Crush the King by Jennifer Estep, A well written and thoroughly enjoyable read! The queen of Bellona has survived the murders of the rest of her family and has risen above her grief to find the strength and will to continue on and overcome her enemies.

Crush the King is book 3 in the Crown of Shards series. Definitely do not start here! Go back and read the other two books and then come back to enjoy the magic.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book picks up shortly after where Protect the Prince left off- we’re trying to still secure alliances and defend against the Bastard Brigade as well as their kin, the Mortan King. But, now the Regalia is looming, along with a way to protect their people once and for all. We see Queen Everleigh hope for family, and in the process of seeking out other surviving Blairs, we find a deeper plot that pairs beautifully with the other plots in the book. Truly, the Bellonians are masters of the long game, and it shows in this book. The plots call back all the way to books one and two, and show us there’s (hopefully!) more to come in the future.
I loved how the characters have grown, how they are the family of their choosing, and that some rediscover family in truth. This has the possibility to be a wonderful, long lasting series if it’s treated well, and there’s already someone I hope to see as the ‘next big bad,’ should there be more books.

I wish I could say more, but there are so many interconnected stories and plots, that saying too much would give a fair bit away. If you liked the first two, this is definitely a must read. If you feel like jumping into the series here you can, but it would be a much richer story and worth your time to start at the beginning. These books have reminded me of the Court of Thorns and Roses series in its cunning and long game, as well as the Kate Daniels series. Both also had the same great world building as well.

This novel was an excellent read to the series. The plot thickens in each novel in the series and this one was the most challenging for Queen Everleigh Blair of Bellona, the one who should have never been queen, was always ignored and given the mundane tasks none of the royals wanted to do, the one who survived the massacre. However, the Bastard Brigade, who are the bastards of the Morta royalty, as well as other want Evie dead. Her immunity to magic makes her strong as well as her training from her brief time as a gladiator, but even more so, she is cunning and the Bellona motto is to "play the long game". Evie along with her friends travel to compete in the Regalia Games, creating alliances and plans to kill the king of Morta and protect her people. No one expected Evie to rise up to the challenge, but she has proven herself and has become a true Winter Queen. Evie and her friends must continue to stay one step head otherwise they will end up dead. Still, Evie has a plan, a rather dangerous one, but Bellonians play the long game and Evie plans to crush the king.

Queen Everleigh Blair of Bellona has been playing the long game and now she will find out if she is successful or not. Great ending to this part of the story. There is a set up for future books set in this world. Look for the introduction of a new set of players who seem to be enemies of Eveleigh.

REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Kelly
NUMBER OF HEARTS: 4
Crush the King follows Queen Everleigh and her friends into the annual Regalia Games and what could possibly be their final stand against the Mortans.

Wait... What.... No..... I need more pages.... *frantically clicking kindle for the next page*. This was my original reaction when I finished Crush the King.

I did enjoy this book very much but wanted more. More pages, more story, more Sullivan. I was not ready to leave yet. But I am thankful after the major angst from Protect the Prince that there was not that level of angst again. My poor heart couldn’t have handled it again.

Crush the King was a bit slow moving for me. Great story but slow. I was happy with how much Everleigh has grown over the course of these three books. And truly loved her ability to play the long game and how each piece of the puzzle fell into place.

It took me a bit to regroup and realize that this trilogy is over. But I am really, really hoping that there will be spin offs and that the publisher will realize that there are so many more stories that need to be told. I love the world that Jennifer has created and hope that we will get to come back to Bellona again soon.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Edelweiss, NetGalley & Harper Collins/Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

This series has been amazing! It's one of those that you are really sorry when it's over. I loved how the lead character, Evie, has been able to rise to the challenges of becoming the queen. Evie choses to stop playing defense and go on the offensive. It was great to see her make her own choices and how she ultimately deals with the threats was beautiful. She survives the constant threats to her life and the lives of her friends. Her friends are all different and have their own histories that are woven into the story well. I really liked that there was romance but is wasn't the graphic kind that you see so often these day. It was a satisfying ending. It ends with triumph and hope for everyone's future. I wish there was more! Maybe a spin off? Hint hint?

How to describe this series... I had stockpiled the entire trilogy in ARCs from work because a coworker thought the first one looked like it might be my speed and finally started reading the first book the day the third one showed up on our shelf. The entire series is totally bonkers but in a very fun, "you have to keep reading!" kind of way. It's a YA fantasy except the characters are old enough that they can have guilt-free steamy sex scenes. I had many, many problems with the story -- the heroine has been told her entire life that her magic is worthless but her ability is a sense of smell so strong she can SMELL EMOTIONS??? like uhhhh if you're going into politics that kind of seems like... obviously the best magic ability? Forget throwing lightning or her actual secret secondary magical ability, which is to control other people's magic, she can SMELL WHEN PEOPLE LIE TO HER. Come on. Also her love interest is supposedly a grown man but throws a literal temper tantrum when, *after he has told her that he will never be with her, ever, stop asking*, she arranges a political marriage for herself, which... whatever, men are babies, news at eleven. And all the political maneuvering is telegraphed a mile in advance. Yet, at the same time, these books are incredibly entertaining! They got me out of a reading slump and kept me going for several long commutes! You'll know when you're in the mood for ridiculous fantasy with a lady in leather trousers on the cover; save this series for that moment. I think any Sarah J. Maas fan would be delighted to give these a try.

When I stated this series I thought there would be a lot of books to it; however, it feels as if this is a trilogy. Like many of Estep’s other books I could not put this one down. She has magic through her words to make me keep reading. I felt that Evie has grown each one of these books more and more, developing into a character that I love and am proud of. I love the world, the characters, and the ending. If this is the end, which I feel it is, I enjoyed the series and know that Estep has more amazing works to come.