The Wizard King

Red Slipper Series, Book 1

By: Miranda Mayer

Narrated by: Yvette Keller

A quiet, sheltered, passive girl, Ynith never suspected that the awkward young man she encountered in the library was none other than the Crown Prince Arnsword. Nor would she expect that this baleful character would set his sights upon her as the singular object of his undying affection. But what Ynith could never prepare herself for would be the cost of being loved by a man who is, by all rights, evil.

A powerful budding Wizard, Ynith’s beau is about to wreak havoc upon the world, and force Ynith to discover facets of herself that she finds terrifying, including dabbling in the magic she has deliberately avoided since childhood. Must Ynith love this man or must she escape him to save herself, and ultimately, her world?

©2017 Miranda Mayer (P)2019 Miranda Mayer

stuggle

at times it was a struggle to fi iah and the end was lacking.. glad to have finishedd it.

Excited for story to continue

Wonderfully done. The story is captivating and original, characters are well developed and the writing is exquisite. Looking forward to read subsequent books :).

Morally questionable but entertaining

First and foremost I have to say that I've never read anything in this specific genre before, so there may be some conventions that I'm not aware of that are common but just not too my taste (such as the very specific detailing of outfits and repeated descriptions of the heroine's attractiveness). That being said, this was a very imaginative world and story and once it got past the early courtship of the characters and into some meatier stuff, I was pretty intrigued. I don't want to spoil too much so I won't get too specific, but *SPOILER* the hero does something that is AT BEST morally daaaaark gray that the heroine, who is supposed to be really good, never truly seems to be that shocked or upset by, and all should be forgiven because they love each other? *END SPOILER* I kept waiting for this action to be given more weight. I actually wouldn't have really minded if this was meant to be a story about two morally questionable people who put their love first and foremost without caring how it impacts people, but unless I'm reading this wrong, we're still meant to believe Inneth (sp?) is a good person throughout the story. Maybe this will continue to develop in the series? Anyway, overlooking that huge plot point and character development, I did enjoy it overall.

The narrator is a skilled voice actress and I was impressed by the range of the characters. The ogren (sp?) in particular were incredibly vivid and frightening!

Magic, passion and mayhem

I liked this unusual story with its mix of a historical setting, magic, passion and mayhem. The characters are well developed and probably not always what you would expect. None of the them are clear cut good or evil, but rather have aspects of both, which the author flows into the story seamlessly and the narrator portrays very well. Arnsword is a complex character that is not always likeable and yet he somehow manages to captivate you and it seems easy to forgive his actions. Ynith is a sweet, loving character that you care about from the beginning, but she too has hidden depth and struggles. The narrator did an excellent job of bringing both the characters and the story to life, she gave the characters individual voices and let you feel the desire, desperation, pain and turmoil in their lives. This story has plenty of suspense, action, magic and lots of great characters that you can empathise with, and no matter how they react it seems difficult to judge their actions. The author and narrator created a rich story that will keep you absorbed until the very end.