Review--The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

 

Lara has only one thought for her husband on their wedding day: I will bring your kingdom to its knees. A princess trained from childhood to be a lethal spy, Lara knows that the Bridge Kingdom represents both legendary evil - and legendary promise. The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom controls all trade and travel between lands, allowing its ruler to enrich himself and deprive his enemies, including Lara's homeland. So when she is sent as a bride under the guise of fulfilling a treaty of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture the defenses of the impenetrable Bridge Kingdom.

But as she infiltrates her new home - a lush paradise surrounded by tempest seas - and comes to know her new husband, Aren, Lara begins to question where the true evil resides. Around her, she sees a kingdom fighting for survival, and in Aren, a man fiercely protective of his people. As her mission drives her to deeper understanding of the fight to possess the bridge, Lara finds the simmering attraction between her and Aren impossible to ignore. Her goal nearly within reach, Lara will have to decide her own fate: Will she be the destroyer of a king or the savior of her people?

 

 

Danielle L. Jensen’s The Bridge Kingdom is the start to a lush new fantasy series filled with lies, betrayals, and war! This was a series I felt reluctant to start but soon found myself falling deeply into the story and being captivated by the characters.

Told in dual points of view with Lara and Aren we see the start of an arranged marriage that is nothing but a farce. Lara and her sisters were raised to be warriors in disguise and when Lara “wins” the chance to be Aren’s bride she is determined to do her father, the king’s bidding as it means saving her kingdom from starvation. 

Aren is the king of a neighboring kingdom and it’s his kingdom that has control of the bridge that basically is the road to trades. Since Lara’s kingdom is far away from it (from my understanding as book 1 had no map which I would’ve found extremely helpful; although it does appear to be in the next book) they aren’t able to get in on the trading of goods. So it’s Lara’s plan to infiltrate the kingdom, learn its secrets and send them to her father.

Aren meanwhile is trying to do everything possible to keep his new bride happy and comfortable all while ruling his kingdom and defending it from invaders. He’s pretty much oblivious to Lara’s machinations but within good reason. 

I will admit the book was a little bit on the slow side. We basically see Lara adapting to her new life all while trying to find ways to betray her new husband and people. But Lara soon learns that all is not what it seems. Lara had a very different understanding of what was going on in Aren’s kingdom versus what actually happened.

The ending, as expected was quite exciting as everything started to happen all at once! Which I’m glad I waited to read this as it ended with a cliffhanger.

 

While I will say the pacing was a weak point to the series I’ll add that the characters were a strong point. They do seem to fall into some stereotypes they were still enjoyable characters complete with flaws.

As far as romance goes, that was a continual slow burn. There were little moments here and there but things finally come into fruition near the end right before spiraling into the inevitable chaos. 

The Bridge Kingdom was an enjoyable read overall but not exactly a perfect read. It’s one of those fantasy novels without magic and add in a slow pace this kind of missed a mark or two for me, but still an enjoyable one! Looking forward to seeing where this series will go.

Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars