Trauma psychologist-in-training Francesca Simmons would like to think she can help anyone, as long as she keeps herself centered, focused… controlled. Then she meets a man in desperate need of that zen-state serenity… and he makes her absolutely crazy.
Ryker Stavros has been rotting in prison his entire life… the life he can remember anyway, which began a year ago in fire and pain. When an angel steps into his world with maddeningly cool hands and gentle words that set his soul on fire, telling him he’s not at all who he believes he is, he knows she’s only trying to help…But the devil in him won’t rest until he makes her his.
Jennifer Chance is the award-winning author of contemporary magical romance and romantic fantasy. Her series include the Boston Magic Academies (written as DD Chance), the Gatekeepers of the Gods series (an update of her Gowns & Crowns series) and the contemporary (non-magical) RuleBreakers Series. A lover of books, romance, and happily-ever-afters, she lives and writes in Ohio. You can find her online at www.JenniferChance.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authorJenniferChance.
This was the perfect ending to the series!! While technically you could start with this book, I would recommend starting with book 1 because you don't want to miss any of the amazing characters or the action!
This is Prince Ari's story and after a long year of having no idea who he is he is back in the castle where he belongs (right?). Fran (another American) is there to help him to figure out who he is and what has happened to him...there is some drama, some romance, and some bad guys involved...overall it is a lot of fun!!
The reader zooms through the pages of this one so quickly that they don't realize that they have reached the end of the book and they instantly have regrets that the finished it so quickly. This is my newest favorite series!! Don't hesitate to add this one and the previous three to your TBR list and move them straight to the top!! This is a must read!
Crowned is the conclusion to the main "arc" of Jennifer Chance's Gowns and Crowns series, though it seems like there is a spin-off fifth book, Cursed, in the works which will move the story away from the fictional Garronia and onto US soil. In the meantime, Crowned is about the last of four American friends visiting Garronia to not have been set up with a romantic interest: Fran. In the wake of the rescue of the amnesiac crown prince, Fran is pulled in to act as a sort of companion and to help him remember himself, which the queen thinks will happen because Fran is young and pretty and oh yeah, she's a graduate psychology student with her focus for the past year having been on soldiers with PTSD. It's this that really made me have serious reservations about this book--though there were other glaring problems, too--because a therapist having a relationship with a patient is a huge, huge no-no.
Now, Chance makes it very explicit throughout the book that Fran is not technically Ari's therapist...and yet she really is acting as one, and I feel like in this case it's the spirit of the thing rather than the letter of it that really made the big difference.
Chance has a knack for writing both steamy and sweet interactions, but her plots themselves really weakened as this series went on. For example, in this book, Ari eventually does start to regain his memories--I'm not going to get into that part of it, because I'm not really qualified to--and yet he has no problem that Fran, and all of his other friends and family, decided to keep his identity a secret and let him walk around Garronia like a nobody when pretty much everyone who saw him had at least some idea of who he was. He has no problems that Fran slept with him under, essentially, false pretexts. There's absolutely no questioning of any of her actions or why she kept any of the secrets she did; none of them are hugely harmful, and yet the very fact that she felt the need to do so, and had broken laws in the process of doing so for no good reason except that she felt like it, really seemed to have no effect on anyone. What? What is in the water in Garronia that the fact that their apparent future queen is a complete fake does not bother them? Is the royal family planning on perpetuating this lie for all eternity? Surely someday, someone would recognize Fran and go, "Hey, isn't that...?"
I think this series has made abundantly clear that plot is not Chance's strong point. The romantic interactions are right on-point, sweet when they need to be and steamy when you want them to be, but the plots that surround and hold up these romances are very weak and can really take away from the romance as a whole. I am still curious to read Cursed, whenever it comes out, but I had serious, serious reservations about this book, and I don't think it was a great end to the main series.
I've loved reading about each of the four friends, and it was great to see Fran shine in this story. I loved that there is a natural conclusion to this series so that we are satisfied that the girls are on their way to a Happily Ever After, without completely closing the door on Garronia. It's a true balance between giving us everything and leaving us wanting more.
I also loved the sneak preview into Cursed, which promises to give is our Garronian fix!
For the love of me, I can't figure out why this book is listed on an alien erotica shelf. And trust me, this issue has been bugging me massively for months: www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/alien-er...
Each book in this series gets better and better. In Crowned, we finally discover what happened to Ari. He's back, and yet, he's not. But what happened to him and why his memory is gone is a conundrum. His family frets that there's no way to bring him back to them, to unlock his memory so they can have their Ari back.
It's Fran's turn as the heroine, and she really shows her personality in this one. Thinking of herself as not much of a seagoer, Fran gets a touch panicky on boats. Which is unfortunate since she is staying in a place with the ocean outside virtually every window. This makes any boat trip fun for the reader but not so much for Fran.
Yet, she ends up on boats frequently. In her role as Ari's friend and confidant, she goes where Ari goes. And Ari loves the sea. Watching Fran deal with her fear of the water and, of all things, dolphins is really quite amusing. But Fran is almost a psychologist, and this is the talent she's needed for. All fun aside, Ari needs help, and Fran is there to give it...in purely a professional manner. Right.
I really enjoyed this one. Getting to know Fran was truly interesting. While Emmaline and Nicki were a little more lighthearted and Lauren a tad heavyhearted, Fran was more freehearted, mostly because she had no intention of having any kind of relationship except a fleeting one. A casual one. Ari wasn't to know she was helping him professionally. She was experienced with PTSD, so she was the logical one to help Ari with his issues.
But who could spend hours upon hours with a gorgeous hunk and keep it professional? Surely not me! And this is when Fran's personality shows up in spades. I like her very much. There is a great deal to Fran that even her friends don't know. A very convoluted character. I really like it when a character is this fleshed out. We learn a lot about Fran in this book, and most of it isn't what you'd expect. And that's where I'll leave it so I don't accidentally give away spoilers.
Jenn once again grabbed my attention and kept it with this fourth book in the Gatekeepers to the Gods series. What she calls a romance, I call an exciting storyline that continues to keep my interest, amazing as I find that. For me, romance usually means mushy, and I don't do mushy. But this isn't that. Not really. Sure, there's some mush, but it all ties into the story so it doesn't put me off. Jennifer Chance (our own wonderful Jenn Stark) is the only person who can get me to read a romantic series and enjoy it.
Once again, Jenn, excellently done! Can't wait for the next one!
This one was much like the others. Two people, yet again, that meet and fall deeply in love in 24 hours. Their love is so forced and unnatural it’s not even in the realm of believable.
This one also needs quite an extensive amount of editing. So many errors. None probably as bad as misspelling one of the MFCs over and over again. (Nikki instead of Nicki). Especially when it’s misspelled and spelled correctly multiple times on the same page.
Frans background was so beyond lame and full of cringe I simply couldn’t handle it. It was ridiculous and completely impossible to be an actuality. And just plain silly. Crying about being poor and being the little girl with scabbed knees? Seriously? All of this amounting to her being unworthy of anything good. It was bad. But luckily it only took a very brief confession of love and proposal from a prince that she didn’t actually know, and she was good as gold.
Of course zero explanation into her real background.
The prologues for all of them were not actual prologues. Simply the next chapter. Some continuing on from the very last moment of the book or the following day. No actual prologue. No peak into the future. This one just being a setup for the next book. Nothing more.
Obviously not all that impressed with the author or the series. Have no plans to read any more of her books personally. Though I can see how her books could be appealing to others.
Crowned is the fourth book in the Gatekeepers of the Gods series and it is a great wrap up to lost prince story arc, while still leaving enough open threads to keep you excited for the next book in the series. Crowned picks up shortly after the previous book, Ari has been rescued and is convalescing out of the spotlight on a private island. Ari doesn't remember who he is nor his family's identity and is working with a team of doctors to try to regain his memories. Queen Catherine, ever the matchmaker, tasks Francesca with befriending Ari in hopes that a counselor his own age might be helpful in his recovery. The two quickly form a bond as they unravel the mystery of what happened to Ari on the night of his fateful plane crash.
I really enjoyed this story, Francesca and Ari make a great couple and I liked how she helped him to uncover his lost memories. I also liked how she was more than just what she initially appeared to be. The story ties up the original missing prince arc very nicely and took me on a roller coaster of emotions, but it also has a nice hook for the next book in the series. I've really enjoyed this series, and while some of the romances happened quickly, it made you want to believe in love, and the books just made you feel good after having read them. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
This was the final story of the four friends. They have gone on a European vacation, but have not managed to leave Garronia with all of their adventures there.
Francesca Simmons is a trauma psychologist and has been tasked by the royal family to simply be the companion for the crowned prince who was just found after he had gone missing for a year. She has secrets of her own, but takes this on at the mercy of the queen not concerned with the fact if they really knew her identity they would not trust her.
Ari is back, but it takes him some time to discover who he really is. He easily begins to remember bits and pieces, largely due to patience and understanding of Francesca.
They are really great together and there were some really touching moments. This had mystery, romance and some suspense at times. The secondary characters were missing something for me in this book. I felt a disconnect with them at times. Some of the story didn’t connect or complete for me either, but I loved Ari and Francesca so much that it made up for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Okay... So overall, books 1 and 4 not as awesome as 2 and 3. I don't know what it is, but the princes just weren't that interesting.
Ryker-Ari, however, was a lot more fun than Ari-Ari. The race to regain his memories gave him more depth and personality, but once he learned who he was, he kind of just fell flat, as did the rest of the story which, while already predictable, went straight to cliche and skimmable.
And Fran... Meh. There were a lot of missed opportunities to flesh out her story, and aside from the fake ID bit, it didn't really feel like her secret warranted the protection she gave it. And seriously... If the guys checking out her story had really been doing their jobs, pretty sure they'd have figured it out. They're government, FFS.
Okay... So, nevermind. Apparently this book pissed me off.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Demi Gods, Gods and humans all live in this country. Fran was a student on a trip with friends
Fran’s world was on its side as one of her friends fell in love with the crown Prince. How had she someone so afraid of the ocean been brought to this wild beautiful country. As a friend of the new princess she is let in on the world of Demi Gods and God and their interaction with humans. With her psychiatric training with those with ptst the Queen has pulled her into helping the found Prince find his lost memories. To find out who he is now. But it is tearing her apart as she brings forth more memories for both of them.
This book was gifted to me. Another brilliant story in the Gowns and Crowns series. This is filled with romance, drama, mystery and suspense. Ari is finally home and we finally discover Fran's past. The love story of Ari and Fran is so sweet, and fun. I wasn't sure if I would like Fran, she has been so nervous about her past, but she is the best of the bunch. And I love Ari, not as much as Dmitri, but a very close second, he's such a nice easy going guy even after all he's been through. I can't wait for cursed now.
I loved this story. The descriptions of places that Jenn manages to conjure up never fails to amaze and immerse me. The story contained a huge range of emotions; angst, sadness, awe, realisation, evil, friendship, hope and blossoming love are the few that immediately spring to mind. It closes one thread of story line in the series, whilst leaving a further thread as yet incomplete, and a cheeky little teaser of the next book to come. Can't wait! I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
I'm so glad I was able to read all 4 of these books. I love how this series ended! Or did it? That ending though. I need the crossover book for this series. Honestly I loved how she ended it. Finally, with Ari and Fran. I've been waiting since they talked about Ari in book one. You finally learn everything that happened to him after the events in book 3. And then you learn about the secrets of Fran. Which I did not see coming!!! I loved this series so much. If you live stories about Greek god, falling in love, and mystery backgrounds. This is one series that will give you that!
This is the last of the four books in the Gatekeepers of the Gods series and my favourite. A well-written romance with action and plenty of mystery involving Fran and the previously missing, presumed dead, Prince Ari. Fran supports Ari as he tries to remember who he, while Fran battles strange nightmares that are finally resolved with a real Greek god twist. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, and many of Jenn's other books, and highly recommend them. Gatekeepers of the Gods is best read in order. Give them a go, they're really good.
After an intensive search, Prince Ari was found. However, he had no memory of who he was. Could Francesca help him to remember? Fran had her own secrets. Were they enough to deter the prince who loved her? This entertaining story is a fantasy romance with mystery and suspense. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. Although Ari and Fran’s story might be considered standalone, you would have a richer experience if you started from the first book.
The 4th book in this collection. I am enthralled by the storylines but must confess I guessed early-ish on one of the reveals as Francesca meets the newly recovered Crown Prince Ari. The storyline is intriguing, sexy, caring and just plain enjoyable! A fitting continuation of this authors imagination and story-telling. Love it!
Book 4 in the gowns and crowns series. Whilst all are stand-alone novels, I suggest reading them in order to appreciate the writing and characters fully. This one sees the conclusion to a mystery of the missing prince that began in book 1. That’s all I’m saying!
When a girl who had nothing built herself up to be the person she wanted to be, and a prince who has list his memory are thrown together their worlds collide. Drama, confessions, and royalty are mixed in this fairy tale.
This has been a fantastic book and series. Anything Jennifer Chance writes is worth reading and this book and series will not disappoint. It was a truly unique concept with engaging characters and a wonderful storyline.
I enjoyed the final installment in this series. As with the others, another quick but engrossing story. The whole series makes for a great beach read to just relax and escape for a bit.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Each book takes us deeper into Ouros' mysteries and each book is harder to leave then the previous. Each different yet fit into each other seamlessly. I really like how she merged myth, magic and modern world.
I enjoyed the series and read all 4 books. This last book was entertaining but did leave some major questions unanswered like the current heroine’s complete origin. I felt that aspect could have been developed a little better. A decent series, fun to read once but not to re-read.
It’s really like a 4.8, the story felt a little more rushed and there were so many details I wanted that the other books provided but still a great read.