The conclusion of the Forbidden Trilogy, a historical action/romance set in ancient Middle East. Jayden and Kadesh fight to protect their kingdom of Sariba from the power-hungry dark priestess, Aliyah, and Jayden’s former betrothed, King Horeb.

What follows is a series of talking sessions punctuated with encounters between Jayden and various enemy groups. It felt drawn out and nothing really escalated. Aliyah apparently has magical powers due to a ritual that merges her with a goddess, but we see no real effect from it. She infiltrates the palace several times to take Jayden out, but every time there’s just the slightest hint of danger or resistance, she retreats. Finally Jayden manages to kill Horeb, and the losing man in Jayden’s love triangle from the previous books sacrifices himself to take out Aliyah. Then Kadesh and Jayden finally get married and assumedly live happily ever after.

Content includes frequent but non-explicit warfare and one-on-one violence, including use of throwing knives and several scenes where characters stab someone in the chest or throat. Jayden kills an assassin and Horeb this way, and is involved with a plan to poison the wells of enemy troops to prevent them from fighting. There are references to sex and rape, and Horeb assaults her two times, though it doesn’t get farther than forced kissing and some ripped clothes. Aliyah and her priestesses are in a cult that involves human sacrifice, but it is not described in the book.

I was interested in the setting of the story, and the front book jacket filled me in with enough detail to get the gist of the plot without reading the first two books, but I didn’t care about any of the characters. The writing is easy to understand, but repetitive. (Worst example: “‘I’m still your bodyguard, Jayden,’ he said, using my given name.”) I wanted more immersive cultural details than I got—aside from occasional mentions of Middle Eastern foods and a final battle involving a stampede of camels, this could have been set anywhere. Also, the name Jayden feels distinctly out of place among the cast of plausibly Egyptian/Middle Eastern names. Maybe people starting at the beginning would be invested enough in the characters to overlook these issues by this point, but there was nothing for me here.

Content is probably okay for 13+. While I didn’t enjoy it, it is at least inoffensive. Two stars on Goodreads. ( )