Crowns Legacy #1
“You’ll have to decide what’s more important to you at this point. Love or fear.”
Opal Whilstead
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Reviving the Commander is a beautiful story about love after loss and hope in whatever circumstances you find yourself. While the story starts slowly with the backstory for the land and various character’s introductions, the story hits it’s stride and keeps a steady pace through to the end. If you are looking for a romance starring a couple past their “prime” and a clean read, this book is for you.
Staid Alexander is the widower of the queen and ruler of the Eubeltic Realm. He is also the father of six children ranging from their twenties to two years old. He is an influential figure in the court but never arrogant. Instead, his priorities are on his children and ensuring that they are safe and navigating royal life well. He only begins to notice Opal when his two-year-old takes a shine to her.
Opal Whilstead would not consider herself a likely match for the popular widower. She is a pillar of the community, but a spinster overlooked when it comes to love. It is her work with a society of ladies that brings them into close contact. Tea in the palace library ends with a young prince napping in her lap.
Their maturity is a welcome change in the romance genre, and it alters the social elements that bring them together. Bonding over a toddler napping, carrying out official duties, and handling teenage anxieties at a family dinner doesn’t usually happen when a couple is much younger. Well, maybe the toddler napping would. They also avoid the angstiness that can plague younger romance couples. Instead, their bumps in the road stem from experiences in their pasts and fears that grew from them.
The setting is a fictional land consisting of two countries that have, in recent decades, joined into one realm. There are intriguing hints of cultural and linguistic differences between the two regions. However, this world-building doesn’t overshadow the main storyline.
This book is well worth picking up if you are looking for a unique, clean romance.
