The Hunted Heir (The Veiled Kingdom Series)

The Hunted Heir dives straight into the action, picking up where the jaw-dropping cliffhanger ending of The Veiled Kingdom left off—damn you, Dacre. The pulse-pounding adventure and sizzling romance will leave you breathless, furiously turning pages, and staying up way past your bedtime. And speaking of romance—buckle up, baby, because you are in for one hell of a ride.Verena is on the run once more. Barely escaping the hidden city and Dacre's stunning betrayal—which still lingers like an open wound—she must alone navigate Marmoris' treacherous landscape. Her true identity as the princess is no longer a secret; the rebellion is closing in, and her father's soldiers scour the kingdom, intent on capturing her. With no one to trust, Verena knows only two things for certain: she's a hunted woman, and her only hope for survival lies in reaching the ocean on the southern coast. She must find a ship and escape Marmoris before the rebellion, the king, or Dacre find her.For Dacre, letting Verena escape has created a maelstrom of problems. The lost princess, the rightful heir to Marmoris, is now a traitor—and he set her free. His father is hell-bent on exploiting Verena to further his own ambitions with the king, but Dacre's allegiance to the rebellion and his father is faltering. His need to protect Verena, his little traitor, burns hotter with every passing moment. Logic dictates he should despise her, yet he'll stop at nothing to keep her safe from the forces closing in around them.Holly Renee's writing is as captivating as ever, drawing you into a world of magic, political intrigue, and forbidden love. But what truly makes The Hunted Heir shine is the characters. Verena is a strong, complex heroine, desperate to find freedom and protect those she cares about. Dacre is a brooding, passionate hero, struggling to reconcile the loyalty he should have to his father's rebellion and his intense feelings for Verena. Their relationship is fraught with tension, and their chemistry is off the charts—a delicious mix of anger, passion, and hurt that adds depth to their already complicated relationship and makes every scene they share sizzle.With all that said, I wish the book had been longer. I devoured it in a few hours and was left wanting more. The cliffhanger ending DESTROYED me. First, I was sobbing uncontrollably, then I stared blankly at a wall for a bit, and now I'm partially dead inside. But even after being emotionally scarred (again—this woman and her cliffhangers), Queen Holly has cemented my devotion to this series. I need to know what happens to Verena and Dacre. Can they overcome their pasts and forge a future together? Luckily, The Rivaled Crown, book 3 in The Veiled Kingdom series, is coming to a Kindle near you on March 18, 2025.Would I recommend it?Absolutely! But only if you've read the first book in the series. With its captivating characters, breakneck plot, and STEAMY romance, The Hunted Heir will entertain and delight you. Be prepared for a wild ride full of twists and turns, a healthy dose of angsty groveling, and a major cliffhanger ending that will leave you desperate to know what happens next.NOTE: The Hunted Heir is the sequel to The Veiled Kingdom and the second book in Holly Renee's Veiled Kingdom series. To avoid spoilers, this series must be read in order.Thank you to Valentine PR, and of course, Holly Renee for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 to 5 stars ⭐️Considering it had been about 130 days since I read The Veiled Kingdom, I really wanted to savor The Hunted Heir. However, the cliffhanger from TVK made me consume this book. It completely surpassed my expectations. Holly Renee knows how to constantly deliver action using masterful writing that transports the reader right into the story.I appreciated that the author dove more into building the enchanting world that Dacre and Verena are fighting to survive in. With book 2, Holly Renee has complicated the two-sided world of kingdom vs rebellion. Right from the start, readers can expect character growth along with views on what the corruption of power and greed looks like from both sides.Verena’s feelings on trust and her effort to understand the world around her (as well as her place in it) is very relatable. Holly Renee’s description of a sorrow caused by a loss that never heals is poetic. Her writing about the cost of power and greed is truthful. The author writes in a very understanding way. I never feel overwhelmed by any of the world building and terminology used.I would love to see more world building actually. A couple of things that could be furthered explained are the religious systems, kingdom histories, and surrounding countries or lands. However, the storyline was not lacking without this information. I throughly enjoyed what we did learn in book 2 and suspect there will be more world building in book 3.The spice and romance between the FMC and MMC was just right. Not over done but not lacking. It fit my preference.I’m deeply invested in the characters and cannot wait for the final book in the trilogy!NOTE!!!!! Be sure to read the trigger warnings. There are topics that could be sensitive to some readers.

I had read the first book and maybe second in another popular series by the author before and did not enjoy it for a lot of same issues that I had with this book.The Veiled Kingdom had its issues, but the story was intriguing enough and I enjoyed it enough to continue reading the second and I felt like this one was pretty rushed and short. There was a lot of unnecessary and repeating inner dialogue that went on for way too long while important events / moments were rushed and not fleshed out enough. The characters seemed a bit off as well especially Dacre.Will I read the next one? Probably.

I’m not an author but I imagine writing the second book in a series is so nerve wracking because you want to build off the first but introduce new things but not too many and keep all the readers happy. The Hunted Heir is the perfect example of an incredible sequel.I am *so* happy this book started right where we left off and jumped into the story because that cliffhanger was BRUTAL. It’s fast paced, grabs your attention immediately and never lets go. There’s a great balance of cozy intimate moments and action to keep the story progressing. Compared to The Veiled Kingdom there’s also a lot less characters in this book which brings the focus fully on Dacre and Verena which I loved.Here are a few of my favorite things…- anything Dacre does or says- the moment of carefree happiness and teasing in the ocean- real life growling is probably super weird and uncomfortable but in this book? Irresistible.- so happy mates exists in this worldMy biggest problem? My kindle edition told me I had 86% left in the book but that was the last page and I wasn’t ready for it to end. I thought I had so much more but NOPE. I. Need. More. This can’t be where it ends.Is there a cliffhanger? YES.Do I still recommend this? YES.Not so patiently waiting for the next book to come out in March…

Considering some of the negative reviews I read i thought this book was still an enjoyable read.Pros:The story moves along quick enough to grab my attention. This is by far the strongest point for this book. Though I would say this sequel focuses more on the relationship trauma and trust issues that the characters have to overcome.There are some cute moments especially in Dacre’s POV that added some nuance to his character.We learn more about Dacres father Davian and Eiran.Cons:I thought Wren could have used more attention. She was interesting in book 1 and I would have liked to know more about her experience. I think she also could have played a role in Dacre and Verenas attempted escape, just to add more complexity to the story.One major con that other reviewers pointed out was that Verena is kind of a powerless character. Things happen to her and she just goes along with it and doesn’t forge her own path except for maybe in the last 2-3 chapters of the book. She seems to just follow others around like a puppy dog. Her power becomes a factor in this book and I think there is a missed opportunity there because there could have been so much more exposition on how the magic system works. It all seemed very vague and Verenas show of power was only ever out of convenience and not rooted in her character.I get that there are a ton of “strong female characters” in romantasy these days and it does get old how quick, strong, gifted, amazing, beautiful, etc they all are. I don’t mind that we have a main character who is weaker, with significant hurdles that she can only overcome with the help of other characters. What I was missing with her was depth.Overall I did enjoy the book. There are a ton of loose ends to tie up and I’m excited to read how Verena and Dacre are going to proceed.

A quick-paced intertaining continuation of Verena and Dackr’s story, with such cool tropes as second chance, touch her and you’ll d…, 🌶️🌶️🌶️ one bed. What I liked the most is how was the redemption and groveling done - mmm, so good. Any the cliffhanger left me with a strong urge to read next part asap.What I didn’t like: This book was to short, just 200+ pages 😞But anyway I enjoyed reading 😉

I would have given 5 stars but I am slightly annoyed that's it's ended the way it has and I now have to wait again for the next book however it was a page turner once again.

The book is really short and ends with a cliffhanger. While the story is engaging, it ultimately lacks satisfaction. If you were hoping for further story development after the first book, don't get your hopes up too high—it's quite disappointing, frankly.

Wow! This book has everything the first book had! (Including its lack of fantasy plot)The tension, the banter, the suspense was incredible just as much as the first book. 🥵😍Unfortunately for me it was also lacking more action and plot. This book was very short so not a lot of time for anything to really happen.I was waiting for something to happen, just for it to happen in the last 20 pages!&& now cliffhanger 😭I need more fantasy more action more plot twists. Just more!But overall I still loved this book and was hooked all the way through. Something about then tension and spice has me not wanting to put this book down!Can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!