Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This week’s list is the Top Ten Books Every X Should Read. I am choosing to write about the Lesser Known Books Every Fantasy Lover Should Read. As a note, I am picking lesser known how I see it. If some of these are rather well-known, I may be unawares and then we should have a party! I also know it will be unlikely that I get to ten.
It has been a crazy month and a half! I will share some of my summer camp experience here but most will wait until it’s own post with pictures!
The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve?
Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.
But even with the aid of Emrys’ magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard.
Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of–the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.
Find the book: Goodreads