. She never been very pleased with her looks and insecurities sparks like diamond who fears that her husband-to-be-king will never like her, worse never love her.

But there were too many secrets along the way and unravelling them was the best getting to know each of the characters: Rory's secret, the truth about Tom, Daegan's master and Ephraim's poor rescuing game. There was Mercusius of course, who's character made me startled a bit but predicted his true identity. But Kel? Him! The element of surprise was like an internally shocking incident to me. I didn't honestly notice him and I actually don't like his character. I never expected him to be so unforthcoming. Well, I think that's too much of a spoiler and I don't want to reveal more about it. Read it yourself.
"Love spells accelerate what would happen in its own time, given the opportunity."

I like the idea of fate vs love spells. Is it really love that driven Kel and Cecily together or just another unintended love spell activated for the wrong person? Well I think the greatest magic of all was they were fated to be together after all.
“Believe what you want, but I’ve never lied to you, Rory. And I never will. Friends don’t lie.”

I love Cecily and Rory's relationship. Their friendship means a lot to me, seeing right through me. Kelsey Keating's brave way of showcasing the true meaning of friendship in this story was very comforting. It was not entirely focused on love for the opposite sex like most of YA reads but how two friends' bond overpower any kind of relationship because love makes of who they are and what they mean for each other.

There were other topics or issues touched like traditional (fixed) marriage, fidelity, customs, servitude and abusive relationship which made the entirety of the story being completely awestricken, done with sensitiveness for the readers to realize; but it was a right mix of fairy tale fantasy and adventure which recommended to all ages.

And ending the story with Rory and Tom made the infamous punch line of "and they happily ever after..."

Creating a story like this and turning one into a film is very intriguing. I am a movie and tv series freak so I can't help thinking how will the characters came to life or how will they look like as describe in the book (imaginations making the most out of me) if given the chance this one will set to be a movie someday.

This book has been my first fantasy read for a very long time. If does Twilight series count? I am more of a Contemporary Romance person and I am very excited to read more of this type of genre anytime soon.

***Thank you NetGalley, Swanifide Publishing, and Kelsey Keating for offering me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

***The review of this has also been posted on goodreads.

Although I haven't read the first book in this series, this didn't matter. Kelsey Keating brings you into a world where magic normal and princesses are sent to another kingdom to marry a prince they have never met.

I was really intrigued by Rory and her super strength and and fighting skills. She was one bad ass chick. The princess was cool too. She was snarky and witty. I was really drawn to Tom from the beginning and rooted for Rory to fall for him.

The ending was a little confusing for me, with all the sudden killing and battles. I found that if I wasn't paying close enough attention, someone else died and it snuck up on me.

I can't wait to see what else Ms. Keating will put on paper. Three stars for A Stolen Crown.

As you can tell by the synopsis, A Stolen Crown sounds very similar to a lot of other YA fantasy books. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it might be the reason why I didn't enjoy this book as much I hoped to. Since I've read so many books like this one, I guess I was just hoping for something new to be brought to the table. Unfortunately, that metaphorical table is the same as it has always been.

I love the whole storyline about clashing kingdoms, convenient marriages, forbidden love, kickass girls (and strong female friendships), but I feel like this book fell short in all of these departments. It did incorporate all the elements I love but everything felt so ordinary and uninvolved. I felt no connection to any of the characters. Seriously. Not even an ounce of hate for the annoying characters. I just found it hard to care about anyone in this book, and that really dampened the reading process for me. Perhaps it's time I take a break from this genre.

The story is perfectly fine but it is not my cup of tea. If you like the things I mentioned above, I am sure you will enjoy it more than I did. I hope you do!

*Review will be posted on www.laylabetweenthelines.com (01/17/2017)

Love, magic, and friendship is at the center of this good feel book. I love when we have magical aspects in books like this and the strong bonds that are formed between the two main character’s in this installment. For not having read the first book, I was able to follow along really well with A Stolen Crown. The first few chapters of this book took a little longer to build up momentum, but once it did it didn’t stop.

Cecily wants to find true love in her fiance from Myrzel, while Rory just wants to protect her friend from harm that seems to find its way to them often. I am taken into this realm of young love gone wrong, and at times finding its right footing. A true friendship filled with heartache for having to do what is wrong in order to protect the one’s they care for. Conflicted emotions all around and trickery from every corner.

“Daegan’s grin faded as she shifted back to her true form. For a moment, she seemed to struggle with what she was about to say. ‘You are to… acquire… one of Princess Cecily’s crown jewels for me.’

Rory jerked back. ‘You want me to steal from Cecily?’ She shook her head. ‘No. That’s absurd.’ Daegan had asked her to do foolish things before, but never against Cecily. Even as she denied the command, Rory’s fingers twitched with the urge to take a jewel, the magic taking over.”

A Stolen Crown doesn’t just follow any already played out fairy-tale happy ending, we see Cecily finding out the truth of life in Myrzel through her fiance’s twin brother Ephraim, whom tells her about all the wonderful “traditional” marriage customs his family lives by.. includes having half brothers and sisters. As well as spending most of her time in their palace without her husband-to-be nearby and a maniacally driven shape-shifter, Daeghana, who’s bent on destroying any chances Cecily may have with him on his return.

“Cocking her head to the side, Daeghana read Barbo’s face, surprised at the lack of hesitation. ‘Do you often place love spells?’ she asked, drawing a curious glance from both Barbos and her master. ‘ I never thought much of them before.’ Could I use one on Rakesh?”

I’m introduced to Rory and her many endeavors to protect Cecily, physically and mentally, and how much that begins to affect her internally. She becomes frazzled as everything around her comes undone and protecting Cecily becomes harder than she had ever imagined.

This second book in the series, takes a sharp turn as a kidnapping ensue and turns everyone’s world upside down, struggling with a means to get their loved ones back safely. All while trying to find out the actual location of Cecily’s fiance Rakesh.

“Mercusius sighed. ‘Rakesh wasn’t at the southern villa as we’d assumed. The servants there said he never arrived. We don’t have access to our crown prince or our queen. We don’t want to alarm the public in the meantime. I’m afraid you’ll need to remain in the palace until they return.”

Kelsey Keating has created a world that we want to keep being a part of and it just keeps getting more and more interesting the further you get into this book.

So what happens with the royal family’s and their loyal companions? You’ll have to read it for yourself to find out.

*** I received an ARC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. ***

This is an adventure about friendship and trust. You may also be surprised by some nice plot twists.

This certainly deserved 3.5, could I give them.

Cecily arrives at her soon-to-be-reign only to find her fiancé didn't know she would be coming so soon and is thus away. At the same time she starts being courted by the twin brother of the prince, her best friend and mentor and bodyguard and almost-sister Rory behaves differently.

I enjoyed both the new air and the nostalgic feeling this book represented to me. Considering I don't usually read fantasy, the fantasy part of this story was simply amazing. It made me revive other fantasy stories—not only books.

Although I can't say opine whether the world-building was creative—although it did seem so to me—, it was certainly entertaining. We have princes, myths, magic, shape-shifters, a dark forest and love potions that actually work and are widely used.

The main characters are Cecily, the princess, and Rory, a guard disguised as one of Cecily's ladies. Their bond was pretty impressive from the start. I don't think there are enough books focusing on friendship but this was a rare example. And I should say this also had romance, because many that do focus on friendship usually do so never mentioning a romance. And if they do it is because the two friends will dispute the same guy. No, it doesn't happen here in any way.

Not only the main characters but the remaining characters were also very pleasing to read, aside from the villain. I feel I needed more motive for him. In fact, if this story has a flaw, it is how shallow the plot is in spite of all the back story the author has managed to build.

Also, this is the second in a series, and the first I read. There shouldn't be a real need to read the first to understand but because of how story is told and characters are introduced, for a while I suspected I had missed something from book 1. I was wrong, however. So, don't worry. You can go straight for this book. On the other hand, I now want to read every part of the series, so you might as well start from #1, A Stolen Kiss.

I recommend this to younger people, since they are the target audience and the plot never goes as deep as a more mature reader would have wished. Nonetheless, as someone out of the target audience, the nostalgia from this read compensated for any flaw. Additionally, plot twists aren't hard to guess but they were well thought of, and the author never dumbed-down the story. This was a great pick, and I regret nothing!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I am not going to lie, I wanted to read this book because the cover. I mean, look at it! It's reminiscent of old school Disney animation, and I feel that the bulk of this book delivered that type of story.

This was an adorable yarn that definitely had that fairy tale flair. It was cute and light, until it was a bloodbath! Alas, some tears were shed at about 90%, and Keating broke my heart, but she put it back together shortly thereafter with some really sappy sweet stuff that made me smile.

If I had to pinpoint the essence of this story it would be: friendship. One of the strongest plot points is the friendship between Rory and Cecily. It was a rather beautiful friendship between two strong women, where they reinforced and supported each other.

I have to say, the female characters in this book was quite wonderful. Some were super feminine, some were prim and proper, but all were strong when they needed to be.

I will mention, that I suspected the plot twist. However, I still smiled BIG when my suspicions were confirmed.

Overall: Very cute story of love and friendship which gave me a case of the smiles.

A Stolen Crown was a great book! This companion novel to A Stolen Kiss was set in the same world but followed some different characters. But there are some characters brought over from the first book so I would still recommend reading the first book before this one. The writing in this book is awesome and Keating keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time! The reason why i gave it 4 stars was because it did take me a little longer to get into this one. But overall this was a great read!

I've been waiting for this book for what seems like a long time! I read the first book in the series, A Stolen Kiss, early last year and fell in love with the world and characters. It was a perfect easy, breezy kind of love story that had me giggling and smiling along as I read. I was hoping for the same kind of feeling with this book and while it tried, it never did capture the same magic as its predecessor.

So, before I go on, while A Stolen Crown is the second book in a series, don't worry. You don't actually have to read A Stolen Kiss to understand what is happening. It focuses on different characters but is set in the same magical world. Some characters from the first book do make small appearances but you won't be left scratching your head. Everything is explained so you are never lost.

The story starts when Princess Cecily leaves her kingdom to marry a prince that she has never met. However, things don't go as planned and Cecily find herself in the middle of a forest fighting for her life. While the plot was a lot of fun, with tons of adorable moments, I didn't immediately connect with the story or its characters. It's really hard to top A Stolen Crown and I found myself comparing the two books a lot. The beginning was a bit slow for my liking, just riding around in a carriage and Cecily's lady maids arguing. The story really picked up about a quarter of the way in when Cecily is kidnapped. That's when I started to enjoy it a lot more. There were fight scenes, magical creatures, spells and a whole lot of kissing! Eeeeeee!
I think part of the reason the book didn't jump out at my were the characters. I didn't really love any of them. Cecily was a spoiled brat and Rory was too hot headed. But I did appreciate their friendship. They were loyal and would do anything to help each other through some of the toughest obstacles. If anything, this was a story not about romance but true lifelong friendship. I really enjoyed it when past characters made special appearances. I squealed when Ellis, a mysterious shapeshifter from the first book, showed up! I want a book with just him in it. He's so devious and sarcastic.

While I loved the first book a lot more, A Stolen Crown was still a lot of fun. It has a bit of something for fans of fantasy and romance. There were heart quickening kisses, laugh out loud moments and heartbreaking scenes that will keep you entertained until the end. I can't wait for the next book in the series!