The Spring Queen (Royals of Rodina #2) by Jamie Applegate Hunter

The Spring Queen (Royals of Rodina #2) Reviews

• 
  DonutAssassin

  Always loosing me with the "She randomly throws up and has missed her cycle" or whatever. Save it for the epilogue, thanks. Liked all of the characters, though. Archer was hit or miss at times though, I liked him better in the first book. Plot wasn't too bad, there were just a ton of names thrown at you a lot, it was hard to keep track of everyone.
  
  Regardless, I'll be reading the last book just to see how everything works out.
• 
  Kara Matthews

  I felt like this one was a bit more rushed than the first. The battle with the Cylon summer king was way to understated. The ending was a bit rushed as well. I hope that book 3 will touch on some of those points. I doubt it. But fingers crossed I suppose. Other than that. The battle for love, between Archie and Adeira was beautiful in its own right.
• 
  Jill

  The more I think about this book the angrier I get. The story was good, but the thing I can’t get past is the main conflict being resolved in less than a page. Why have this giant build up if it’s going to be over in an instant? I also didn’t feel like connection between the two love interests.
• 
  Coco.V

  🎁 FREE on Amazon today (11/27/2021)! 🎁
• 
  Jillsbooknook

  4 - ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  
  "He pulled her even closer as they danced and wished he could bottle this feeling to keep forever."
  
  The Spring Queen is the second novel with the Royals of Rodina series, which is a New Adult Fantasy Romance. We see in this novel a ramp of character plot, tension, and spice. As mentioned prior the world of Rodina is ruled by four powerful and immortal kings, each ruling a season of the realm. Each of these kings has a soul mate, known as a Compeer, that they will one day meet and bind with. The Compeer gives this king and his realm power and a true love that any person would yearn for. Yet, a war is coming as one of the Kings has become corrupted and seeks to control all Rodina himself, and he knows the key to bring down the other Kings is their Compeers. The Rulers of Rodina must build their strength for the fight against the Summer King to save the realm.
  
  This novel follows the characters of Adira and Archer. Adira has been named the new Spring Queens after the death of the previous heir at the hands of the enemies. She struggles to find her place as she was raised all her life to be an item her mother would barter for wealth and prestige. Yet to be a true Queen Adira must become a warrior to assist in the battle to come. Archer, the Summer King, is tasked with the job to help train Adira for this role and while he is married and loves his wife he feels something towards her he can’t place.
  
  “He tried to suppress a smile. ‘You are something fierce, Spring Queen’”
  
  This novel very, VERY carefully balances the line of a love triangle in a way that actually made me comfortable reading it (as I hate love triangles and cheating). Just to be clear, there is no cheating in this novel. There is a lot of angst in this romance compared to the previous book. Archer is struggling with a lot on his shoulders and his reactions to Adira are often dramatic, most likely because he didn’t want to accept what he felt for her. I hated when he hurt her but to see the ways he grew and recompensed for his actions made me understand him a lot more. Spoiler here if you would like to know. Archer's wife dies in the early part of the book Adira is quite mouthed about her struggles but there is a fragility brimming under her surface that we see. Both characters need each other and the journey for them to find that place was enjoyable. The spice in this novel was also increased from the last one but done, once again, appropriate to the progression of the characters.
  
  The over arching plot across the novels felt a little rushed towards the end but, admittedly, I was mainly here for the romance and I loved what I read. The primary reason to fight against the summer king wasn’t a huge battle that I anticipated. I also wish we got more of Adira and Archer just living together - to see them happy and enjoying each other.
  
  Overall, I found this book to be a pleasant read if you’re looking for an angsty, spicy, fantasy romance with compelling characters. I am very curious to see how the next novel plays out!
  
  Also, check your trigger warnings. This novel contains self harm and references to eating disorders so be kind to yourself.
• 
  Ashley (booknurse)

  Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
  Characters: 💃💃💃💃.5/5
  Spice: 🌶🌶🌶/5
  
  *An arc was provided for an honest review
  
  If you are looking for a dark, spicy fantasy read, look no further. Side note, for my brown girls, there is a queen modelled after us 🥺. The Spring Queen was exactly what I wanted as a follow up to The Compeer. This book follows Adira, who has just gotten thrown into her role as Queen and the Autumn King Archer. He is meant to prepare her to fight, but they end up constantly hurting each other. Regardless of the setbacks, she falls into the role effortlessly and proves why she was chosen to be the Spring Queen. The villain of the story is the Summer King of Cylon. I do wish we had more time with him; he seemed very interesting. If you loved the first book as much as I did, we get to see our winter royals again. Our favourite characters from book one have a good amount of page time, which helps the readers transition into this book. * ⚠️ Warnings - there are scenes regarding eating disorders, abuse, emotional trauma and death of a loved one. There are some spicy scenes that I have never read before, and I lived for it 🧊. Overall, for a story with so many characters and storylines, this was amazingly done. Nothing gets lost, and everything flows accordingly, making this one of my favourite fantasies of all time. Trust me, it's worth it.
• 
  Kari

  I really enjoyed the first book in this series but this one dragged so much. It took me forever to get through because I kept having to convince myself to read it.
  
  I didn't feel connected to the main characters and I hated how quickly one of the main characters fell in and out of love so quickly.
  
  And the ending, I don't even know what to say. The big bad guy situation in this one was resolved way too quickly and the shocking thing that happened felt so out of place. Like it was just thrown in at the very last minute.
  
  I'm most likely done with the series but we'll see
• 
  Erica

  I loved this book so much! I fell in love with this world in book 1 and I was in awe after reading this story. The EMOTION in this book is on another level. Definitely bring your tissues. This story follows Adira the new Spring Queen and her journey of self discovery and self love as she takes on her new role as Queen. The book picks up right where book one left off and it does not stop until the end. I could not put this down, I had to know what was going to happen next. This story kept me engaged the entire time and the characters pulled me right in. I loved the character dynamics and the witty banter in this one. Adira is a strong, witty, smart, beautiful, pure character that I just loved reading about. Archer the main male character is a complex character who has a lot of emotions and a lot of things he needs to work through while finding out what he really wants and what is meant to be his. The same gang from book 1 sticks together in this book with some new lovely additions. This story has emotion, action, friendship. Self discovery, romance, steam, forgiveness and sacrifice. I can’t recommend this series and this book enough especially for fantasy romance lovers. If you love a story about a badass MFC who fights for what she believes in, this is for you. It’s a must read for me.
• 
  Hanky Panky Reads Khrista

  Overall enjoyed the story
  
  I really like the plot. The story flowed really well. The writing had improved from book one. I love the idea of everything and how it all unfolded. The characters were great and really enjoyed their own individual journey. What I did not like was the relationship between Archie and Adira. I did not feel the love from Archie at any point. there were parts about him in the beginning that did not met up in the end (bedroom moments). He was horrible to Adira and I don’t care that they are suppose to me “soul-mates” he was not redeemable in my eyes. I felt like there needed to be more moments of them together being happy. He was so hard and rude to her for so much of the book and they were apart that there just wasn’t enough of them together on the page. I needed more.
  
  And I felt like the end of the story was wrapped up way too fast. The whole purpose of this book was seriously fix in less then one page. It was too easily resolved for all the drama that went down.
  
  With all of that said I still enjoyed the book and look forward fo book 3. I’m excited for Chazes book. It’s going to be very interesting how it all plays out.
• 
  Wendy Yarnling

  Spring Queen by Jamie Applegate Hunter
  Kindle Unlimited
  Overall 3
  Spice 4
  
  
  • Fated Mates
  • Rejection
  • Second Chance Romance
  • Grief
  • Low Fantasy Post Apocalyptic World
  • Overcoming Abuse
  • Navigating being the “Chosen One”
  • Romance and Spice Increased
  • Book 2 of a Finished Series
  • Spoilers —Pregnancy trope but central to plot
  • Slight redundancy
  • Wild West? Really? Why did the “gods” choose that
  • Multiple “lands” feels very Westworld meets DnD with fantasy vibes
  • Addicting AF reading book 3
  • Rushed pacing
  • Miscommunication
  
  This series is still highly addicting and such fun but a few of the “quirks” from book 1 seem to continue in book 2. Particularly the modern language used by the guardians. Though plot wise this makes sense especially in the new land (westworld meets DnD). The central romance was arresting and so well written with a lot of “will they won’t they” watching our MMC grow from know it all prince to humble husband was lovely storytelling. I do feel the plot outside of the romance feels rushed (what was the point with F? Why humanize that?) and therefore the pacing felt drawn out in the first ⅔ then rushed for the last ⅓. If you're looking for the next SJM this isn’t it but if you're into enjoyable addicting Smutty fantasy novels that won’t stress your brain! Here it is!
  Also ….Again Jamie makes me care more about guardians then the royals. I’m rooting for them over the prince every time. I feel like we have a missed opportunity not exploring that dynamic/pov more
  
  
• 
  Peta

  Rating: 2.5⭐️ 4🌶
  
  Overview:
  
  ▪️Genre: NA Fantasy Romance
  ▪️POV: 3rd person, Multiple POV, 1 audio narrator
  ▪️Series: #2 in the Royals of Rodina series
  ▪️Tropes: Trainer/trainee dynamic, mates, one horse, hate to lovers, losing v card drama, grumpy/sunshine
  ▪️Read: Ebook via kindle and audio via audible
  ▪️Continue the series? No
  Audio review: 4⭐️
  
  
  ❗️ SPOILERS ❗️
  
  
  Review:
  This started off better than the first, but still didn’t really hold my attention and I’m not sure I’ll continue the series. It ends on a cliffhanger which sets up the next book, but I personally don’t like the name Chazriel and so I don’t think I can stand to have a whole book about him.
  This was also MUCH more spicier than the first book and the first spicy scene with Archie was a bit of jump scare (not saying it was bad, just unexpected).
  
  💜 Likes:
  - There is a pronunciation guide, a list of all the royals & guardians in the world and a link to a refresher from book 1 and this should be standard in all books
  - Seeing Adira learn to use her powers at the start was pretty cool
  - The romance was sweet and I thought it developed at an ok pace
  
  
  
  💜 Dislikes:
  - I thought this was an interconnected standalone about Adira and Archer, why did we revisit Thad & Winnie and their romance drama? and similar to first one, the addition of other characters POV's made this confusing and I couldn't see how they added to the plot
• 
  Diane Callison

  If I could give this book less than 1 star I would.
  
  I read the first book in the series because I saw the author in Tik Tok, I disliked the first one and gave a lengthy review of it. I did not intend to finish the rest of the series based on my dislike for the first one. But I was able to finish this book in a day and I’m behind in my yearly goal. So here we are.
  
  My review for this 2nd book will be similar to my review if the 1st one. Nothing was original, the writing style is surface level and the pacing is awful. Several weeks go by within 2 or 3 chapters. The author tried to convey an enemies to lovers storyline and it just did not work. I did see at the end of this book that it is adult romance so the sex scenes make sense now, but the writing and story, in my opinion, need to be much better if this is targeted for adults. Again there was miscommunication and they added a pregnancy trope for this story (roll eyes). And the dialogue again in the story was juvenile and did not make sense for the characters, seeing as they are kings and queens.
  
  I plan to read the last one and get it over with. But I already know how I’ll feel about it. I do not recommend these books
  
• 
  Lucy

  ***4.5 stars but rounding up because no half stars***Book 2 was even better than Book 1! I was able to jump right in. Was still very invested in this series. Learned more about the world, there were more fantasy plots lines in TSQ among the romance plot lines. Also, we were introduced to new characters and a new love story. This one had slightly darker themes for the characters’ backgrounds, so I felt like there was more character development for the FMC/MMC (and I loved character driven stories). Remained well paced, I was never bored and story didn’t drag. I loved this MMC more than the FMC, but definitely enjoyed their enemies to lovers storyline. Great side characters. Still good spice! Maintained good banter between all characters. Found family feels and the best pet names remained in Book2! Went right into book3. Would recommend this series!
• 
  Elyssa Greene

  This was slower than book 1, and I was disappointed that all the action happened in the last 10% it seemed like much of the middle could’ve been removed and the climax could have been expanded.
  Some things I think would have improved this installment:
  -More of Archie and Adira together
  -More of the big bad Summer King’s POV
  -Pregnancy trope moved to seasickness rather than the random “getting sick after smelling a craving”
  -I was really bothered by the LGBT+ representation. It felt really forced to introduce it in a page just to never see the characters again.
  -Epilogue also seemed forced… a 25 year jump saying that one of the main figures in the group stayed away the whole time?
  
  Will I read the next one? Yes, immediately. Do I hope it has the pacing of Compeer? 100%
• 
  Ashley (ashpattreads)

  Loving this series so far and can’t wait for the third book. I loved the first book more than this one for a couple reasons: As typical with these types of stories that follow a different character relationship in each new book, I have a hard time letting go of Winnie and Thad. While I loved that they still predominantly were featured in this book, it was still more so about Adira and Archie and I honestly didn’t love their relationship. While the whole book (and overall series so far) is super fast paced. The ending/climax also felt a little to anticlimactic and seemed to wrap up in one page. Still giving it a 4 since I do like the overall series and characters.
• 
  Katie Mae Darling Tallent

  Omgoodness. This book was an infuriatingly wonderful read. Full of twists, humor and emotional trauma. That Autumn King, oh man…my heart. I don’t ever. Ever. Cry over books. But when Archer lashes out with ugliness in his grief, it literally took my breath away and had the tears flowing...everything he did just made my jaw drop and yet I was still rooting for him (I LOVE Ross, I hate Ross, I LOVE Ross, I hate Ross).
  
  This book was very, very well done and I highly recommend reading (After reading Book #1 THE COMPEER of course).
  
  Looking forward to reading Book #3: The Mortal Heir
  
  -@darlingtallent
• 
  Amy Pritt - Coffeeandbookobsessed

  I really like the characters and the plot but I really felt like I had to push myself through this book. It suffers from a lot of “telling” verses “showing.” Some parts dragged on much longer than necessary, and other parts felt so rushed. Big time jumps, anticlimactic ending that felt over before it even began. There were times when things would seem to come out of nowhere and I’d have to double back to make sure I didn’t miss something. And what were supposed to be big, emotional moments just fell flat.
  
  And for a book that was supposed to be about Archie and Adira, it was weird that we got a couple random spicy scenes between Thad and Winnie.
  
  Overall, it needed more work.
• 
  Allie

  Writing was slightly better than the first book, but still weirdly paced. Archie sucked—literally the WORST. The Spring Queen also sucked—she just let Archie walk all over her and was too pure and nice. Ugh. With everything she was trying to fit into these books, she should have dedicated at least two books per couple. (And she should have written them in mostly dual point of view because the multiple point of views were annoying and mostly pointless.) This series is just not good. I won’t be continuing.
• 
  Smut Fairy

  I listened to this book on audible and I was very happy with the production! The world was very intriguing but i do firmly believe this fantasy is more character driven than world driven, which I actually enjoy more. I only deducted one star because Archie was one of my favorite characters in book one and he just seemed so different (even before his grief) in book two!
  
  Still- overall no complaints! Loved it!
• 
  Meagan

  Adira is my favorite of the series and I think this just might be my favorite book. The love triangle was perfect and overly pushed. I related a lot to Adira and the struggles she had with those who raised her, which I think is why I love her character so much. She deserves a major win.
  
  This spice was on point too!
  
  I will definitely be reading the last book to see how things play out for our favorite royals.
  
• 
  Kate

  I have (not so patiently) waited for this book to be released since reading The Compeer over the summer! The author's continuation of the characters' stories is everything I hoped it would be. The plot, the angst, the enemies-to-lovers story line, the growth between the main characters, it was all perfect. Looking forward to Chaz's story in book 3!
• 
  Nicolette Moe

  Um….excuse me but I was told this was darker than book 1, which yes it was but holy crap I wasn’t warned about the amount of times I would cry or gasp out loud with my mouth hanging open. Jamie definitely puts some type of magic in her books because I easily become hooked from the first chapter and eat up the whole book in 1 day!!!!
• 
  Nikole

  I don't remember if the first book was like this
  but this book was all in 3rd person - and I hated it. It really bothered me this whole book - it felt like it was being told by a kid. Idk.
  Also this books main focus seemed to be about Aidra and Archie's relationship instead of the other country's issues.
  Still decent series
• 
  Redsky29

  Well where to start. I enjoyed this book not as much as book 1 but still a very good story line though the evil summer king was killed wayyy to easy for me though I realize there is only so much you can do in limited pages and we were nearing the end. Glad the autumn king (Archie) and the spring queen(Adire) got their hea. I am taking a slight break before moving on to book 3.
• 
  Anneli

  I thought this one was the best book of the series. I had my ups and downs with the way the first book was written, (I mean it jumped from one thing to another really fast and some of the things felt out of place) but because I liked the story and the idea, I continued reading. I'm happy I did as I found all the steamy love drama very entertaining 👍☺️