The Half-Hearted Queen

The Shattered King, Book 2

In this spellbinding dark fantasy from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg that concludes the Shattered King duology, Nym must escape the clutches of her captors and find her way back to Renn even as forbidden love, magic, and secrets collide with the weight of the crown and the war between kingdoms.

Nym never told Prince Renn she loved him. And now, as a captive and political pawn to the ruthless King Nicosia, Nym finds herself guarding more than her forbidden feelings for Renn as the kingdoms of Cansere and Sesta clash and the bloodshed of war rages. Nym’s connection to Renn is more than just romantic—it’s magical, and King Nicosia will stop at nothing to find Renn’s weakness and claim the kingdoms as his.

Now Nym must find a way to escape the cruel and twisted fate of imprisonment as she faces the unimaginable horrors and dangerous secrets hidden within King Nicosia’s palace walls. With the succession of kings on the line and a dangerous prophecy unfolding, Prince Renn faces his own impossible choice. The future of the throne hinges on a political alliance that means forsaking his love for Nym. If he can’t fulfill his destiny and unite the kingdoms, King Nicosia will destroy them all.

©2026 by Charlie N. Holmberg. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Nym in one of my favorite FMCs!!!

Such a page turning, compelling book! I love the threads of resilience woven into the story. There were so many characters I loved and several I loved to hate. Overall, just a really well written conclusion to an incredible story and I will definitely come back and revisit it again.

Perfect Fantasy Romance

I have loved these books. Its so hard to find a good romance that doesnt contain too much spice but this author does it perfectly, weaving a story so beautiful i listened to the first book twice waiting for the second. The fantasy part is so unique that I was captivated right away, even my husband seemed interested when I would excitedly explain chapters to him from the first book lol

Good wrap up for duology but felt too long

I loved this duology overall. The yearning from MMC was well done. I loved the magic system, so unique and also well described. The first book was appropriately paced for me but this second book felt like it dragged on and on with little happening for Nym until the war was over. Despite that I still liked this series.

Loved the continuation of the story

It was a great story. However, this audio performance was challenging. I know that main character “whispered “. However, I could not hear when the narrator whispered. That was frustrating.

Overall a good sequel

I know we got a lot of time with the FMC and MMC in book one but that’s what made it. I really really wish they had more time in this book or this was a trilogy. The ending of their story just seemed a little bit slightly too rushed. I still loved the overall story. They just needed more time together. 4.25 stars overall for me.