So I first picked up Royal Guard Lion when @dsudis mentioned it was her book. Since I already liked her fic, I figured “why not” and let me say, I made the right choice.
It’s the story of Signy, a princess who doesn’t know she’s a princess, and Kai, one of the members of the royal guard. And of course they happen to be true mates.
See, in this universe, shifters have true mates - their love who’s meant to be. (Though nothing actually forces you to marry your true mate, which I liked - you have the option to say no.) Kai is a lion shifter. Signy isn’t a shifter, but her father was and she’s royalty, so…she knows Kai is meant for her too.
But of course there’s political intrigue going on, because Signy, as a non-shifter, can’t rule the kingdom of Valtyra. So she has to get married, to a shifter.
…Obviously, despite having a true mate, there’s some people who would very much prefer she marry for politics or power or something other than love.
So this is all about Signy and Kai figuring out how to be together.
Plus the political intrigue, which I enjoyed - while I don’t usually go for books that are pure politics, it made for a nice side plot and valid reason why they couldn’t be together immediately.
All in all, Signy and Kai were great characters, with realistically complicated relationships with their families. Watching them navigate the politics, her family issues, his family issues, and the rules of Valtyra was both fun and sweet…and sexy too.
Also, Signy ultimately solving one of the major issues? Awesome. Even without powers, she had the knowledge to solve the problem - an excellent choice in a heroine. All in all, I just really liked this book.
In fact, I liked it so much I immediately bought the sequel. Which is not something I do often. One minor quibble: when they discuss Otto escaping and the plot against the throne. There’s discussion that Nikolai also escaped. I did a search and Nikolai literally had not been mentioned before this moment. I figured out via context who he was, but…that didn’t quite work for me. Still, a great book, which absolutely deserves
Five Stars
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