#the traitor queen

[gabrielleragusi]

"The roar of the wind was deafening, the strength of it buffeting them from side to side, the sand scouring over her exposed flesh, her eyes pure agony as she gripped Aren’s hand, dragging him forward step by step. You can do this, she silently screamed at herself. You will survive this."

Endpaper illustration for Bragelonne's edition of The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen. I had a lot of fun painting this scene and rendering the sand and swirling clouds (:

Instagram  - ArtStation - Website - Inprnt - Etsy - TikTok

[stupidlybookish]

Lara: How did you find me?

Aren: Oh, it was easy, really. I just listened for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that.

[theredcrane]

Practicing rendering with Lara from The Bridge Kingdom. This series has me in a puddle of tears on the floor

[stargirlbryce]

Every book I read in 2023: The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

"I will be the next queen of Ithicana. And I will bring the Bridge Kingdom to its knees"

[sarcasmiclife]

The "you have something of mine" trope just got a whole lot hotter with the gender swap like purr queen

[this-is-lit]

The Bridge Kingdom Series (1 & 2)

by Danielle L. Jensen

The Bridge Kingdom: Raised as a warrior, Princess Lara knows two things: King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And she must be the one to bring him to his knees. The Bridge Kingdom is the only route through a storm-ravaged world, and it uses its power to deprive Lara's homeland of vital resources. So when she's sent to be King Aren's bride, Lara will do whatever it takes to bring down the kingdom's defences. The Traitor Queen: Lara has watched Ithicana be conquered by her own father. But when she learns her husband, Aren, has been captured in battle, Lara knows her father is only keeping him alive to lure in his traitorous daughter. It is bait she fully intends to take. Risking her life, Lara returns to free the Bridge Kingdom and its king using her father's greatest weapons - her warrior sisters. But her greatest adversary of all might be the very man she's trying to free.

“The Bridge Kingdom” series by Danielle L. Jensen (specifically books 1-2) is the tale of the arranged marriage of Princess Lara of Maridrina and King Aren of Ithicana, a waterlocked territory impenetrable to outsiders. The contract, on its surface, seals the treaty of peace between the two kingdoms, but unbeknownst to Aren, Lara is a trained assassin sent by her father to kill him and expose Ithicana’s vulnerabilities to invasion. When the two fall in love, Lara’s betrayal rocks Aren’s spirit, and he must work to forgive her while fighting to restore his kingdom. Lara must redeem herself in not only Aren’s eyes but also his people’s if they are to work together to stop the war and live happily ever after.

Readers who have already plowed through the works of Sarah J. Maas and are enjoying Rebecca Yarros’ “The Empyrean Book” series, and are struggling to find a series that hits the same way, will find that “Bridge Kingdom” is everything Jennifer L. Armentrout’s “Flesh and Fire Series” wishes it were. Jensen’s prose is fluid and on point for romantasy (with mild spice), and her characters are well-rounded and robust. Lara is convincing as a killer with an unearthed heart of gold without being a weak self-insert, and Aren is believable as a spurned lover who must work at forgiveness. The side characters support the main characters effectively while being interesting enough with their own motivations that Jensen devotes books 3 and 4 to two of them (and a fifth on the way!).

The narrative of “The Bridge Kingdom” series successfully balances plot and character-driven elements, creating an engrossing page-turner. The story weaves romance, political intrigue, adventure, and believable worldbuilding into a captivating tale that keeps readers hooked from start to finish. This series is a solid adventure romance that lovers of SJM, Yarros, and JLA will eat up, but readers should keep in mind that it does not deliver maximum spice.

[milestoearth]

Existential question:

What do you do when you finish a book - The Bridge Kingdom - and it was so awesome and you gave it 5 ⭐️ and there is the next volume - The Traitor Queen - just waiting for you to see what happens next to its characters because you left them hanging on for dear life.. but you are also dying to read the most exciting love story that you acquired?

What do I do? How do I read both?

[rigelus]

❤️🌊 Aren & Lara Kertell

[inlovewithquotes]

Awake of asleep, all I see is your face. All I hear is your voice. All I feel is you in my arms. All I want is you.”

-The Traitor Queen

[booksandfantasies]

Hi:) I know you like the last book more but when you read the endless war, can you maybe say how often Laren is there too? Like only some chapters or are is it worth reading the whole book if it’s mostly for them? I also subscribed for Lara‘s POV Chapter! So excited!

So I just finished reading The Endless War and I loved it! Now as far as Lara and Aren, they are in this book a lot more compared to The Inadequate Heir but they still only have a minor role in this book. I think that if you aren't really interested in Keris and Zarrah's story and are only really interested in Lara and Aren, then I don't really think they are in the book enough to make it worth reading. There are some good moments with them but they are only in a couple of chapters all together. The end of this book does set up the next book in the series which is about Aren's sister Ahnna which I'm not sure if you are interested in or not. Personally, this was definitely my favorite in this series (but I love Keris and Zarrah) but if you are only reading it for Aren and Lara, I don't think they were in it enough to make it a worth while read. I hope this helps.

[oncesneverenough]

“You are a princess. A queen. But above all, the little cockroach.”

[nessietwihard02]

✨✨✨𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐋!✨✨✨⁣

⁣

Hello, bookish friends!⁣

⁣

𝐐𝐎𝐓𝐃: Any author that you discovered here in bookstagram and became a favorite?⁣

⁣

𝐀𝐎𝐓𝐃: Danielle L. Jensen is one pf those authors for me! As soon as I started The Bridge Kingdom, I knew I was gonna have to get all of her books🤩 ⁣

⁣

I’m so thrilled to help out with the cover reveal to the 4th book in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫! It’s already 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 but of you’re a print girlie like me, we’d have to wait until 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 28 for the North American editions, and 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 23 for the UK and the Commonwealth😅 The cover artwork is by Annabelle Moe @avendellart and is just *chef’s kiss* Check out the synopsis below:⁣

⁣

Newly crowned as king, Keris has watched, powerless, as his forbidden relationship with Zarrah is revealed. But when Zarrah is imprisoned by the empress, Keris knows there is only one way to save her: to ally with the kingdom he nearly destroyed.⁣

 ⁣

Imprisoned on the dreaded Devil’s Island, Zarrah faces two choices: prove her loyalty to the empress who condemned her or die a traitor. Yet as she struggles to survive among violent prisoners, Zarrah uncovers a third path: a rebellion to overthrow tyranny entwined with a destiny she must fight to claim.⁣

 ⁣

While the empress plots a war with devastating consequences, Keris and Zarrah must find their way back to each other. Yet their greatest adversary is the fiery passion between them. Unless they overcome the bitterness of betrayal, their love will not be the bringer of peace but rather the fuel that turns the Endless War into an inferno.⁣

⁣

[stupidlybookish]

Aren: Where are you going?

Lara: To either get ice cream or commit a felony.

Aren: …

Lara: I’ll decide on my way.

[plortasy]

I am almost finished with the book so I want to talk about my opinions on this series as of now. Since there is going to be a lot happening in the next 50% of this book. I really like it so far. I like how we get a hate to love from her in the first book to hate to live from him in this book. I love how we get a bad ass female lead who is protecting the hero of the story. I love it so much it shows how strong women are. Some say this book is similar to From Blood & Ash and ACOTAR for me I could see some aspects of it. I’ve never read the first but I have read ACOTAR and I can see elements of the book there. Let me know if I should do a in-depth review bc as of now I’m enjoying it.

[sarcasmiclife]

Hello:) I wanted to ask if you‘ve read the Bridge Kingdom series? If yes, does it mention Zarrah with any other man besides Keris? Even if it’s something in the past? The TBK Series is good and all but I truly find it disgusting that the characters are like (the men in particular) manwh**es. So I skip and ignore that and see it that they actually aren’t. But was curious about Zarrah? Or is it only Keris is that jumped from woman to woman because he is a man and Zarrah didn‘t have any relationships?

Yes I have and I am a big fangirl of that universe

But as far as I remember Zarrah has had lovers here and there before she met Keris. No one serious just one night stands. As did Keris. But neither of them was much interested in any actual person: Keris had a reputation to maintain (I almost wrote a spoiler here lmao) and Zarrah needed to just relieve herself after long days of commandering the military

I hope you are enjoying this series so far 💖🎉

[fancylala7]