Royal Thief

Resistance #1

by Laura Kehoe

War rages in Alwyn. A group of rebel fighters, who call themselves the Resistance, fight tirelessly against their cruel, bloodthirsty king. With their lives and the very future of Alwyn in the balance, neither side is willing to surrender without a fight.

As far as Amara is concerned, King Osric and the Resistance can continue fighting one another until they both drop dead, as long as they keep her out of it. Unfortunately, a miscalculation lands her right in the middle of the bloody, dangerous battle for the throne. All she wants to do is get out of this in one piece. But every decision she makes pushes her further into the war. One way or another, she will have to choose a side.

Amara is willing to sell her services to the highest bidder, but she quickly realizes every decision she makes comes at a high cost. How far is she willing to go to keep her pockets full?

398 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2016

About the author

Author of the fantasy novels, Royal Thief and Redemption.
I adore books in all shapes and sizes - reading, writing, gazing fondly at them...basically if it involves books in all for it. I'm also a fan of coffee, tea, and various other hot beverages.

Feel free to contact me at laurakehoe4@gmail.com

Reviews

[Laura Kehoe]

I feel weird writing a review for my own book, but I wanted to let everyone know that Royal Thief is officially out in the world. The ebook is currently available online at most major retailers. It will be a few more weeks until the print version is available for purchase, but keep your eyes open!

If you'd like to know more about Royal Thief, you're free to check it out at laura.kehoe.wordpress.com
Or shoot me an email at laurakehoe4@gmail.com

I hope you all enjoy the book!

[throneofreaders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real rating: 3.5 stars!

The author gave me a copy for reading and reviewing purposes.

Thoughts on this book:

Pros
• I love how the protagonist shows real emotions like being scared in dire situations even though she's an expert thief and she always encounters danger in her job.
• I love the protagonist's character ARC in this installment! It's written well!
• I love the scenes where Amara and her former companion interact after not seeing each other for a long time. Slow burn ship coming up! Loved it! I'm not gonna say the name! I'm saving you from spoilers!
• The world and each character build up were good.

Cons
• It was a really slow start but later on developed into a good story.
• The first few chapters had me information overload because of the different point of views.
• Sometimes there's too much description that would slow down the story and some scenes. (e.g. character interaction, fight scenes)
• There's was no "BANG!" moment for me.

[Marti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most beautiful books and I mean that literally and figuratively. When I opened the box it arrived in I knew I would always keep this book and not loan out. It is so gorgeous and felt so good in my hand. I am odd about how a book fits in my hand. I could go on and on about the outside but it would just prove my OCD so I will move to the story. Wow equally beautiful. I loved the characters and the scenery just jumped off the pages. I was lost in the book. Too bad I wont be loaning this one out.

[Yvette Bostic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book started a little slow, but it was entertaining.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book. I enjoyed reading it. The characters were well developed and the plot was interesting. I look forward to reading the second one.

[Elena Johansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bones of an interesting epic fantasy story, marred by a lack of cohesive or in-depth worldbuilding. I never got the sense that there was anything distinctive about the setting--it's a kingdom, with a bad king and The Resistance, and there are other countries too, and it's a pretty box-standard fantasy world beyond that. There's not much history or cultural nuance to give it any flavor.

There were also some worldbuilding issues with what was there--why does the king take the Resistance seriously when it's only a hundred people total? Not even a hundred fighters, but one hundred including the elderly and the children. How big a threat could that possibly be, if they were nearly wiped out in a single battle years ago and (spoiler!) basically are again at the end of the book? Why does the Resistance constantly refer to their rebellion as a "war" when they're not doing anything to engage the king's forces in any way? Why are the king's forces usually called "guards" even when they're clearly soldiers? Infantry, even? "Guards" guard things. Like the king's personal guard, sure, or men stationed about the castle or the walls or town gates. But troops marching to fight the Resistance aren't "guarding" anything. I know it's a small thing, but it irked me every time I read it.

All that being said, the characters are decently developed within the constraints of the world, and a few (Elaise, Amara, Catrain) are particularly engaging and memorable. Some of the conversations got a bit repetitive--yes, I get it, the Resistance needs supplies, you don't need to say it every three pages--but when the characters simply get to talk to each other without plot-dumping, they shine.