The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
6/21/2020
Genre: fantasy
Page number: 354
Okay, I didn’t think I was going to like this book, but I really did. I’ll basically read anything fantasy, and this book had an arranged marriage and enemies-to-lovers trope, a little bit of fluff, revenge, betrayal, and all that good stuff that’ll keep me hooked and read in a day. It’s book one in the series and the first two books follow the same main characters, Lara and Aren. 
Lara, the main female character, is so strong, caring, and determined. She has been trained to be a lethal spy for 15 years, so when the time comes for her to marry Aren, who is the king of the Bridge Kingdom, she would be able to dethrone him and take the Bridge for her country. She’s grown up believing that Arens’ kingdom was an enemy who is greedy and evil because that was what her father and teachers told her. However, things aren’t always what they seem. Aren, who is the king of Bridge Kingdom, is seen as cold, dangerous, and evil, but behind that façade, he’s cocky, passionate, and would do anything for his kingdom, just like Lara.
I liked how Lara went from wanting to destroy Aren to protecting him. The same for him, Aren wanted someone who could challenge him and fight alongside him for the kingdom, and he believed that person wasn’t Lara, so I liked how she slowly proved him wrong. I also really liked the action scenes.
These two quotes I especially loved because I think they show the difference between Lara’s mindset from the beginning to towards the end.
“Biting the insides of her cheeks, Lara struggled to contain her grin. This man might be a hunter. But he was mistaken if he believed she was prey.”
“She would fight for him. She would bleed for him. She would die for him.”
Not too focused on the romance until later on in the book, lots of action and suspense.
TW: child abuse, drugs, self-harm, sexual content, violence, and death.
