This was way too slow, and it said very little. I was not very interested in the story, everyone wanted to seem strong while being mopey, there was so much repetitive dialogue, it was difficult to get through unfortunately.

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of the high captain. This was an interesting adventure book. A woman takes a place and constantly gets judged for it and rested constantly

In The Sentinel, High Captain Dracia Yates leads an elite fighting force that defends the kingdom of Lanoxan from enemies seeking to invade and destroy its security. However, as a young female captain, Dracia already faces challengers to her authority. Meanwhile, her love life with Prince Leal is in turmoil due to the King's disapproval, a visiting princess, and the demands of her job.

In a parallel storyline, novice Sentinel Galen, looks up to his older brother Roderick, who is also Dracia's second-in-command. Galen trains in combat, lurks on the edge of royal court affairs, and apprentices as a healer as he explores his own coming-of-age story.

The Sentinel is a medieval romance with wielded magic elements that is easy to follow, with a small cast of characters and a world that is quickly understandable. Although the good guys stay good and the bad guys are immediately known as bad, Tarkington still manages to write surprises into the plot. However, the focus on the angsty, star-crossed love between Dracia and Leal can become tiresome, and Leal's issues may make it hard for readers to want them to stay together.

Overall, The Sentinel serves as the first in a series, and the reader hopes that Tarkington will continue to explore Sentinel culture, inter-kingdom politics, and main characters' families and friendships in future books.

I am officially now a fan of C. Tarkington - my first read was "The Curse of the Blessed" and have been a fan since. But this new book - this is great!!

The High Captain is a coveted and respected position that has historically been held by only men. But a new High Captain has been named - and it threatens every thing.

If you love strong female MC's then this is the book for you!! I was in love with the story from the beginning.

High Captain Dracia Yates leads the Sentinel, an elite fighting force that defends the kingdom of Lanoxan. She already faces challengers to her authority as the newest captain and a young female. Enemies near and far seek to invade the kingdom and destroy its security. Meanwhile, Dracia faces turmoil in her love life with Prince Leal, her longtime love. Although they are in love and deeply committed to each other, the King’s disapproval, a visiting princess, and Dracia's demanding job threaten her and Leal’s future together.

The second parallel storyline follows young Galen, a new novice Sentinel. He looks up to his older brother Roderick, also Dracia's second-in-command. Galen busily trains in combat, lurks on edge of royal court affairs, and also apprentices as a healer. Here we have the coming-of-age story where Galen begins to explore who he is and what he wants from life.

The Sentinel is an easy-to-follow romance with a medieval setting and elements of wielded magic. It reminds me of Keira Cass (like her latest release A Thousand Heartbeats). The prose is simple, and the story consists of only an A and B plot. Unlike the more complex and chunky high fantasy series, Tarkington provides a digestible, relatively small cast of characters to follow and a world you can quickly understand. The good guys stay good, and the bad guys are immediately known as bad. That said, Tarkington still wrote surprises into the plot. Additionally, the low page count makes The Sentinel a nice palate cleanser and quick read.

The one thing I dislike about the book is Leal, our prince and leading man in the central romantic pairing. Leal has issues (but no spoilers!). Unfortunately, Leal is paired with Dracia, the near-perfect heroine (basically a Mary Sue, although that did not bother me), making it hard for me to want her to stay with Leal. Enjoyment of the book dipped a little, as much of the book focuses on their angsty, star-crossed love.

The Sentinel serves as the first in a series. For follow-up books in the series, I hope Tarkington continues to explore Sentinel culture, history of this world, inter-kingdom politics, main characters’ families and friendships, and the character of Roderick.

Thank you to the author C. Tarkington for this e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!

I really tried to get into this book, but I simply could not. The plot is so slow that it simply did not hold my attention and I couldn’t finish the book. This is so unusual for me, and I truly did try to get into this book.

The characters are likable, but unfortunately none of them truly grabbed me and became a favorite. I think we are simply introduced to too many all at once and it was hard to truly get a feel for any one of them. It also slowed the plot down tremendously.

I truly with this book had sucked me in.

It was an interesting start of a series. I enjoyed the world building especially the kingdom and sentinel setting. Love the side pairing as well! Galen is such a dear and he might be my fav character. I also love Roderick and Dracia! Leal was frustrating me a little but I like him too. The storytelling was a little repetitive at the beginning, but I enjoyed how things unfold. Looking forward the next book!