Review: Fit for a Princess

Fit for a Princess by Abigail Manning is the other book I needed to complete before I could start my ARC for Fit for a Throne, the last book in the Fit for a Crown romantasy trilogy. I enjoyed it more than the first book, though it still takes place in a bleak world full of characters with very little compassion. Diaspro is a little more likable this time around, now that she has someone she wants to protect, giving a more respectable goal than trying to annoy the princes at every opportunity. I think this could have easily been the first book in the series if the king had decided to hold the bridal competition as soon as Diaspro's kingdom was taken under siege.

Diaspro is still being forced to marry one of King Septimus's sons against her will, but this time, she's not alone. Due to her impudent behavior, Septimus decides to hold a bridal competition, forcing other maidens to compete against her or face execution. To further rouse Diaspro's ire, the king enters Mara, Diaspro's prized maid, into the race, a girl too weak to survive his brutal challenges. Now, Diaspro is forced to not only compete against a group of royal women who hate her, but also protect Mara. Not all of the competitions are violent, but the competitors have no intent to play nice, particularly a trained assassin with her sights set on Diaspro.

Yet again, Abigail Manning's fast-paced writing style kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. It had more action than the first one and contained a bit more romance, though that was not the main focus. Diaspro's reluctant alliance with Prince Atlas grew into something a bit deeper now that he knows the truth about who she really is. Diaspro's desire to protect Mara really held my interest throughout the book because it showed that there was still something she cared about something behind her hardened demeanor.

This book ended with yet another big twist that I did not see coming, setting the scene for the final book in the trilogy. One of the things that bugged me about the first two books is that the plot meanders every so often to avoid spoiling the twist, only to pack the big punch within the final pages. That was less of an issue with this book than the first one because the trials and vacillating points among the competitors kept things interesting. Still, the twist ruined some of the things I enjoyed about this book, but I didn't exactly hate it since Abigail Manning is a master at catching her readers off guard.

Fit for a Princess is an improvement over the bleak, emotionless setting of Fit for a Prince and sets the scene nicely for the final book. If you were hesitant to continue the series after reading the first book, I'd recommend giving it another go as long as you're not averse to violence, which this book contains plenty of. For a romantasy, neither book had as much romance as I would have preferred, but it seems like that is being saved for the final installment, which I will do my best to review before its official release.