Title: Kiss of Snow

Author: Elizabeth Briggs

Pub. Date: August 12, 2020

Pages: 260

Pub: Independently Published

Genre: NA Fantasy Romance

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

Goodreads

She would do anything for her kingdom. He would do anything to protect her.

After the King of Talador’s mysterious death, Princess Lily must prepare to take the throne, even if she doesn’t feel ready yet. As her coronation draws near, an attack on her life sends her fleeing the castle with her devoted Captain of the Guard, Keane, the one man she trusts above all others.
When she arrives at her other palace, she is courted by seven handsome suitors, all hand-selected to potentially be her future King. With her kingdom in danger and her forbidden magic growing stronger, the last thing Lily wants to do is select a husband—especially when she’d rather be with the man who’s been by her side for years.

Now that Lily is going to be queen, Captain Keane understands she needs to marry a nobleman, even if the thought makes him want to run his blade through every one of her suitors. As long as he hides his true feelings for Lily, he can continue to protect her—even if no one can protect his heart. But when the attacks on Lily grow more dangerous and a threat from the past emerges, they must embrace her magic and their forbidden love if they’re going to save her throne.

This will be a short, spoiler free review. I listened to the audiobook via Audible. You can check out my spoiler free review for Beauty in Darkness – the first book in the Royal Hearts series – here.

I did not enjoy this book. It wasn’t terrible from a story perspective – it’s an interesting Snow White retelling. But omfg I was so damn bored the whole time. Even the reveal of the Evil Queen felt a little out of left field.

I love fairytale retellings, and I enjoyed the first book. So, I figured that I would enjoy this one as well.

I don’t know how – no I don’t understand how this book didn’t feel or sound like it was written by Elizabeth Briggs. I feel like I’ve read/listened to enough of her books by now to know, but this one did nothing for me. It kind of felt like someone else was pretending to be Briggs. Ugh, that’s a horrible thing to say, but it’s true.

I just didn’t connect to the story at all.

I was so excited for the Snow White aspect and the fact that is basically a bodyguard romance, but like, I cringed. The spice in this book just made me feel gross and it wasn’t even overly graphic or explicit.

I wanted to love Keane, but I didn’t. Lily was also kind of annoying. She didn’t have the spark that her sister had in the first book. Lily just spends the whole books entertaining suitors she has no interest in, while internal monologuing to death. I grew bored of her. She’s full of indecisiveness and concerns – which are valid to their predicament – but it was just annoying.

And the whole unrequited/unable to be together did not have enough angst, pining and longing. It was just boring. And the spice was just cringe and I didn’t find it enjoyable at all.

I will say the final battle wasn’t terrible. It’s relatively epic and Lily holds her ground. But overall, I was just very underwhelmed with the whole book. If more books come out in the series, I’ll probably read them. There are definitely elements that Briggs put into the first and this one that have my interest piqued. But yeah, this was kind of a miss for me. I don’t not recommend it – if you read the first one, you may as well read this – it’s quick. But Brigg’s has other books that are much better in my opinion, so maybe start with those.