Lady's Steed

Swords & Tiaras #1

by Eve Langlais

She never wanted to be queen.

Avera long ago came to terms with being the forgotten royal. As fourth in line, she was never expected to inherit the throne. All that changes when her entire family is assassinated and she barely escapes with her life.

Stepping into the role of queen takes her into a world she never could have imagined. One of plotting and intrigue. Hidden passageways. Magical and murderous statues. And traitors determined to steal her throne.

When the choice becomes flee or die, she embarks on a pilgrimage to an ancient place, one that holds a terrifying secret and sets her on an impossible and deadly quest.

Avera isn’t a champion or a fighter, however she’s also not a coward. Someone has to act. There is a dark force stirring, one that threatens not just her kingdom but the entire world.

From forgotten princess to ousted queen, and now the future’s only hope. Can Avera survive what’s to come?

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Royalty

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 2, 2025

About the author

~ New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Hello, my name is Eve Langlais and I am an International Bestselling author who loves to write hot romance, usually with werewolves, cyborgs or aliens .

I should warn you, I have a twisted imagination and a sarcastic sense of humor something I like to let loose in my writing. While well known for my shifter stories, I am also extremely partial to aliens, the kind who like to abduct humans and then drive them insane...with pleasure. Or do you like something a little darker, more serious? Then check out my cyborgs whose battle with humanity have captivated readers worldwide.

If you'd like to know more, read some excerpts or find out what I’m working on, then please visit me at http://www.EveLanglais.com or sign up for my newsletter at http://www.evelanglais.com/newrelease .
I am also extremely active on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eve.langlais.98

Reviews

[Alistair]

I only made it 80% of the way through this book, but I'm done with the sunk cost fallacy.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a book dive off a cliff so rapidly. Up until the halfway point, this was a decent enough novel about a new queen trying to solve the mystery of who killed her family while trying to stave off her assassination. Then, the head assassin was revealed and everything went downhill. The plot suddenly made next to no sense and there were little style problems everywhere. (I used to be very proud of myself for not using "said" when I was around fifteen-years-old and trying to write my first novel. A writing group quickly pointed out that words other than "said" should be used for emphasis, not every other dialogue mark. Clearly, Eve Langlais never got this advice, or her editor didn't pick up on it in the latter half of the novel.)

I'm baffled as to how this happened, but I'm not going to subject myself to more of it. I consider it read. The two stars are for the beginning assassination mystery.

[Dar]

Okay, that was a great start to what is shaping up to be an epic quest! We have a big bad, which we know little about, a reluctant royal, who is determined, and sidekicks and side characters, some of who we can see are good, and others, well, some question marks. Now that the wheels are truly in motion, cannot wait to see what happens in the next book!

[Cristina]

Putting it away for now. Nothing wrong with it per se, it’s more YA/Fantasy and was looking for something else.

[Sarah Anne]

DNF @ 15%

Didn’t like the writing. Also she’s a princess - her mother is Queen - yet somehow doesn’t know her own country’s politics?

[Diane Selander- maglioli]

Lady's Steed

This book is well written and well paced. I found it very easy to read and really enjoyed the story. The characters have a lot of depth to them which makes them very interesting.

[Angela Moore]

Another great adventure

Good book, I couldn't put it down
Can't wait to read what happened next
It's a good start to what promises to be a great adventure

[Calvin Lee]

Not. One. Breathe. Danger everywhere and every moment from start to end.

[PurpleBookFox]

3.5 stars
The story starts off strong but for such smart people they made many silly mistakes or missed easy clues,just forgot to mention something they normally would have, or saw something they knew was out of place and then just ignored it even when the thought was there of the item being a possibility for leaked information etc.
those things bothered me but not enough to stop reading. The characters and world are interesting so I will continue with the series.

[Paraphrodite]

3 stars.

First of a trilogy where our heroine, who was fourth in line to the throne becomes Queen after her mother and her elder siblings were all assassinated. However, when she discovered the traitor is from within and rumors abound that she is responsible for her family's murder, she had to flee the Court.

There's lots of magic and daring-dos. Not a bad start.

[Shawn]

4.5 stars

[Shana Pare]

Fascinating

Very entertaining, and I look forward to subsequent books. There are exceptional characters, both primary and secondary, with an interesting plot and raving evil.

[karli ;3]

The book was just "Meh" to me. I didn't really care for it. It didn't interest me at all so I dropped it.

[Andrea Oczvirkova]

Fantastic adventure begins. The book is great, full of action, great characters, strong female hero, and strong female sidekick. I look forward for next part of the story.