The Wild Heir by Karina Halle

Three out of Five Stars

One sentence summary: If Magnus wants to be king, he's got to give up his playboy life style fast and the only way to do that is to get married-- by King's degree! 

First thought: Up until 80%, this book was going to get four stars. I loved it, until the end. 

Why I read it: I really like Karina Halle's writing style and I'd just finished The Nordic King. 

POV: First person alternating M|F, present tense 

Setting: Norway

Tropes: Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Reformed Playboy

Our Heroine: Ella. I loved that she had passion, particularly for the environment. As someone married to an Environmental Science teacher I cheered for our advocate! Other than that, Ella's a bit flat to me. I think she's a great balance for our hero, but she didn't really come off the page. 

Our Hero: Mangus. He's a fun loving bad boy with a lot of growing up to do and he does it well. I like that he learns quickly, and while admits to being a fuck up, he isn't an asshole really. A bit bossy, but nothing like our Nordic King. 

Overall thoughts: I really liked this book, but like in my review of the The Nordic King, there were just some parts that didn't jive with me. I'm a big fan of royal romance and I think Karina Halle does it well! As a reviewer, I often complain that we don't get to watch out MCs fall in love. That was not the case here! Karina Halle spent the bulk of the story making sure that we knew our MCs were right for each other. I loved their back and forth and Ella's endless patience with Magnus. 

I'm not sure that I'm ready for either of them to be rulers, as they both avoided any real training-- but they're probably a million times more prepared for the throne than I'd ever be. I loved the time our MCs spent together, but I really thought it would be more about the marriage. (an aside-- if you know of any great marriage of convince recs, leave them in the comments, please!) Then, when the marriage actually came, I wanted it to be the conclusion. If the book had ended there, four stars! But, alas. 

The things that bothered me about this book certainly won't keep me from reading another Karina Halle story. 

The sexy scenes: A well done bossy alpha male! A+ 

The best part of the book: The Story Bites Podcast talks a bit about glamour in romance novels. Karina Halle does an excellent job of infusing the royal lifestyle, but leaving her work mainly about our MCs. I'm here for her royal romance! 

Worst part of the book: The ending. There were so many plot points introduced at around 80% and it made everything feel so rushed. I mean, some of the things we expected and others were certainly a surprise, but I felt like it was all done for the sake of drama. I felt myself skimming and saying, oh boy... let's just resolve all this. 

TLDR: Read The Wild Heir! But pretend it ends around 80%. 

How I read it: For free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

Links: The Wild Heir on GoodReads & The Wild Heir on Amazon

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