Review: The Queen’s Advantage by Jessie Mihalik

The Queen’s Advantage (Rogue Queen #2)
by Jessie Mihalik
Narrated by Rachel Dulude

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
When Queen Samara Rani fulfills the promise she made to Emperor Valentin Kos to visit his court and meet with his advisors, she knows they won’t welcome her with open arms, especially when she’s been tasked with discovering the traitors within their ranks—traitors she tricked out of five million credits.

As soon as Samara begins her investigation it becomes clear that Valentin’s advisors want her gone and they aren’t picky about how. After their tactics turn violent, Samara and Valentin race to unravel the web of treachery and lies before the next attack ends in tragedy.

When the conflict escalates in ferocity and rumors start blaming Samara, she is forced to continue her hunt alone. Uncovering traitors is difficult when courtiers learn to lie before they learn to walk, and one misstep could cost her life. However, Rogue Queens aren’t easy to kill and Samara has more than a few tricks of her own.

My Review

After listening to the first book in this series and enjoying it I decided to listen to book 2 right after it. I think I enjoyed this one even more than book 1. It’s filled with action, danger, political intrigue and some romance.

In this book queen Samara Rani goes to the home planet of the Kos empire to help her friend and love interest Emperor Valentin Kos uncover who of his advisers is a traitor and wants him dead. She lands in the middle of political scheming and as soon as she arrives on the planet there’s another attack. She has to figure out who wants Valentin and her dead before they succeed.

I liked how this book delved a bit more in the political situation of the galaxy and mostly the status of the Kos empire. We see how not everyone is happy with Valentin and they don’t want the rogue queen here either. Rumors run rampant and they don’t know who can be trusted. It was interesting to follow Samara along as she tries to figure out what’s going on and it was a nice reveal when things come to light and we figure out what’s going on. Everyone seemed suspect and it was hard to know for sure who was behind it.

I liked seeing more of Samara, she has to go undercover for a bit and we see a bit more of her past as a mercenary. There also is an attack that really shakes and we see more of her personality there. And also how she deals with Valentin. I like her as a main character, she’s capable and likable, but also has this rough and dark edge. She will do anything for her people and will go very far to stop those who attack her and Valentin. I felt she was a realistic character, especially how she isn’t a completely good character. She has her dark past and can be quite ruthless at times, but I think this just adds to her character and makes her feel more realistic.

It was interesting to see more of the Kos Empire and Valentin as well. There are some secrets and reveals that come to light. We see Valentin and Samara working together here which was fun. I also like seeing their romance develop. And I am really curious to see how/ if they will make their relationship work. I like their romance and they make for a great couple. They have a few issues they have to deal with at first, like trusting each other, but most of the time they’re fighting together not with each other. Which I liked. Although they do have a few things they need to resolve before they can be really together.

I like how so far each book in this series has a plot line that gets resolved in that book, but also an overarching plot and continuing plot lines. The characters and world get more fleshed out with each book too. Because of the change in setting there are some side characters we don’t see as much of in this book. In return we get to see more of some other side character like Samara’s bodyguard and some of the characters on Kos that we meet.

To summarize: This was a stellar sequel! I really enjoyed this one. It’s filled with action, danger, political intrigue and romance. I liked seeing Queen Samara Rani and Emperor Valentin work together in this book to uncover who of his advisors is a traitor and wants him dead. There are some interesting twists and reveals along the way. It was interesting to see more of the Kos empire and home world. There’s also more we learn about Samara and Valentin. I like Samara, how much she cares about those close to her and how far she would go for her. She does have a bit of a ruthless edge and dark past, but that makes her feel more realistic. I also liked seeing the romance between Valentin and Samara develop a bit more and how they mostly work together in this book, although there are still some issues they have to deal with. This book resolves the issue of the traitor, but there also is an overarching plot line that continues and doesn’t get resolved, which works nicely. All in all a great read and I am looking forward to the next book.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon.