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About Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym Martineau

Exiled beast charmer Leena Edenfrell is in deep trouble. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts on the black market—an offense punishable by death—and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes him an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life.

If only it were that simple. Unbeknownst to Leena, the undying ones are bound by magic to complete their contracts, and Noc cannot risk his brotherhood of assassins…not even to save the woman he can no longer live without.

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Review of Kingdom of Exiles

This book has received a lot of pre-release press, including the ability to ‘Read Now’ on NetGalley. Which means, you don’t have to request and be approved to receive book – just download it and start reading. So I wondered…..what is going on with this debut novel?

It is good. Really good! Kingdom of Exiles may turn me into an annoying fan that starts asking about the next book in the series.

I love the characters. Leena and Noc have a pretty immediate attraction to each other, despite the fact that they started out as adversaries. The reader can sense it. They have both had difficult pasts and neither is forthcoming about details. But their interest in each other will not go away and because of their pasts, the attraction is pure danger.

Noc’s brotherhood of assassins proves to be a great supporting cast of characters. Each have their own personality quirks and I am guessing, each will get their own story in future installments. If they don’t, I shall be quite disappointed 🙂 .

There is a third set of characters that I enjoyed. The beasts. As a charmer, Leena is able to befriend and control a wide variety of creatures with different skills sets. Each is a potential ally in sticky situations. But they are also creatures of heart and the ability to bond with the right people. These creatures add to the creativity of this fantasy setting and some of them will also need to get their own story.

The situation seems impossible. There is no way Leena and Noc can ever be together. The hopeless circumstances weigh oh, so heavily on Noc and later on Leena when she learns the facts. The emotion is at times heartwarming and other times heartbreaking. The bond between Noc and the assassins is heartfelt. Combine all this with plot thick with action and intrigue and I dare you to go to bed early.

I am so glad I decided to be among the early readers of Kingdom of Exiles. This is going to be a heck of a series. Now, Ms. Martineau, when is the next book coming out?

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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