Title: The High King’s Golden Tongue
Author: Megan Derr
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: November 4th, 2015
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance
Page Count: 410
Reviewed by: PrinCkhera
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Blurb:
Prince Allen has trained his entire life to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious mother, who has made their kingdom one of the wealthiest and most influential in the empire. For the past few years he has trained to become the new consort of the High King. The only thing no one prepared him for was the stubborn, arrogant High King himself, who declares Allen useless and throws him out of court.
High King Sarrica is ruling an empire at war, and that war will grow exponentially worse if his carefully laid plans do not come to fruition. He’s overwhelmed and needs help, as much as he hates to admit it, but it must be someone like his late consort: a soldier, someone who understands war, who is not unfamiliar with or afraid of the harsher elements of rule. What he doesn’t need is the delicate, pretty little politician foisted on him right as everything goes wrong.
I highly enjoyed this book, the premise, the plot, the characters, the choice of using double POVs to show how both characters develop and I read it within a day because I had a hard time convincing myself to put it down.
Just to get it out of the way, there is very little I didn’t like about this book.
There were occasional errors, like a sentence missing a word or having one too many which gave me pause but overall I enjoyed the writer’s style.
At first I wasn’t too sure about Allen. He wasn’t all too likable to be honest, but I absolutely love stories where the MC is underestimated and completely makes you go wtf. So, I read on. He had my sympathy within the next few pages, and I felt the anger and anguish he must have been suffering as the story went on.
Think about it.
He couldn’t go back home. He didn’t have anyone in this place. He was utterly alone.
Some people would give up and go back.
Some people would pack their bags and run away.
Some people would be frozen, unable to do anything but hope to Pantheon that everything worked out… somehow.
And there are those few who would break down, and pick themselves up again. Look at the hand they’ve been dealt and figure out a way to still get what they want.
Allen is one of those very few – and it takes just one chapter to root for him.
A Silver Tongue with the ability to speak 14 languages would turn any heads. His tenacity, downright stubbornness to not leave without giving it his 100% is admirable. He is stupid, at times. But, brave all the same.
I like it when my MCs are smart, and Allen was nobody’s fool (well, he kind of was but then again he wasn’t). The moments where you get to see him using what’s been drilled into his head had me captured.
Then there’s Sarricca.
Sarica. How wonderfully brutish and stubborn you are.
Truth. I wanted to slap him around a bit. He was a complete and utter idiot at times. But he redeems himself, so I didn’t completely write him off.
At first, because it’s from Allen’s POV, we don’t get a favourable impression of Sarrica. He was kind of an asshole. A big one.
But you can’t completely dislike Sarrica because you understand that he’s been through a lot and has quite a number of things on his shoulders. He’s lost his previous husband whom he was married to for over a decade. Left behind as a single parent (but like all royalty he can afford nannies). Kyle’s brothers, Rene and Lesto, are a constant reminder as to his lost love.
Honestly, I was expecting the brothers to not be very encouraging of Sarrica moving on. I was expecting them to be assholes, and throne hungry for some reason.
They weren’t. If anything, both Lesto and Rene, as well as other characters like Tara are some of the reasons this book worked.
Sarrica is Pantheon-damned lucky to have had Lesto by his side (whom I absolutely loved). He was a great character, one that told you what was what, and did as he pleased.
The characters, most we come across, are given their own stories which I really liked. Sometimes an author puts them there to solely elevate the MCs and the ones in this story did – to a certain extent, but they had their own troubles too. They added more life, less monotonicity, to this book . Especially Lesto (which is why I’m so happy that the sequel with his story is coming out so soon).
Lesto… *dreamy sigh*
Anyways in short:
This story is about
moving on,
starting a new journey
& plain-old stubbornness to get what you want
and that what you have worked hard for.
Recommended.
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