I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Can you follow your heart when it’s already broken?

After fleeing Coroa and leaving the memory of her beloved Silas behind, Hollis is unsteadily adjusting to life in Isolte. The Eastoffe family’s affection is a balm on her weary spirit, though Etan, a surly cousin with a deep distaste for Coroans, threatens to upset the uneasy peace she’s found.

While tensions at home ratchet up, disquiet in the kingdom of Isolte is reaching a fever pitch. The Eastoffes may have the power to unseat a tyrannical king—but only with Hollis’s help.

Can a girl who’s lost it all put the fate of her adopted homeland over the secret longings of her heart?

Short and Sweet Review

The Betrayed picks up right where The Betrothed left off. Hollis is still dealing with the loss of Silas and her parents but she’s coping and knows that she still has the love and support of Silas’s mom and sister Scarlet. The family is on their way to Isolte and they know that the King has been up to no good but the Eastoffe family needs Hollis’s help to prove it.

Life in Isolte is not easy for Hollis especially when Silas’s cousin Etan is making it very clear how much he dislikes Hollis while everyone else is trying to make her feel welcome. The family is invited to the castle for the King’s sons wedding and the family knows that this is their chance to try to find proof that the king has been killing his people and unseat him from the throne. Over the course of the visit Hollis and Etan become closer I feel like this relationship was rushed considering the fact that Silas just died and that Etan is his cousin but I guess it was okay because she got the family’s blessing. Anyway in the castle there’s a lot of maneuvering and trying to get people to back the family and find proof against the King, we also see Valentina again. At the final battle we learn one shocking thing about what happened at Hollis and Sila’s wedding night and then were suddenly back on our way to Coroa, you following me? Anyway king Jameson is basically slime and when you live by the sword you die by the sword, or something like that.

Overall we get a basic Disney ending a happily ever after if you will so strange to have your rebound man be your dead husbands cousin but do you girl. It was a quick book to get through, Hollis was often lead more by her heart than her brain and I’m sure if this as written differently she would have faced some consequences but nonetheless it was an okay book.