Blue eyes, golden curls, a body songs are composed about, and part of one of the most powerful families in the colonies, Diana Wiltmore is not used to ever hearing the word ‘no’. So when she sets her sights on a fling with the gorgeous, potent and single King of Angonia, Gareth, she is shocked when he turns her down flat. In an effort to put the rejection behind her, she agrees to her sister’s plan to gain some political leverage by cosying up to a rival planetary ruler.
Gareth has responsibilities and no time for a woman like Diana. She is all temptation and distraction, but Gareth wants more from a woman than decoration. But it is Diana standing by his side as his beloved home of Angonia is attacked and he starts to see that underneath the surface is a strong woman even more beautiful than her picture-perfect exterior.
Gareth’s people need him and to be there for them, he needs Diana. But has he ruined every chance he has of winning her heart?
The Review:
Diana is beautiful. She’s the gorgeous sister, and very few people expect anything more from her than good looks. That’s certainly how Gareth, King of Angonia sees her, and when she invites him to spend the night with her, he promptly turns her down – he likes his women beautiful both inside and out. However, when the two must work together to stop a dangerous political plot, Gareth can’t deny his attraction to Diana.
I really like Diana as a character. At the beginning, I didn’t really get her. She’s the pretty girl who always gets her way (if not with Gareth) and that can be slightly grating. But I love her because of the way she develops through the story. As Diana is pulled into political machinations, becoming a spy for her family and Rica, as well as Angonia, she’s really able to shine and turns out to be much more wily in her investigations than both me, as the reader, and Gareth expect. It's cool, because I expect strong female characters from Nicole Murphy, but she tricked me a little this time!
Gareth is the ultimate alpha male – I mean, he’s a sexy king for goodness sake – although Murphy mixes things up a bit, making Diana very in touch with her sexual side and even a bit more of a player than Gareth is! Diana and Gareth’s romance is very steamy right from the start. They are both stubborn and determined, making their connection very charged, even before they’ve even touched.
Once again, it’s the world building that is just so wonderful in Nicole Murphy’s work. She sets up this incredible world of Jorda with fantastic detail that's in depth and thorough enough to appeal to the real science fiction fans, but she also weaves it into the narrative of political intrigue and romance so well that non-science fiction fans would be drawn in. I'd actually really recommend this series for romance readers who haven't tried much sci-fi, but want to give it a go.
This book can easily be read as a standalone, though it is the second in the Jorda series, and I think it would be worth reading the series in order, partly because Diana is such a great character with a lot of development, and I think it’s an added bonus to see her and Gareth’s relationship in the light of her issues with her sister in book one. In terms of the world and politics, though, Nicole Murphy has written this book in a way that all the depth of Jorda is approachable and exciting for new and old readers of the series.
Between the political plot, romance storyline and amazing world, this is a very compulsive read that I'd recommend to both lovers of sci-fi romance, and contemporary romance readers wanting to dip their toes in the sci-fi world - Do it! You know you want to!
Winning The King by Nicole Murphy is a science fiction romance from Escape Publishing, released January 22 2015.
Find this book at: Amazon | Amazon AUS | The Publisher | Goodreads
More from Nicole Murphy on Love Reading Romance:
Loving The Prince by Nicole Murphy - Book Review
Nicole Murphy writing as Elizabeth Dunk:
Five challenges I faced writing ‘Release’ by Elizabeth Dunk - Guest Post
Release by Elizabeth Dunk - Book Review
Release by Elizabeth Dunk - Excerpt
