A masked smuggler stealing medicine for the poor and the king's ruthless apothecary are on a collision course — in more ways than one.
- Score
- 77.9
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Sweet
- POV
- dual
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
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What readers think
Readers consistently praise Prince Corrick as a standout morally complex character — his public cruelty versus his private conscience creates compelling tension that carries the book. The dual POV structure (Tessa and Corrick) is widely applauded for deepening the narrative without requiring side novellas, and the brotherly bond between the two princes draws particular warmth. The Robin Hood premise and accessible, fast-moving prose make it an easy page-turner. Common criticisms centre on a predictable plot with few genuine surprises, Tessa's relatively thin relationships with secondary characters, and Consuls who remain underdeveloped as antagonists. Readers who lean into character-driven stories over plot-twists tend to rate it highest.
Read it if
- · Readers who want a morally grey prince hero navigating impossible ethical choices in a corrupt system
- · YA fantasy fans drawn to political intrigue, plague settings, and a Robin Hood-style premise with romance
- · Dual-POV lovers who appreciate romance built on shared secrets and colliding worldviews
Skip it if
- · You want a plot-driven story full of surprising twists — this is more character- and romance-focused
- · You need high spice or explicit content — firmly closed-door YA throughout
- · You dislike slow-burn political setup before the romance properly ignites
If you liked this
- · For fans of An Ember in the Ashes — forbidden feelings across class lines inside a brutal authoritarian kingdom
- · Like a Robin Hood retelling crossed with Brigid Kemmerer's own Cursebreakers trilogy, but with a more politically charged court
- · For fans of Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson — enemies drawn together by circumstance, dual POV, YA heat level
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