Sixteen-year-old Allyssa appears to be the ideal princess of Emperion–she’s beautiful, elegant, and refined. She spends her days locked in a suffocating cage, otherwise known as the royal court. But at night, Allyssa uses her secret persona–that of a vigilante–to hunt down criminals and help her people firsthand. Unfortunately, her nightly escapades will have to wait because the citizens of … because the citizens of Emperion may need saving from something much bigger than common criminals. War is encroaching on their kingdom and in order to protect her people, Allyssa may have to sacrifice her heart. Forced to entertain an alliance through marriage with a handsome prince from a neighboring kingdom, she finds herself feeling even more stifled than before. To make matters worse, the prince has stuck his nosy squire, Jarvik, to watch her every move.
Jarvik is infuriating, bossy and unfortunately, the only person she can turn to when she unveils a heinous plot. Together, the unlikely pair will have to work together to stop an enemy that everyone thought was long gone, one with the power to destroy her family and the people of Emperion. Now the cage Allyssa so longed to break free from might just be the one thing she has to fight to keep intact. In order to save her kingdom, she will have to sacrifice her freedom, her heart, and maybe even her life.
A medieval fantasy filled with adventure, intrigue, and romance from The True Reign series author Jennifer Anne Davis. This new series is perfect for fans of Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson, and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.more
I love a good princess story and Jennifer Anne Davis delievers. I highly recommend ALL of her books, but this is a great place to start. Princess in disguise? Check. Prince we feel strongly about (yes, intentionally cryptic) Check. Awesome read? Check, check, check.
Cage of Deceit is the first book in the Reign of Secrets series, which is a spinoff of the True Reign series. No worries though they can be read completely separate from one another. I really love it when you can just pick up a series and not have to read multiple series first. This is an Enemy to Lovers story so I loved every second of it. This story just pulls you right in and I did not want to put it down.
Princess Allyssa, the heir to the throne, is not a weak princess and can take care of herself. The story opens up with Allyssa chasing down a criminal, yes a princess racing across rooftops chasing a criminal. So, to say the least, this story is action-packed. Allyssa may be a badass cleaning up her kingdom at night, but when men from her military come back from a terrible tour she shows how much heart and compassion she truly has. Allyssa is willing to marry a prince she does not love just to save her kingdom and at one point Jarvik even comments “at least you’re loyal”. The back and forth with Jarvik was to live for I loved it all so much!
Slow building of charactrrs, but once it gets started it’s a good read
So! After finishing this book I found out it was a spin-off from the True Reign series which I haven’t read. I have to say, I don’t feel like anything was lacking due to that. I was able to follow this story easily and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.
It is YA – our main female is only sixteen, after all. In a lot of ways, she behaves like a sixteen-year-old too but then she also has royal responsibilities so she is mature in other ways. The one thing that crossed my mind is that she has been receiving courting gifts for years. When did that start?!?! When she was ten???
The plot itself is pretty simple – war, revenge, political machinations with other kingdoms. It was a light read with no real plot twists as they were easy to see coming. However, it was a really good read!
It is the start of a series, I think there are five books after this one, so there is plenty more to come. For a light, YA read, I have no hesitation in recommending this book.
Since 4.5 isn’t an option, I’ll give it a 5. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. It is a little bit predictable for us Fantasy nerds, but the cliffhanger at the end has left me looking forward to reading the next book. Unfortunately it is not out digitally yet for my Nook, so I will have to wait a while. Reminds me a bit of John Gwynne’s “Faithful and the Fallen” series, but on a smaller scale.
The world was enjoyable and the action scenes were good. It was a clean book and I recommend it.
A pretty good read..She is an adventuress and doesn’t follow the rules.
I highly recommend this book and the following ones! This kept me wanting more and I ended up purchasing the next two and I’m waiting on the next one to come out in the summer. It kept you wanting to know what next big issue the character was going to need to overcome. Highly recommend to anyone who likes fantasy with no easy way out.
Good fantasy
Read whole series
I thought this was a great book. I literally could not put it down. I figured out key plot points but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the book. I was anxious for the main character to figure this out. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a quick fantasy fix.
Right from the beginning I knew there was something I wasn’t getting and the mystery of it kept me going. I figured it out about halfway thru and was not disappointed. Good Kindle Unlimited reading. Thank you author and Amazon.
I ended up buying the whole series I loved it so much.
Loved this nook and series!!
I enjoyed the character evolution and the fact that not all lived happily ever after in this series. It sets up well to keep you interested in future stories in this setting.
I loved the first three books can!t wait till June
Thanks Bill
Great book page tirner
Awesome read..had me on the edge of my seat
Like the the characters and story line.
Bought the series and couldn’t wait for the pre-order
Loved the main character! She is fierce I love reading books that have strong women!