Official Review: The Formidable King
Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 18:21
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Formidable King" by Alyssa J. Montgomery.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The Formidable King by Alyssa J. Montgomery is a romance novel that follows King Gabriel, the king of a fictional kingdom called Santaliana and India Hamilton, the managing director of a charity foundation created by Gabriel’s late sister. 6 years ago, King Gabriel met a modern day Cinderella at a masquerade ball who left without saying goodbye. Distraught, Gabriel tries his best to find any information about her. Unfortunately, the mysterious girl is left a mystery until one day, years later, when she walks into his office for a meeting. As Gabriel and India work together to honor the memory of his sister and her friend, they slowly piece together the facts of that fateful night when they first met and undesirable parts of their pasts are unveiled. Will the undeniable chemistry between them be enough to keep them together even when all the truths are out?
First off, I should mention that although this novel is part of a series, the books do not all focus on the same characters. Each story focuses on just two characters who then appear as minor characters in the following book. Therefore, you do not need to have read the previous novel to understand this one. If you do read all the books in the series, you will get a special understanding of all the main and minor characters.
I enjoyed reading most of this novel. I felt that it was a light and quick read that has likable characters and well-written scenes. Initially, I was a bit afraid that I would end up hating the two main characters because at first they seemed pretentious, but I actually really liked both of them. Gabriel is a strong and responsible young man who has to take care of an entire kingdom, but as we get to know him, we realize that he also has his own share of anxieties. India Hamilton is a generous, sweet soul who can make it through any obstacle because underneath her sweetness is a tenacity that you won’t want to underestimate. The author did a great job of creating realistic characters. The reactions of the characters felt natural and the romance between them did not feel forced.
The only problem I had while reading this book is the predictability. I have read numerous romance novels, so the plot of this one did not stand out. I could predict almost everything that would happen. The saving grace was that I actually liked the characters because otherwise the predictability of the plot would have gotten tiresome. There are some explicit sex scenes in this novel (one of which is rather important to the plot line). I would not go as far as to call it erotica, but those who dislike these types of scenes should pass on reading this book.
Overall, this novel was well-written and professionally edited with only a few very minor mistakes. Although the plot was predictable, I enjoyed reading about the characters in The Formidable King by Alyssa J. Montgomery and I think it brought to light some important matters. Therefore, I decided to give this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this novel to anyone that enjoys reading romance and does not mind a few sex scenes. This series is unique in a way that every book focuses on a different set of characters, so after reading this one, you can go to the next one and get more details on two minor characters that appear in this novel.
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The Formidable King
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Formidable King by Alyssa J. Montgomery is a romance novel that follows King Gabriel, the king of a fictional kingdom called Santaliana and India Hamilton, the managing director of a charity foundation created by Gabriel’s late sister. 6 years ago, King Gabriel met a modern day Cinderella at a masquerade ball who left without saying goodbye. Distraught, Gabriel tries his best to find any information about her. Unfortunately, the mysterious girl is left a mystery until one day, years later, when she walks into his office for a meeting. As Gabriel and India work together to honor the memory of his sister and her friend, they slowly piece together the facts of that fateful night when they first met and undesirable parts of their pasts are unveiled. Will the undeniable chemistry between them be enough to keep them together even when all the truths are out?
First off, I should mention that although this novel is part of a series, the books do not all focus on the same characters. Each story focuses on just two characters who then appear as minor characters in the following book. Therefore, you do not need to have read the previous novel to understand this one. If you do read all the books in the series, you will get a special understanding of all the main and minor characters.
I enjoyed reading most of this novel. I felt that it was a light and quick read that has likable characters and well-written scenes. Initially, I was a bit afraid that I would end up hating the two main characters because at first they seemed pretentious, but I actually really liked both of them. Gabriel is a strong and responsible young man who has to take care of an entire kingdom, but as we get to know him, we realize that he also has his own share of anxieties. India Hamilton is a generous, sweet soul who can make it through any obstacle because underneath her sweetness is a tenacity that you won’t want to underestimate. The author did a great job of creating realistic characters. The reactions of the characters felt natural and the romance between them did not feel forced.
The only problem I had while reading this book is the predictability. I have read numerous romance novels, so the plot of this one did not stand out. I could predict almost everything that would happen. The saving grace was that I actually liked the characters because otherwise the predictability of the plot would have gotten tiresome. There are some explicit sex scenes in this novel (one of which is rather important to the plot line). I would not go as far as to call it erotica, but those who dislike these types of scenes should pass on reading this book.
Overall, this novel was well-written and professionally edited with only a few very minor mistakes. Although the plot was predictable, I enjoyed reading about the characters in The Formidable King by Alyssa J. Montgomery and I think it brought to light some important matters. Therefore, I decided to give this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this novel to anyone that enjoys reading romance and does not mind a few sex scenes. This series is unique in a way that every book focuses on a different set of characters, so after reading this one, you can go to the next one and get more details on two minor characters that appear in this novel.
******
The Formidable King
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Sarah_Khan's review? Post a comment saying so!