Daughter of Lies

Andari Chronicles #5

by Kenley Davidson

A Reimagining of Snow White

She never needed a mirror to tell her who she was. She thought she knew…
Until an assassin made her question everything.

Brenna Seagrave would rather spy on her kingdom’s enemies than attend a ball. She prefers danger and disguise to the smiling insincerities of the Andari court, but no one is quite sure what to do with a countess who engages in espionage.

To escape her frustrating new life, Brenna accepts an invitation to visit the mother she’s never had a chance to know, but nothing turns out quite as she expects. Her mother is obsessively critical, the neighbor is a ridiculous flirt, and the handsome butler is undoubtedly up to something. Also, someone seems to be plotting her demise.

In order to find out who wants to kill her, Brenna must work together with a bumbling nobleman and an old acquaintance who isn’t exactly a team player. Yet no one is who they pretend to be—not even Brenna—and it’s only a matter of time before her past catches up with her and threatens to destroy everything she’s come to love.

A romantic fantasy inspired by Snow White, Daughter of Lies is the fifth book of the Andari Chronicles, a series of interconnected but stand-alone fairy tale retellings that feature strong heroines, romance, mystery, and deeply satisfying happily ever afters.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Retellings, Audiobook, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Tales, Young Adult

Unknown Binding

First published March 27, 2018

About the author

Kenley Davidson is a romantic fantasy author and unrepentant caffeine addict who believes in the power of storytelling and loves nothing more than a good book hangover. Her books include romantasy, urban fantasy, fairy-tale retellings, and sci fi, but no matter the genre, she writes stories of hope and redemption with characters you can root for, heart-pounding romance without the spice, and happy endings that might just make you cry.

Her favorite things (besides books) are coffee, k-dramas, cats, and playing cozy video games. And also scones.

Kenley currently lives in Oklahoma, where she cares for a menagerie of misfit house plants while waiting for her adult children to occasionally pop in for laundry and a home-cooked meal.

Find out more about Kenley’s books at her website: kenleydavidson.com

Reviews

[Amanda Hupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I realize it’s not quite the thing for gentlemen to find out that we have ankles, but should they also not be permitted to discover that we have thoughts?”

DAUGHTER OF LIES
Daughter of Lies by Kenley Davidson is book five of the Andari Chronicles and a retelling of Snow White! We met Brenna in book 3 and while we only got a glimpse of her, she definitely gave off some sassy vibes. But now she gets the spotlight and she hates it! She misses being a spy now that she has taken over as Countess. She reluctantly accepts an invitation to go visit her mother whom she barely knows. Being stripped of a normal family, she has a little hope that this could be the time to begin anew. However, that hope disappears when her mother reveals herself to be vain and critical. Not only that, someone is trying to kill her. The neighbor nobleman, Rom, seems a little dim-witted, but Brenna will have to work with him to find out who is trying to kill her.

Despite the fact that someone is trying to kill Brenna, this book is surprisingly light-hearted. In fact, Brenna is overjoyed that someone is trying to kill her because it brings some excitement to her newly dull life. She is far from a typical countess and I loved her candor! In fact, there were many moments where I laughed out loud. Rom is actually perfect for her. I was worried in book 3 that the author would try to force a romantic relationship with Alexei when they had absolutely zero chemistry. So I am glad Alexei had his own story and now Brenna gets to shine.

Another wonderful aspect of this book is the wonderful twists and turns. Even Quinn makes an appearance and now I desperately want him to have his own story. PLEASE. It would definitely be a unique story to be sure. Again, Esther Wane is the narrator and as always she is perfect. Another 5 out of 5 stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

This is my favourite of the series so far. I have to admit that I thought about quitting this series as the last one was particularly underwhelming (mostly an "it's not you, it's me" kind of thing). However, I'm so glad I decided to give Brenna a chance to tell her story. This book has so much interest and nuance in it. I particularly liked seeing our favourite assassin from book 3 here. Is it weird to say that that character basically stole every scene in which he appeared? Hm...

Anyway, I liked both the MCs. Neither of them annoyed me (which apparently is pretty rare these days). The lies and secrets were also fun as they were uncovered and the resolution was satisfying. However, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I wish that this was a chapter or two longer. The romance took a backseat in this story, and while I normally prefer it that way, Brenna and Rom really deserved a little more page time together. :)

Trigger warning: There are several assassination attempts made on the heroine's life. She is kidnapped (very mild and only lasts for less than an hour. Nothing else bad happens to her then. On a separate occasion, she is attacked by a rowdy tavern crowd. They throw things at her (mostly food items) and someone hits her in the head and makes her black out. Not sure if it was with a fist or furniture, not that it matters.

[J.M. Stengl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Brenna's story, and she makes an awesome heroine!
Daughter of Lies is somewhat shorter than earlier books in the series, but it packs plenty of action, intrigue, and romance into those pages.
The villain is truly horrid, and although I loved glimpses of characters from earlier books, I also really liked the new characters, especially the "seven dwarfs." :-)
The romantic interest seems just right for Brenna, and I loved his introduction. He reminded me a bit of a favorite Georgette Heyer hero but is definitely his own person. And he is just right for Brenna!
I was delighted to hear recently that the author will be writing more books in this series, featuring more characters from earlier books. I will be ready and waiting!!
Recommended for retelling fans who enjoy action/adventure, romance, some mystery, and touches of delightful humor in their fairy-tales!

[Hana]

3.75 stars

Apparently I'm reading this series in order of page count now. Continuity who?

This was fine - a shade of 'not like other girls' (or more accurately, 'not like other nobility') and a WHOLE lot of Generic Strong Female Character, but overall it was fun, and as usual I liked the way the retelling elements were incorporated. I still remain baffled at the fact that the romance in The Countess and the Frog was so well developed, yet it's so rushed in so far all the full-length novels?

CW: murder, poisoning

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

snow white and spies!
probably my second favorite in this series so far.

[Xena Elektra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Rom and Brenna as individuals. I could've liked their romance but it felt rushed. They didn't have much time together before Rom was like yep, I love her.

I'm not a fan of big age gaps. That being said I found it hypocritical that everyone was disgusted by Louise(48) pursuing Rom(36) but was fine with Rom wanting Brenna(27). I get that there's a few more years the one way but it's pretty close to the same gap. It feels more like the double standard of when old men go after young women that's fine because the women are all "men my age aren't mature enough and I want an older more mature man!" and men are all giddy because they really must be something to get a young woman to like them.

But if it's an old lady than she's CLEARLY a gold digger and it's disgusting to think that a young man would want an OLD person. As I said, I'm not a fan of large ages in either direction. That's my personal opinion. But I'd hope that someone who wasn't bothered by them would find how this was handled to be tacky.

There really wasn't much surprise happening here which made it so there wasn't any suspense. Louise was the clear villain from the beginning and no one doubted it. There was no other real option for who the bad guy could be. She was caught easily and really made no effort to hide her antagonistic feelings toward Brenna when she was staying with her.

The attempted assassinations weren't even tension-filled. Brenna wasn't even concerned about them to the point where she was happy to go along with an attempt.

The side characters were woefully under-developed. There's a lot of big speeches by the 7 women that Brenna stays with(and ones from her about them) that sounded like generic pro-feminist rally speeches than authentic dialogue. There is hardly ANY conversation or interaction between Brenna and the women, so the reader doesn't get to know them at all(which yes is hard to do when you have a 12 dancing princesses or snow white retelling. But usually there's a 1-3 standouts.).

While I agree with the underlying message of women who escape bad situations and find a way to take care of themselves are to be admired, etc etc. The way that it was handled(telling us that's what they did but never letting us get to know them) and how the dialogue was written(awkward speeches that didn't come across as authentic) just made the whole thing cringy. It smacked of soap box rather than natural occurrence.

[Charis Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the books so far in this series, this one is the most heavy handed with its fairytale symbolism to the point that some of it seemed forced. Brenna’s constant inner dialogue and self discovery was also very heavy handed which started to grate on me as the book went on.

I will say Rommel is my favourite of the love interests so far (forgive me, Kyril) but probably because he reminds me of my husband—disclaimer: being threatened with a knife should not be turn on, but we stan a supportive king.

[Elisabeth Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite in this series?
There’s no magic, but there is a suitably evil mother and a suitably swoony hero. Brenna makes me wish I knew how to put people in headlocks. Alas, for I shall probably never have the skills to be a bouncer.

[Shruti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really cool book and I enjoyed every moment of reading it. This book and infact this whole series is very highly recommended by me.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and romantic but also very entertaining, Davidson once again remixes a fairy tale to invert a traditionally rather passive heroine (Snow White) into someone with a lot more swash and buckle. (Anyone questioning Brenna's agency tends to wish they hadn't.)

This book either fails or nearly fails the Reverse Bechdel test. It may be deliberate and if so, quite clever. It does leave our tall, handsome and slightly confused male lead a little underdeveloped but it doesn't really matter.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am only sad this book wasn't longer, though I can't imagine how it could have been. Both this book and the second one (Goldheart) feel like little detours from the overall plot involving Rowan, but I've enjoyed them all.

Snow White hasn't ever been my favorite fairy tale, but I like how this book used it to create something different. As with the other books in the series, it's easy to see the elements that the author took from the original, but everything is given a fresh makeover.

Unlike Snow White, Brenna (28 now) isn't a helpless, naive girl; she's a very capable spy for the crown. I loved her interactions with Romm (36) even before the two of them started working together. They complemented each other in so many ways. Quinn made an appearance as well, and it was fun to see him again.

I've very much enjoyed listening to these books, and I confess I'm a little sad that there's only one left. I suppose I'll need to look into other works from this author.

How it ends: Quinn sneaks into Brenna's room one night and tells her that he's been hired to kill her when she flees the house. He tells her she needs to disappear until he figures out who exactly has hired him, though they both suspect it to be her mother. She leaves and manages to procure a job as a tavern maid in the nearby village. The owner directs her to a house where she is able to convince the seven women there to let her room there.

When Brenna goes missing, Romm goes in search of her (Lizbet tasked him with watching over her while he investigates Louise Seagrave). He finds her, and she tells him what Quinn told her, insisting that she's fine. He returns to Quinn and confirms her story. Quinn wants to use her as bait, but Romm doesn't want to.

As Brenna is walking through town, she is offered a ride by a carriage driver. Knowing he's likely trying to abduct her, she goes with him anyway and ends up rescuing herself. She convinces him to tell her who hired him (someone named Grim Hill, by letter--same as Quinn) and leaves him in the woods. She runs into Romm, who escorts her partway home before she leaves him. (Quinn does use Brenna as bait, telling Grim Hill in a letter where she lives and works.)

A woman delivers a venomous snake in a box to Brenna's home, and her housemates open it but kill it. They demand she explain everything, and she does.

Louise shows up at the tavern and turns the people against her by telling them she's a countess and has only been playing them. They throw stuff at her and knock her out, but Romm arrives and chastises them before taking Brenna home, where Louise is waiting. She tries turning the housemates against her, but they don't budge.

Louise's story: She faked her first pregnancy because she struggled getting pregnant and found out that her husband's mistress was with child. Since it was a girl, she convinced her husband to exchange it for another child, a boy (Ellind--possibly another of his illegitimate children), because she wanted the estate to pass to a son. She became pregnant with Kyril, but she was forced to treat him like a second son because, well, everyone thought he was. She arranged for the murder of the woman who raised Brenna because Lord Seagrave had made it known who he was to Brenna, and Louise didn't want anyone to have proof. She also arranged for her husband to die while away on a sea voyage. She also tried to have Brenna murdered so that the estate would pass to Kyril. Stripped of her title, she tried to make herself look young and rich to attract a handsome new husband--Romm was her current target even though she was almost 50.

Romm arrests her, but she holds Brenna at knifepoint and threatens her. Somehow she manages to escape after Brenna fights her, and she promises Brenna will be dead within a week. There is poison on the knife, but Brenna and one of her housemates confirm it's only oleander, which will give her a rash (but could have killed her eventually if she had ingested it). She and Romm go after Louise, but Quinn has gotten to her first.

Louise is taken back to Andar, where she is found guilty of all her crimes and sentenced to death. Kyril and Ilani (very pregnant) have returned for now, and Brenna happily abdicates her title for him because she didn't want it anyway. She and Romm and going to be leaving on a mission for Lizbet within a few weeks, posing as a married couple. Only Romm proposes to her for real, and she says yes.

Note: Maybe some mild swearing?

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if I'm just tired of this series, or if this book was actually worse than the others, but it certainly felt worse. Don't get me wrong, this book is still fun to read, and I love Brenna a lot, but it just fell a bit flat to me, and felt much more predictable than the other books in this series.
There were some parts of the book that were funny, little lines here and there, that I really want to give credit to. Also, Quinn is a great character. I need more.
One thing that really irritated me throughout was that everyone made a big deal about how Louise was way too old for Rom, but then Brenna and Rom had almost the same age gap. It made me uncomfortable, and was the most prominent of numerous gender roles throughout the book.
I'm going to be honest right now and say that I am a little biased, because the last time I read about Brenna, I really wanted to be the gay representation this series needed (I mean, even in this book she talks about how she's never met a man that's interested her). Instead, the romance was straight, very fast, and honestly a little boring.

[Caitlyn (delightful.reading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this one! I have a thing for spy novels, and Brenna was a fun heroine. Brenna and her love interest definitely had some The Scarlet Pimpernel vibes. I also enjoyed Quinn making an appearance! The '7 dwarfs' in this story were great, too. I also enjoyed how Brenna had to flee from marriage proposals.

All in all, this was a great addition to the series and I enjoyed having Brenna as a lead!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, very enjoyable

I've never liked the Snow White fairytale very much, but this retelling was vague enough that I still enjoyed it. A smart heroine who knows that something isn't right from the beginning, and is determined to find the entire truth was very helpful. I've always liked Brenna's character, and it was great to have her as the star of her own story. Witty banter abounds throughout the book, and the garden picnic scene was EXCELLENT.

[Lynn Give 'Em Hel Vetica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another fantastic addition to the Andari Chronicles. We met Brenna earlier in Pirouette when a shocking familial connection came to light. She is quite the commanding presence and it stands to reason that she would require her very own story.

“Oh, but we were not arguing,” Breanne insisted cheerfully. “We were discussing. Or is that another activity that is not encouraged for ladies? I realize it’s not quite the thing for gentlemen to find out that we have ankles, but should they also not be permitted to discover that we have thoughts?”

Brenna (Countess Breanne Seagrave) is everything an aspiring heroine should be. Bold, determined, and fearless amongst other things. Though she doesn't quite know who she is or where she fits in, it only takes an adventure and a few assassination attempts to allow her heart to show her the answer. I love that she is not a damsel in distress and she is perfectly capable of taking care of any threats that may come her way. She does have the occasional insecurity, but it never gets in her way.

Brenna unhitched the horse, cut away the trailing bits of harness and shortened the reins to an appropriate length before using the hackney’s step to mount the animal bareback. “Well, I’ll be off then. You may report to your employer that I am insulted by the attempts to kill me thus far, and look forward to improvement in the future.”

Oh, Rom (Lord Rommel Griffin), you are quite the endearing tease. His personality upon his introduction was certainly wanting and I'll admit I was quite surprised (pleasantly so) to realize that it was all an act. It was a relief to discover he wasn't the dolt he played at being. And it was even more pleasant to find out that he was thrilled with Brenna being a daring take charge kind of woman. Some lesser men would have felt emasculated.

“You can’t throw me out,” Rom asserted. “Maybe I shouldn’t,” she said, smirking, “but never tell me I can’t.” Before it occurred to him that he might need to defend himself against a countess dressed as a barmaid, she had twisted his arm up behind his back.

Louise is a complicated woman. While it's easy to see her as solely a villain, I find it's also not so difficult to discern how she ended up in this position. She's spent a lifetime being relegated to the background simply for being a woman. Yes she should have made better choices in spite of her unfortunate circumstances (which is always easier said than done), but instead she allowed bitterness and resentment to take hold and poison her mind.

She, too, had been that young—that naive—once upon a time. She’d been dazzled by the promises of an older man, promises of wealth and consequence, promises of a place by his side. And she’d been fooled into thinking that he meant to share his power. But he’d meant only to smother her, moment by moment, into accepting his decrees and following his blundering course, and she’d had no choice but to pretend—to bank the fires of her ambition and shutter the passion in her soul.

As per usual it's wonderful to see Kyril even if it is only through a letter. His personality shines through no matter the medium and I adore the absurd cunning flirt of the Andar court.

Also, do keep an eye on Father and Eland...they aren’t what I’d call gracious losers, and may resort to making trouble. Though I rather suspect you would welcome it, if only for the excuse to punch both of them in the eye...you know you would enjoy that immensely. As would I, which is why I beg you to refrain from doing so until I can be there to see it.

There was something I disliked about this book and that is that it was so short. I would have enjoyed staying a lot longer and delving deeper into Brenna and Rom's world.

[OldBird · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you prefer the light and fluffy, fast-n-furious side of romance with the hint of a fairy tale retelling, you'll likely enjoy this instalment of the Andari Chronicles more than I did. I was really down with the whole slow-burn/court politics of books 1 and 3, and the twisted creativity of 2. This one feels like a different series, albeit it has many references to past characters without prior knowledge of might leave you a bit confused.

We're reunited with Brenna Seagrave, now a countess as well as a spy, and she's not best pleased by her newfound privileged life. Her brother Kyril's off abroad with his wife, her remaining brother is an ass, her supposedly scheming father's missing, and to top it off, every man at court seems to have set his eye upon her hand in marriage. Brenna needs to get away, and when her estranged mother asks her to come to stay, she (sort of) jumps at the chance. Even if the woman consented to give her away at birth, maybe they can kindle some kind of relationship... Ha! A nosey neighbouring lord, a familiar assassin and a whole heap of trouble await.

I so wanted to like Brenna, but felt like we never really got to know her well, nor any of the side characters. There's more time spent telling than showing when it comes to interactions, and then more time spent inside characters' heads as they discuss with themselves how they feel. I was hoping for another Traitor's Masque when it came to the relationship between Brenna and Louise, but there are very few scenes between them to flesh things out. The romance similarly doesn't get much time to grow. It felt too fast and forced into being. I guess I also just didn't get the characters; why were these spies and assassins so chatty with each other, sometimes in public? They seemed in the dark about each other's existence, but were very quick to divulge everything.

This felt too fast and straight forward. I was so hoping for one of those big Andari Chronicle twists that made the tweaked retellings so original (that the mother was trying to kill Brenna and was so easily caught without any real on screen espionage was a bit... sad). There is a sort of twist regarding the characters more than the fairy tale, but I found it was rather confusing and more reliant on us caring about previous characters not present in this book. The setting didn't feel as fleshed out. I wanted everything to slow down and build up more like some of those earlier stories.

Sorry Brenna, I guess your story wasn't one for me.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daughter of Lies, the 5th book in the Andari Chronicles, is subtitled A Reimagining of Snow White. I had only read the first book in the series. This is a stand-alone novel and not having read the others did not detract from my following the events or characters of this book. There were enough references to characters that I remembered that I would be interested in going back to read the ones I’ve missed.

Brenna has recently come into the title of Countess of Hennsley. Born Breanne Seagrave, her parents, not wanting the title to fall to a girl, switched her at birth with a boy so that there would be a male heir. The book opens after this has all come out and Brenna has been named the rightful countess after her father was stripped of the title. Her mother makes an overture to start a relationship, and Brenna decides to give her mother a chance. A stay at her mother’s home leads to attempts on her life and an introduction to a dim-witted neighboring noble who may not be what he seems.

This novel is so much shorter than the first book (and is identified as a short novel in the book description), but the great premise of the story would have been so much better with some more description. Brenna is a strong female character who is interesting, and I would have liked to have learned more about her. The book is described as a romantic fantasy, but other than a couple of brief interactions that Brenna has with her love interest Rom when they both believe the other is something they are not, they are not put together until halfway through the book. You know that they would be good together based on their personalities and backgrounds, but you don’t see the relationship really develop. It’s a little rushed in the second half. These two characters are good together so I wanted to see more of that.

Calling it a Reimagining of Snow White is a bit of a stretch. I wouldn’t really have made the connection had I not known this ahead of reading. I was looking for things as I read, recognizing some nods to the fairy tale, and wondering how some things, like the seven dwarves, would be incorporated. It didn’t even dawn on me until well after these characters were introduced that that’s who they represented.

Despite these things, it was a good story with a strong female character who I liked. There were few, if any, grammatical errors to distract the reader. While I would have liked to have had a little more development of the characters and events, I still enjoyed it and will read the other books in the series.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know what I'm getting with the Andari Chronicles at this point, but it's always delightful to see how Davidson will pull it off this time. They are all unusual, creative, and very loose retellings of fairy tales. This one is a retelling of Snow White, but... barely.

The main character Brenna, first of all, is not especially beautiful. She's not a princess, either--she thinks she's a long lost countess, though in a previous book in this series, she was a supporting character who was a spy, and very good at her job, too. She finds court doesn't suit her at all, and she's trying to adjust to her new identity. Meanwhile, someone apparently wants her dead... and she thinks it might be the woman she's just discovered is her mother. Her mother is obsessed with her own youth and beauty, and is trying to snag the "prince" (who isn't a prince, though he does have a title) for herself, though she isn't aware that he, Rom, is actually also a spy.

Brenna, meanwhile, has to flee for her life, pretending to be a bar maid and living with some down-and-out women (in lieu of the dwarves). Her "mother's" ultimate reason for wanting her dead feels a little forced, but it doesn't matter--the structure of the fairy tale itself is reason enough. Brenna is definitely not a damsel in distress, and it turns out this is the very quality that makes her so attractive to Rom.

Like all the stories in the Andari Chronicles, this too ends happily ever after. They're all light reads, entertaining, and clean, which I definitely appreciate!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: this story is about Brenna Seagrave who is the new countess (she found it really hard and difficult to meet expectations) She was a spy who worked for Countess Lizbet. She got an invitation from her mother Louise to come to her home.
-mother is vain, mean and belittled Breanna (real name, she was switched by birth with a baby boy)
-many assassination attempts (Quin is hired too) he tells her to disappear, lost in the woods, seeks a home with 7 other women. Works as a barmaid
-Rom is hired by Lizbet to keep an eye on Brenna. He thinks she is a damsell in distress while she is power woman, witty, determined and strong.
-lastly her mother visits her in the tavern and embarrassed her. She and Rom goes to the house where Louise is waiting. She tells them her story: her plan was to kill Brenna so her only child KYLIR will be Heir!! She wasn't even her child!!! She made the switch and killed brenna's birthmother and kept on pretending, then killed her husband! And almost killed Brenna 3 times now.
-lastly she has poisoned a knife but brenna didn't 'eat' the poison so she's fine
-brenna is no longer a countess because Louise cpuld have just ASKED her!! She didn't even wanted the title.
-kylir is the new count and Ilani is PREGNANT!!!
-Rom asked her to marry him (they were going on a mission and pretend to be husband and wife and he wanted it to be real ) and so did she.

[Srishti B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite book of the series so far. I have always loved books about spies for some reason, and I loved Brenna from the Traitor’s masque so I was happy to see her get her own book. This was really fun and I enjoyed the return to Andar, which we hadn’t seen in the last few books. I enjoy the magic of the other worlds, but I’m finding that I enjoy more of Kenley Davidson’s books in which it is not as prevalent. I really enjoyed seeing Brenna in her element, and also seeing her realize that living as a noble was not staying true to herself and who she was as a person. I also thought the portrayal of Louise’s love for Kyril showed that sometimes there is a limit to how far a mother’s love should go. I just wish she hadn’t died. I feel like it would have been more powerful if she had had to face what she had done. The thing that bothered me the most about this book was that was that Rom was almost as much older to Brenna as her mother was to him, and since that was made out to be such a big gap, it didn’t make sense to me that it wouldn’t be addressed in the other case.

[Bess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, Brenna received her own story!
I was wondering if she would just be a minor character or if we would see her again. And a very befitting story if I do say so myself.
I liked Rom very much. A little too much if I'm honest!
The banter was fun. The confusion more fun still!
Brenna was struggling to find her place as the new Countess. And now her "mother" wants to be apart of her life. But there's more to meets the eye with Louise Seagrave.
Thankfully, Quinn shows up and thwarts an assassination attempt against Brenna. Now the rest is on her own shoulders. Discovering the murderer, all the while trying to fit in and not trying to fall in love with the dashing and not so dim-witted Rom and staying alive. Brenna has a lot on her at the moment!
This was a fun adventure! I liked Brenna's spirit, courage, fortitude, and sass! Between her and Rom, the laughs never stopped!
Not so many profanities in this one. Lots of near misses with death though!

[Celia Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

So my initial reaction was two stars but I decided to change it to 3 because I did enjoy reading this book even if I wasn't blown away.

Spoilers!!!!!

Okay, so my real problem with this book is the fact that Louise was the original suspect for the attempted murder, Louise was the most likely villain, and then.... Louise was behind it the whole time. There was no intrigue, no suspense. We always knew Louise was bad and then guess what she was bad. I give the author some points for the real twist at the end, but besides illustrate how much of a terrible person Louise was, it didn't really add anything. And also I'm still very confused about the prologue because who was she planning on tricking into marriage and how was that possible when she was still married at the time???

Anyway, this was well-written and an enjoyable way to spend some time so I can't complain, I'll definitely finish the series.

[A.A.B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite all of the deceptions, intrigues and attempted murders, this book felt very monotone somehow. So much so that this pacing made me lose interest and I almost abandoned the book early on. I only finished it because it was short, but I skimmed through some of the middle.

There is also a significant competence scale issue — threats to the heroine's life are the book's biggest stakes generating plot point, yet she is positioned early on and in one of the previous books as very competent, self sufficient and capable of evading all sorts of threats and disarming her attackers with ease. So the basic plot mechanics didn't quite work in this book either.

The romantic plot line is better than in the Shadow and Thorn, but much weaker than in the first two books of the series (#1 and #2)

It's a fuller sorry than the original, but not a retelling I liked.

[Lily King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great! Let’s get that out of the way right away! It doesn’t have the same enemies to lovers as the last book, (Shadows and thorn) but it’s okay. I have a few questions that no matter how much I google it, I can’t figure it out! How old are our main characters?!?!? What’s the age gap between our love interests?!?!? It’s mentioned near the beginning that the guy (whose name I won’t disclose) looks to be near the age of forty. But that would be a significant gap to Brenna (the female lead). I would put her to be near twenty-six maybe older. I constantly tried to rephrase it on google, but it didn’t come up with an answer. And don’t even waste your time going to the author’s website!! If you have any answers please, PLEASE! Let me know!! I’ve read this book twice now and can answer almost any other question!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Kenley Davidson's stories!
Fairy tales retellings are predictable. I enjoy how this author is able to take what you think is going to happen at the end of the book, tie it up in a neat little bow at the beginning, and then take you down a very different path the rest of the way through the story. It's refreshing and fun!
This was a thoroughly enjoyable (I just read The Shadow Queen and it made me cringe fairly often) retelling of Snow White and it had surprisingly deep truths woven in. A great read for young girls. Or anyone else who likes fairy tales!

*You'll want to read others in the Andari Chronicles series before this, or you'll be confused. At the very least read Pirouette.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

An innovative version of Snow White
Brenna dislikes Court and her new title, and Rom is not who he seems and has a mission to perform. They have an interesting introduction to each other and totally misjudge each other. They both have secrets, which eventually are disclosed and lead to an interesting relationship. There are other people who are not who they appear to be, also, and someone is trying to kill Brenna. Quinn makes an appearance and is his usual “charming” self. Instead of seven dwarfs, Brenna gets seven housemates. Someone tries to poison Brenna, but didn’t do enough research about the poison. There are very satisfactory resolutions to all the mysteries and challenges. I liked the repartee between feisty Brenna and frustrated, but intrigued Rom.

[amanda_coffee_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Just like the first four this one didn't disappoint me. And I am kinda hoping for more in this series. Brenna we meet and her life has changed when she founds our that she is a countess. She is brave and amazing woman. I loved and glad we hear about previous characters from previous book are mentioned in this book. Just like the other books I was pulled in and couldn't put this book down. Brenna has learned of her mother and when she goes to visit her mother things get crazy and very turning didn’t see some things coming. She meets a new man who I wasn’t sure about but that ending had me. I recommend this book.

[Kayla Duren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I honestly went into it with little hope of it being good but was happily wrong! I actually really enjoyed this book and its characters. It's an easy read but a good story. I haven't read any of the other books in the series and it still made sense to me. There's obviously a background story from them that are hinted at but doesn't affect the current storyline. I loved the relationship being Brenna and Rom. They were funny, had an amazing dialogue with one another, and great banter and connection. It's very loosely based on Snow White but honestly, you can hardly tell. Great story though!

[amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I was caught up in another Kenley Davidson story! Even though I haven’t read the previous books in this chronicle series’s. It wasn’t a necessity. This is a stand alone with a series. Granted you don’t know the complete backstory to all characters mentioned. I don’t think it took away from the actual story!

Now I am going to have to take the time to backtrack. I have got to read the others.

[Karina Chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly do not remember this book at all, which is disappointing because I know I liked Brenna Seagrave from the earlier books. 2 stars because it was so forgettable—the one thing I do remember is that it was a chore to finish.

(maybe another reason i didn’t really enjoy it is because a lot of Snow White retellings don’t really do it for me. It’s always the hunter or the ‘dwarves’ that end up the love interest. Always.)