Court of the Vampire Queen
Rating: 3 out of 5
"Don't apologize for being strong."
All Mina ever wanted was to escape her father's control. Half human, half vampire, she lived eternally torn between two worlds, never fully experiencing the pleasures of either--until her father chose her as the pawn in the latest political move, gifting her to the darkly powerful and dangerously seductive Malachi. The longer Mina spends with him, the more she realizes he's not the monster she first thought--and as fear bleeds into lust, then trust, then something more, Malachi opens Mina up to a world she never knew could be hers for the taking: including the love of Malachi's two closest friends and companions. Now surrounded by all three men, the center their shockingly seductive world, Mina may finally have the power to face down her father and take back the life--and crown--that by all rights should be hers.
Can I just say I was a tad disappointed with this book. The summary is much more appealing than the book in my opinion. The spice is heavy in this book, I mean it literally starts on like page 2; but the breeding kink was a bit much for me. Not to mention I felt that Mina was often overshadowed in the relationship that developed with all four characters. She was never treated as an equal, in my opinion, and often they talked about her like she wasn't there. I think the shared history between the Malachi, Wolf, and Rylan was great for how they bonded so easily but detrimental to how Mina fit into the narrative.
Some of the big reveals in this book weren't really surprising because of the way they were hinted at before becoming a plot point. At times it was frustrating to read this because it just felt like so much potential existed but got lost in the side narratives the author was creating. I felt like the ending was a bit anti-climatic for over 400 pages of build up. I would have enjoyed more banter and tension between the characters. I also didn't enjoy how Mina was so helpless for basically all of the novel. That being said, it was well written, had lots of spice and introduced some cool characters. It was just a miss for me.
