Serena’s Review: “Warrior Princess Assassin”

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Book: “Warrior Princess Assassin” by Brigid Kemmerer

Publishing Info: Avon, August 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: WARRIOR. King Maddox Kyronan’s fire magic has earned him a ruthless reputation on the battlefield, but now his kingdom is slowly burning. Ky’s only chance to save his people is to enter a marriage alliance with the neighboring nation of Astranza, and hope that the royal family’s power to manipulate the weather will help his land flourish once more. He just needs to ensure no one finds out how the blaze began.

PRINCESS. With war looming on the horizon, Princess Jory’s home needs the protection of the fearsome warrior king, but she is hiding a dangerous her family’s magic is fading. Tempting as it is to reject her duties and run away with her childhood friend, Asher, Jory knows that she is the kingdom’s last hope. When she meets her intended, Jory is surprised to discover that beneath Ky’s daunting exterior is a compassionate and sharp-witted man who sets her heart aflame. But what will he do when he realizes she’s deceiving him?

ASSASSIN. Asher’s done what he must to survive, even if that means getting his hands dirty. Once a young nobleman in Astranza’s palace, where he and Jory caused mischief together, now he’s part of the Hunter’s Guild, employing much darker skills. When a lucrative job comes his way, Asher can’t say no—until he discovers the targets. Someone wants Ky and Jory dead. With the Guild watching, Asher must decide what he’s willing to do to protect the woman he loves.

Review: While I’m on the record as not really clicking with many poly or “why choose” romances, I’m always on the lookout for exceptions. I’ve also had a bit of a hit and miss experience with this author. But as I have enjoyed some books by her in the past, I thought this new title might be a good opportunity to further explore this sort of romantic plot line.

So, this book didn’t fully turn me around on poly/why-choose romances, but there were definitely things I liked about it. For one, the book is very character driven, with much of the “action” centering around the development of its three main characters. I enjoyed both of the male main characters, for the most part. Each were fairly easily slotted into some familiar archetypes, but this well-trodden ground didn’t make them less enjoyable. There is the sweet, childhood friend romantic interest, plus the more dynamic “touch her and die” character on the other end of the spectrum. Like I said, neither one was really pushing any boundaries as far as detailed character work go, but they were also satisfying as they were, with a few twists and turns thrown in to keep things interesting.

I also appreciated that this was a slow-burn style of romance. For me, that’s the only approach that even makes sense with a poly romance like this. The more characters you have involved in a developing romance, the more time must be devoted to fleshing out their various dynamics. Otherwise they don’t feel like true characters at all, and instead read as mere plot vehicles simply there to deliver on the smutty goods. To that last point, this book is very late and comparatively light on the spicey scenes, so if you’re going in with expectations for early romance scenes, be warned.

That said, I did struggle with the female main character. It’s clear that she’s meant to be naive, but so often throughout the book I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with her simplistic views of things. The author does make an attempt to show growth for her, but it never felt like quite enough.

And, for that it being a character-driven book is a positive, this was definitely a slower read, one that often left me wondering when (or if!) anything was really going to happen. Large chunks of this book could have been edited down or out altogether. This made it all the more frustrating when the book ended on a significant cliffhanger. Instead of feeling satisfied to have finished it, I felt as if I’d been handed an incomplete draft of the first half of a book.

Overall, this was an ok read. Ultimately, while it didn’t make me actively mad at any points, it also didn’t really offer up anything new. Readers will be familiar with these characters and this general (rather limited) plot. Their enjoyment, therefore, will come down to how much they enjoy experiencing over again a rather familiar story. I would probably recommend this one to readers who love poly/why choose romances, while those looking for a more plot-focused fantasy novel might need to look elsewhere.

Rating 7: Familiar in both good and bad ways, this one will likely work for “why choose” romance readers but may not have much cross-over appeal to other readers.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Warrior Princess Assassin” isn’t on any Goodreads lists but it should be on Why Choose Romance Books.