This was a great sequel. Danielle L. Jensen wrote a book full of action while expanding the worldbuilding.
In this book we get to meet Lara’s sisters and really know how strong they are. Lara struggles to forgive herself and redeem from her past mistakes.

This story is a lot less predictable, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. My main complaint is that I wished to see more of Lara and Aren happy together. Through the dual point of view, we can see all their passion and angst, which turned their love more credible than in the first instalment.
The end of the book came a little abruptly and I wish we could see more of them working on their relationship and on the recovery of their kingdom. ( )

This is book 2 in the series and it is essential to read book 1 first as I would class this a duet.
The next book moves on to another couple but we will no doubt see this couples HEA through their story.
There is a HFN in the sense that the enemy threat of this book is resolved by the end of this book but there is more political progress to be made through the series for there to be peace.

This book continues with Aren captured and the city lost and the heroine in a different destination.
Dual POV.
During separation both are celibate.
No intimate scenes other than the Hero and heroine.

For me the redemption of the heroine didn't work.
She does lots of things to deal with her father and rescue Aren but I couldn't see how he would happily be able to live with her as they were before, her as his Queen.
If she'd written the letter earlier on I think it might have worked but she sent it even after having doubts and at the cost of so much life I just couldn't see a way back to her former position. Even though she tried to stop it being sent.
The author has a clever twist to make it acceptable to the people for her to be his Queen but for me I couldn't see her ever being able to make up for the betrayal.

Lots of secondary characters introduced, including some of her sisters, so we learn what happened after she left in book 1.
HFN.

I realize my opinion may be unpopular but for me, it was just a bridge too far. Excuse the pun!! ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Bridge Kingdom series. I borrowed this as an audiobook through Audible Escapes

Audiobook Quality (4/5): This was a well done audiobook. I enjoyed the two narrators and thought they both did a good job.

Story (4/5): This was a good continuation of this series, although I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. This book is mainly a quest to rescue Aren and then one long battle between Ithicana and Lara's home kingdom. There are a lot of scenes between Aren and Lara as they try to mend the trust in their relationship. Lara runs herself ragged constantly making it through one deadly situation after another, which got to be a bit much.

Characters (3/5): Both Aren and Lara fell a bit flat for me this time around. Aren spent much of the book helplessly captured, which didn’t match the resourcefulness he’s shown previously. Lara lost all personality and was replaced with a blind drive to rescue Aren and kill her father. Lara was just plunged into one life threatening situation after another which left very little time for any character development. The two still have good chemistry together, but the intimate scenes between them seemed a bit awkward. The side characters were flat-out poorly developed.

Setting (4/5): The setting takes place back and forth between the two kingdoms. It’s a decent fantasy setting and well thought-out. We don’t get to spend much time on the bridge and I missed that.

Writing Style (3/5): Despite how fast-paced this was the whole story felt kind of tired. More like we were just watching the characters play out what they needed to do to get to the next point in the story, rather than actually watching them make the story. I think it was just a bit too non-stop and rushed with very little time for us to get to know the characters better and understand them. This book just didn’t grab and engage me like the first one, I kind of felt like “Eh, okay that’s done”.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was well done but missing some of the wonder and adventure that was present in the first book in the series. Things are decently tied up here as well. While I enjoyed this okay, I didn’t love it like I did the first book. I would still tentatively recommend it to those who enjoy fantasy with a lot of politics, war, and some romance. ( )