Jordy, Ky and Asher chef kisses. They each bring unique strengths and challenges to the table and one is always there to balance the other two out. Each one of them has my heart in a different way. The author had such a talent for seamlessly weaving the three POVs together and having no POVs that felt weak or pointless.

The mystery and intrigue in the book had me say trying to figure out what people where doing what, what secrets would be reveled. I cannot wait to see how this story goes and how each character grows and they grow together.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Voyager | Avon for an ARC copy!

This book was wonderful! Based on the synopsis I figured I would like it but it delivered an emotional story that was totally unexpected.

Each main character has their own strengths, secrets and vulnerability, and the way their bonds evolve throughout the story was so well done. There is trust, and betrayal and an undeniable connection that felt really genuine. I honestly didn't know if I would like Ky, Jory and Asher in this relationship dynamic but it definitely worked for me.

The world was filled with secrets and mystery and the danger was palpable from the very first page. It’s rare to find a fantasy book that balances action with emotional storytelling, but this one nailed it.

Warrior Princess Assassin is a must-read for romantasy lovers and I can’t stop thinking about it. I am excited to continue this story in the next installment. 4.5 stars!!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Perfection. It was such a good time. The fluid transition of POVs between the our three main characters. The amount of thought in the development of the story and characters.

A solid 4.5 star read for which I can’t wait for the story to continue. The only reason it’s missing 1/2 a star is because by 80-90% we were still bonding with the MC and seeing their bonds develop and I was so into it that I couldn’t see when/how the resolution/cliff hanger was coming. And then when the ending did come I feel like it was rushed, at least the “twist”, but I still really enjoyed the ending.

Rounding up to 5 stars!

Warrior Princess Assassin Book Review 🦇

Do you have a favorite book featuring a love triangle?❓

King Maddox Kyronan's fire magic makes him ruthless on the battlefield, but his lands are burning, leaving his people without food. His only chance to save them is in the hands of the neighboring country's princess, Jory, whose father's weather magic can help the kingdom flourish. When Jory's childhood friend, Asher, is assigned to assassinate them both, the three are thrown into chaos. Can they uncover the parties behind the assassination plot, or will the secrets they discover about one another get in the way? 🦇

What a whirlwind! This story is full of adventure, yearning, and a few surprises along the way. Let's break it down. ⤵

Characters - Ky, Jory, and Asher are such beautifully complex characters. Though the novel's title (and chapter titles) define them by archetypes, they're SO much more than that. I adored the layers we slowly uncover, and how well the trio meshes. Ky's soldiers are an absolute hoot, too. ✨

Plot and Pacing - It's common for the first book in a fantasy to involve travel. A lot is revealed while the characters are on the road, with so much action in between that the pacing never drags. ✨

World-Building - There's so much potential for this medieval world; I'm hoping we get much more of it as the trilogy continues. The descriptions could have been stronger, though. ✨

Romance - I've never seen a would-be love triangle written so well. It's heartfelt, patient, at times sweet between moments of chaos. These three perfectly balance one another. I adored Ky's patience, the Jory's bravery, Asher's understanding. And the tension between them? Sizzling hot; get ready to swoon! ✨

The Vibes ✨
Adult Fantasy Debut
Romantasy Trilogy
Poly Ship / Why Choose?
Bi / Pan Characters / Queer Cast
Arranged Marriage
Trauma Healing
Political Intrigue
Multi POVs
Mental Health Rep
Slow Burn
Elemental Magic

Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #WarriorPrincessAssassin 🦇

Brigid Kemmerer’s adult fantasy debut explodes onto the scene with the holy trinity of romance archetypes:
👑 A morally gray warrior king with dangerous hands and a haunted past
🌪️ A secret-keeping weatherwitch princess forced to marry for peace (but deeply not over her first love)
🗡️ A former palace golden boy turned assassin who still calls her “my Jory” and is so not over her either

What ensues is a delicious storm of betrayal, simmering chemistry, and enough political intrigue to make your enemies-to-lovers heart explode. The love triangle? It's not just messy—it’s seductive. And whether you’re rooting for Jory to pick one… or not pick at all (👀), there’s no wrong answer, because each dynamic is absolutely smoldering.

The worldbuilding crackles with elemental magic, burning secrets, and cutthroat tension, but it's the romance—complicated, aching, doomed-but-maybe-not—that sets this book ablaze. And let’s be real: if you loved a good "why choose" dynamic, this is your next obsession. The longing? Devastating. The angst? Decadent. The emotional payoff? Chef’s kiss, fireball edition.

Perfect for fans of Elise Kova, Sarah J. Maas, and anyone who whispers “maybe all three” when forced to choose between a brooding king and a blade-wielding ex.

✦ 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑅𝑒𝑐 & 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 ✦

Warrior Princess Assassin
by Brigid Kemmerer

Book 1 ✦ Braided Fate trilogy
400 pages

Pub Date: 𝐴𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝟷𝟸, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻
ARC: @netgalley

𝟹 𝑃𝑂𝑉𝑠
𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑒/𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑠
𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒/𝑀𝑀𝐹
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠
𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝐺𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑝!

Brigid Kemmerer is a queen of writing sizzling tension and angst. I felt it in my bones. I could not put this one down. Hooked from the first sentence. Her writing is so engrossing that every time I lifted my head from the book, it took me a minute to realize that I’m not in that world. She is also the queen of building complex characters that have depth. This book is her adult steamy fantasy debut, and I hope that she will continue to write adult romantasy because I will be here for it.

Warrior Princess Assassin is about three characters whose paths will weave together – a warrior king, a princess and an assassin tasked with hunting them down. Ky is our warrior king with the power of fire. He is strong and fierce but kind and gentle... literally the ultimate book boyfriend. Jory is our innocent yet brave princess who is an arranged marriage with Ky. Asher is our assassin with a trauma past and is Jory’s oldest friend.

The romance in this book was full of tension and angst. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what would happen. Chapters 32 & 33. 🔥 The romance starts as a possible love triangle but through luscious tension on a perilous journey, it turns why choose and I ate up every bit of it.

This is my 4th book of Brigid Kemmerer’s that I have read and loved. I highly recommend the Forging Silver into Stars series. I have her Defy the Night series on my tbr.

I highly recommend this romantasy if you love character depth, sizzling tension, why choose, and political intrigue. So good! Can’t wait for book 2.

Thank you so much for the early copy of Warrior Princess Assassin @brigidkemmerer , @avonbooks , @harpervoyagerus , and @netgalley !
Rating: 4.5/5

I read this book in 24 hours and did not want to put it down. I love how the author does multiple points and does it in such a clear way. The way all 3 of the characters were written was done beautifully and I loved how she revealed little tidbits of information for the other people’s perspective and revealed that to each other. I love the banter between friends in the story as well. I am excited to read whatever comes next and also a little sad that I will have to wait a while for the next book cause I want to see what happens next with these 3.

WOW! I ate this book up in almost one night! The writing was amazing and sucked me in. I loveeeeed all of the characters and their development and depth. The relationship between Rory, Asher, and Ky developed in a way that had me swooning and melting. Love triangles aren’t my favorite, but give me a throuple relationship and I go feral. The tension and chemistry is sizzzzzling hot and I can’t wait to see where it goes. While it was lighter on the world-building, I still had so much fun reading this book!

𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼:
🗡️ Romantasy
🗡️ Arranged Marriage
🗡️ Why Choose? Polyamorous Rep
🗡️ Political Intrigue
🗡️ Elemental Magic
🗡️ Multiple POVs
🗡️ Tragic Pasts & Trauma Healing
🗡️ Slow Burn
🗡️ Bi/Pan Characters MMF
🗡️ Mental Health Representation
🗡️ One Horse

Warrior Princess Assassin
by: Brigid Kemmerer

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I jumped up and down screaming when I got approved for this eARC! I have loved the other books I’ve read by this author, particularly the Cursebreaker trilogy and Defy the Night trilogy. Needless to say when I found out the author was releasing her first adult romantic fantasy, I was excited!

Warrior Princess Assassin is a story centered around three people: Ky (the warrior King of Incendar), Jory (the princess of Astranza), and Asher (the assassin who was besties with the princess as a child). Jory get into an arranged marriage situation to create an alliance between their countries, and y heir stories quickly become interwoven with Asher for *reasons* and they come to rely on each other in order to accomplish their individual goals.

As for the romance, nobody writes yearning like Brigid, and she delivers yet again! I just loved how much each character yearned for the others in this little throuple.

I cannot wait to see where this series goes from here!

This book is a must read if you like:
👑 Political Intrigue
🗡️ Multi POV
🛡️ Poly ♥️ (MFM)
👑 Yearning
🗡️ Spicy 🌶️

Thank you to Avon (HarperCollins) and NetGalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fast-paced, twisty, and full of badass energy. Brigid Kemmerer nails it again with a fierce, messy heroine you can’t help but root for — even when she’s making choices that make you want to throw the book across the room.

The mix of palace intrigue, betrayals, and big emotional moments kept me hooked the whole way. If you love morally gray characters, sharp plot twists, and that blend of action and feels, this is a must-read.

First line: The bells stopped tolling hours ago, so it must be near midnight.

Summary: King Maddox Kyronan has earned a reputation as a ruthless leader who will use his fire magic to get what he wants. Princess Jory has lived a sheltered life in the palace but is being forced to marry King Maddox in the hopes that his magic can help her kingdom. And Asher is the son of aristocrats who has been forced to live as a slave and now works for the assassin’s guild in order to survive. As the three characters come together there are prejudices between them and many secrets as well. Can they survive the threats coming at them from everywhere? Or will the secrets that they hold be their undoing?

My Thoughts: I absolutely love Brigid Kemmerer! Ever since picking up her Cursebreakers series, I have been obsessed with her fantasy novels. Now she has an adult fantasy and I was immediately ready to read it. It did not disappoint. There is mystery, magic, secrets, a little violence and romance. It has everything that the hot new genre of romantasy is all about.

I loved the characters and the romance. Each character has their flaws which leads them to make mistakes. As the plot moved along it took some turns that I did not expect. I thought it was going to go one way and it switched course. I liked the change to an expected narrative and this helped build up the tensions in the book. While the plot is pretty loose in this first book it is driven by the characters and their interactions. Near the end we get a little bit more of the drama which will most likely appear in the next books. This book will definitely pull you in with the intriguing character dynamics and the steamy romance. I will be constantly checking Netgalley for the next book in the series!

FYI: Physical and mental abuse, torture, language, sex, violence

With this book you will find three main characters:
-A princess promised to a feared king who commands fire.
-A warrior king—her betrothed—desperate for her magic to save his kingdom.
-An assassin sent to kill them both… who also happens to be her childhood best friend and former lover.

What to expect:
-A slow burn romance
-Tangled political intrigue
-Three distinct POVs
-Sharp banter
-A “why choose” story

Be sure to check the trigger warnings before reading.

Wow, absolutely stunned. It's admittedly been awhile since I've read a book by Brigid Kemmerer, but I remember greatly enjoying the ones I have read. A main appeal that made me want to read this was the inclusion of poly romance, and I have to say I would give the book a 5/5 just for the romance, but I can't be too biased. I do read a lot of fantasy/romance books, so the whole premise of a warrior, assassin, and princess isn't the most unique plot, but I like the different twists that Kemmerer put on it, partially with the romance aspect but also the fantasy and worldbuilding elements. The characters were likeable and one of the main reasons the book was so enjoyable for me to read. It is told in 3 point of views, but I enjoyed each characters' voice. The plot felt more lacking - I think the pacing could've been done better since a large portion of the plot was just the group travelling from one place to another. Although things were happening during those times to keep the plot progressing, I feel like there could've been a stronger sense of urgency and suspense given the circumstances. The plot twist/reveal at the end felt a little predictable or rather a bit underwhelming. I was honestly much more invested in the characters and their developing relationships with each other than the plot conflict. And I will say that I was *invested* in their relationships. Like give me a 300 page slice of life novel of just Ky, Jory, and Asher interacting with each other and I will eat that up. I'm highly looking forward to the second book and how the characters and their relationship with develop. And while I can clearly gush about the romance, the plot is also intriguing, don't get me wrong. I think the information revealed at the end will help to progress the plot further, and I'm curious to see the direction things will take. I would definitely recommend this book to romantasy fans and those that like more queer normative settings.

4.25/5 Warrior Princess Assassin had me from the start and kept my interest the entire way through. I went into this one knowing nothing about the story and was delighted to find that it was not your typical love triangle Romantasy but is shaping up to be an MMF poly relationship and I am here for it. The romance was a slow burn and the characters had delicious tension and banter so that checked a bunch of boxes for me. I probably would have read it in one sitting if I could have stayed awake.

This book was very much about building the world and the characters - not so much about moving the plot forward. Very much a book 1 so if you are looking for a ton of action in this one you are going to be disappointed but if you are a fan of books that take the time to develop the main and secondary characters this one will be for you. Looking forward to seeing where Brigid takes us in Book 2.

I received an e-arc via Netgalley from AvonBooks in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to AvonBooks for the opportunity.

4/5 ⭐️
3/5 🌶
I really enjoyed this story and a Warrior, a Princess, and an Assassin. (Were those commas really so hard?) Told in 3 POVs, this story is much more character driven than plot driven. Although I really enjoyed it, I can see a lot of reviews will probably complain that nothing happened throughout the whole book. You really could summarize the events of the book in less than 3 sentences, but you wouldn't capture the characters and their connections to one another. This is really a romance story built on top of a political alliance story.

Huge THANK YOU to HarperCollins and NetGalley for this eARC!

I LOVED the relationship that developed between Jory, Asher, and Ky. And since this is the first in a series I am excited to see where this goes. But I do feel like some parts of this dragged on, although that’s typical of a lot of fantasy series.

Thanks for Avon & Harper Voyager for the ARC.

Brigid Kemmerer is one of my favorite authors of all time, so I was beyond excited to dive into her adult debut. This book was MAGNIFICENT. I blew away all of my expectations and then some. I loved the alternating points of view between Ky, Jory, and Asher. It kept the story moving forward without being convoluted, and all the characters were well-developed. The world was unique, and I enjoyed the introduction to the magic system Kemmerer created. Also, the TENSION was elite. There was yearning and slow burn, and oh my goodness, I was straight up squealing. When the tension finally broke, I was THRILLED. Kemmerer executed these complex relationships beautifully, and I look forward to more. The spice was perfect and such a turn after doing YA for years, but I WAS HERE FOR EVERY SINGLE MOMENT! There were some why choose vibes, and I was living. Reading this felt addictive, and I didn't want to put it down. The twist was half unexpected and half predictable, but I didn't mind because it fit well into the story arc. Needless to say, I'm obsessed with this book, and I can see it living in my head rent-free for a while. Thank you to Avon Books for the ARC to read and review!

Right off the bat, the title grabbed my attention.. And a book by Brigid Kemmerer? I'm HOOKED!

I enjoyed every single character in this book-Which is rare for me. The three main characters are trying to navigate a complicated dynamic while, and it seems like to be there might be a chance for a MMF...? They were all so complex and I was genuinely invested in their stories (especially Jory!).

The slow burn was exactly what I was looking for, and that SPICE?! Are you kidding me Brigid?!

I am giving this book 3.5 stars, because although I really enjoyed it, I do feel like it could have been half as long and still been good. The long journey between Astranza to Incendar took way to long and lost me at points.

I do love Brigid's storytelling in this book and I would absolutely recommend it to entry-level smut readers!

A deeply emotional and multi-faceted romance, this book was absolutely nothing like what I thought it would be going in, but I still loved it. The chemistry between Joey, Asher, and Maddox made this story absolutely SHINE and it didn’t matter whose POV it was in, they absolutely devoured every scene they shared together. Definitely a must read for anyone who loves MM/MMF romance with A+ banter and fast-paced fantasy!!

This book was a romance but also a really well built interesting fantasy world. The relationships with the main characters but also the side characters was amazing. I am excited to see what happens next. This was less romance focused than I thought it would be.