Crown of Contempt (Novi Navarro Chronicles: Book 2) by Emigh Cannady

5 Stars

Publisher: Silver Popular Press

Date of publication: June 3rd, 2019

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Series: The Novi Navarro Chronicles

Prince of Persuasion—Book 1 (review here)

Crown of Contempt—Book 2

Where you can find Crown of Contempt: Amazon | BookBub

Book synopsis:

The illusion of choice. 
The burden of the crown. 
If Prince Fallon is to succeed, he cannot do it alone. 

Novi Navarro’s life hangs in the balance after being sentenced to serve in the Temple of the Chimera. The Prioress in charge seems intent on breaking not only her spirit, but the spirit of every living thing within those impenetrable walls. When a chance encounter leads to an unexpected friendship with one of the sacred creatures inside, she discovers a new reason to go on. 

Betrayed by his own blood, Prince Fallon has given up on his family, but he hasn’t given up on his dreams of a better world–preferably one with Novi by his side. When he presents her with three different choices of how her fate will unfold, Novi must decide which path to take… 

…and there will be no turning back.

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My Review:

I rarely give 5-star reviews to 2nd books in the series. In my experience, these books are fillers. There is no real plot progression—the characters flounder. But, in Crown of Contempt, none of this happened. I was happy to have my expectations blown away by this book.

I hated seeing Novi broken. She wasn’t the same person that she was before going into the temple. She still had a sharp tongue and a more intelligent mind. But her humor, which is what made me love her, wasn’t there.

I felt bad for Fallon. The stress that he was under came off the pages. He was trying to install a new government, save Novi, and fend off his mother. I was surprised that he didn’t snap sooner.

I felt bad for Callie, too. The things she was forced to do and see. The abuse she put up with. My heart broke for her every single time she appeared in the book.

I want to see more Kai!! I thought his character was adorable. He had unconditional love for Novi and protected her the best he could.

If I didn’t think that Fallon’s family was dysfunctional in Prince of Persuasion, I think it now. That family makes me shake my head. The mind games that are played between parents and children sicken me. No wonder Tristan turned out the way he did.

I wasn’t surprised by what was revealed about Queen Laena. I was expecting something like that. I also wasn’t surprised at how cruel she was to Callie. Nothing about that woman surprised me. I am curious to see what will happen in the next book. I wonder how everything will work out for her.

Tristan bothered me in the book. I was prepared not to like him. I mean, he did shoot Novi with an arrow. But, there was another side to him that was shown in the book. He was the same abusive jerk to Callie and Novi. But, there were scenes where he acted like a hurt child. I am wondering what he will be like in the next book.

There is dual main plotline in Crown of Contempt. The first plotline centers around Novi. It shows what she has overcome and what she has to overcome. I did feel that the decree the king threw down was unfair. The second storyline centered around Fallon and his work to make the country equal. I found it fascinating.

The end of Crown of Contempt was satisfying. I am not going to say much. But I will say that I was right about the character from The Darkest of Dreams. I did a fist pump when it was revealed. It is going to make the next book enjoyable.

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I would give Crown of Contempt an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Crown of Contempt. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**