Lady's Ransom (The First Argentines #3) by Jeff Wheeler

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Ransom Barton and his wife, Claire de Murrow, have arrived in Legault to reclaim the title that was Claire’s birthright. Claire intends to rebuild a war-ravaged palace to its former glory and to teach Ransom about the magical history of their new home. But when Ransom is summoned to return to King Benedict, his loyalty to Claire is tested. Fealty prevails, however questionable the king’s motives.

The ambitious Benedict, who controls his late father’s dominion, must prove his might. The warriors of the East Kingdoms have disrupted the trade routes, weakening every kingdom in their path. Benedict’s plan is to fend off a coming war through strategic alliances. But it’s Ransom’s post to keep the king’s allies—as well as his poisonous enemies—in line, even as Benedict’s defense may be inviting further chaos.

As the king’s power grows and Ransom’s rise in the council is secured, a shadowy conspiracy threatens to destroy everything Ransom has worked to build. Now torn between allegiance to the woman he loves and duty to king and country, which will Ransom choose?

 

I was really looking forward to reading this book and I did enjoy it, but parts of it made me rather sad and unsure of things. I was really excited to see Ransom and Claire finally together. Unfortunately Ransom gets called away all too soon and Claire is left to deal with things in her kingdom alone. I liked Claire a lot in the other books, but there were times here that she felt a bit out of character, and it affected the way I felt about the book. She seemed a bit too whiny and unsupportive of the things Ransom had to do. Now that I've finished the whole book I do get what the author was trying to do here, and I won't spoil anything, but I still didn't care for her personality in this book. Poor Ransom never has it easy no matter what, and that's what makes the fact that he's still such an honorable man so admirable, although I do feel that Ransom is a bit too much of a Gary Stu at times.

One of the best things about this book is the fact that I didn't see a twist coming that the author threw in near the end. It almost made all the sad and unsure things worth it. 

Thanks to NetGalley and 47North for providing me with an ARC of this book.