I received an advance reader copy of The Last Princess by Shelley Wilson. (Thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the copy)

Description

Northumbria, 866 AD

Edith still has much to learn about the art of ruling a kingdom, but when her family is murdered, she’s faced with the challenge of staying alive. 

As a young woman in Anglo-Saxon England, Edith finds it hard to be heard above the Eldermen who are ripping the kingdom to pieces, but nothing can prepare her for the arrival of the pirates and the Vikings. Torn from her homeland and sold into slavery, she’s determined to survive at any cost. 

Finding allies in the unexpected and enemies closer to home, Edith clings to her dream of returning home one day to reclaim her throne and to exact revenge on those who harmed her family.

I love historical fiction! I constantly search for people, places, words I’m unfamiliar with…and really appreciate learning something new. In this instance, I learned about Northumbria, the Viking invasions of England, Bamburgh and Bamburgh Castle, and that era.

I really enjoyed this story. Edith is a likable character; courageous , adventurous, and spirited. The other characters were all fascinating as well – from Jarl Aaric, to the shield maiden and Edith’s duplicitous uncle , Aelle. The book was easy to read, and the story was compelling.

Five stars!

Look for The Last Princess May 24, 2022.

I also received an ARC of It Could Be Anyone by Jaime Lynn Hendricks. While completely different from The Last Princess, I enjoyed it just as much.

Description

To anyone on their flight out of New York, they appear to be five best friends excited for a destination wedding in Miami. No one would guess that each of them has a reason to want the groom dead. 

Trevor Vaughn, the groom in question, wooed his bride-to-be by first becoming close with her friends—which is to say that he learned all of the five’s darkest, most dangerous secrets and blackmailed them into convincing Fiona to say “I do.” The friends were forced to convince a doubting Fiona to go through with the wedding, no matter what, and now the charade is set to continue all the way to the altar.

Trevor has his own reasons for wanting to marry into Fiona’s family, and he’ll stop at nothing to make his plan a reality. But when he dies of an apparent allergic reaction at the wedding, surrounded by such close enemies, the possibility of murder isn’t far behind. And for the authorities investigating the case, anyone present could be a suspect…

It Could Be Anyone was an enjoyable, satisfying read. The characters all had many layers, which Ms. Hendricks peeled away little by little, revealing a bit more with each page…and intriguing me a bit more, little by little, with every page.

I started and finished this in one day – very easy and compelling story!

I’m giving this 4.5 stars, only because of the random grammatical errors. While there were only a few scattered throughout the book, I found them distracting from the excellent story I was consumed with.

Thank you NetGalley and Pendleton Publishers for the ARC. It Could Be Anyone will be released May 10, 2022.