Heart of Defiance: An Abandoned Realms Novel
The Royal Spares
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Heart of Defiance: An Abandoned Realms Novel
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Narrated by:
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Isabelle Turner
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Joseph Discher
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Michael Joss
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Alexander Neal
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By:
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Eva Chase
Summary
One heart can burn the way to freedom....
Everyone knows you don't mess with the empire. Our tyrannical overlords rule our conquered kingdom with an iron fist. Even after they killed my parents and left me orphaned and ostracized, I've swallowed my resentment. I survive by keeping my head down, scavenging the scraps my neighbors discard.
But when I see the empire's soldiers destroying my mother's last sculpture in the town square, years of bottled rage boil over.
I never expect my sudden act of defiance to spark a full-out rebellion. Now I'm at odds with the empire's entire army with nothing but my wits and sheer stubbornness on my side. Well, that and three incredible men I'm guarding my heart from, because they can't possibly want a nobody like me...can they?
No one thinks I stand a chance, but I'm done with cowering. I'll lead my country to freedom–or die trying.
*Heart of Defiance is a short standalone reverse harem romantasy novel set in the fantasy world of the Abandoned Realms, about a century before the events in the Rites of Possession and Royal Spares series. No prior knowledge of the world is required!*
That said, this just wasn’t entirely the right fit for me. The 'why choose' trope ended up overshadowing much of what I found most interesting about the story. While I can see the appeal for readers who enjoy that dynamic, I felt like it pulled focus away from the rebellion plot and diluted some of the tension. The characters started off strong, but a lot of their development, and key decisions, kept circling back to that trope, which made things feel a bit repetitive and less impactful.
The FMC in particular had a lot of potential, and I really liked her strength and defiance early on. However, her reluctance to choose (which is, of course, central to the trope) ended up being a sticking point for me and took away from her otherwise compelling arc.
Overall, I still think this is a well-written book with a solid story at its core. My rating reflects more of a personal preference than a flaw in execution. Readers who enjoy why choose romance and a heavier level of spice will likely get much more out of it than I did. I just wish I’d known going in so I could have set my expectations accordingly. That was my fault and not the books.
A why choose fantasy-romantasy
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