Capture the Crown

A Novel

By: Jennifer Estep

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author Jennifer Estep returns to her Crown of Shards world with an all-new trilogy and a bold new heroine who protects her kingdom from magic, murder, and mayhem by moonlighting as a spy.

Gemma Ripley has a reputation for being a pampered princess who is more interested in pretty gowns, sparkling jewelry, and other frivolous things than learning how to rule the kingdom of Andvari. But her carefully crafted persona is just an act to hide the fact that Gemma is a powerful mind magier - and a spy.

Gemma is undercover, trying to figure out who is stealing large amounts of tearstone from one of the Ripley royal mines when she encounters Prince Leonidas Morricone of Morta - her mortal enemy. Gemma tries to steer clear of the handsome prince, but when she finds herself behind enemy lines, she reluctantly joins forces with Leo. Also coming to Gemma’s aid is Grimley, her beloved gargoyle.

Despite the fact that Andvari and Morta are old, bitter enemies, a dangerous attraction sparks between Gemma and Leo. Further complicating matters is Leo’s murderous family, especially Queen Maeven Morricone, the mastermind behind the infamous Seven Spire massacre.

The closer Gemma gets to the stolen tearstone, the more deadly plots she uncovers. Everyone is trying to capture the crown, but only one queen can sit on the throne....

©2021 Jennifer Estep (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Good but not great

This book would have been much more enjoyable had the FMC not repeatedly rehashed the reasons that she hated/mistrusted her “nemesis”. It had a good storyline and a good narrator, but the author definitely overused the “you did me wrong in the past” line as an excuse for the FMC to keep her distance from the MMC.

Loved this series

Love this story! Gemma and Leonidis’ story is definitely one of my favorites so far!

excellent!

I love Jennifer estep s books!!!I am looking forward for her next book!!!I love the plot and the story!!!

Great story

I love it! The only thing that I have to “critique” is the narrator’s tone for a few characters. It’s just not the tone I read it to in my mind, which isn’t her fault, but again, it’s the only downside for me. Jennifer Estep has done it again!

Enjoyed this

Action and light romance abound in this book. Surprising that a princess would dare venture in as a spy, but it made for an interesting story. The narrator did a great job with providing unique voices for each character and appropriate tone inflections for each scene.

Excellent series

Really enjoyed this series by Jennifer Estep, looking forward to the next book that comes out in may. If you like this series you will love the series elemental assassin. It is one of my favorite series, I highly recommend it.

It was enjoyable

I enjoyed the book for the most part. There was a lot of weird noises the author had to “make” that were getting annoying like “clink, clink, clink” clump, clump, clump” “tap, tap, tap” etc. so many times. I’m sure there were other ways the author could have conveyed those sounds/images.

Awesome

Fabulous Story
There is so much about. Families that you just don’t see or can’t believe .., never mind finding friends in unexpected places
Xoxox

Skip "Kill the Queen" and just start here

Despite the constant repetition of "I'm so traumatized by what happened 16 years ago." instead of showing it. And repeating half of the new information a dozen times over, this spin-off is already so much more interesting than Everly's story. I just hope the author gives this series a proper ending instead of leaving half of everything open-ended. The author made the characters 29 and 30 but if it wasn't stated at the beginning, I would have thought they were 16-19.

Enjoyable new series

Capture the Crown is the first book of The Gargoyle Queen series by the talented Jennifer Estep. Having previously read the author’s The Crown of the Shards series, which precedes events in this book, I already knew the world and some of the characters. While that was an added bonus for me, it is not necessary to enjoy this story, as it revolves around a smaller character who is now grown. All pertinent events from the past are skillfully summed up for the reader.

Gemma Ripley is the crown princess of Andvari, but she is haunted by the slaughter she witnessed as a child, one she feels she could have stopped if she’d only been brave enough to cry out instead of being held frozen by fear. Her magic is strong but unpredictable, and she fears it, too. She hides behind a facade of a pampered princess and sneaks off under the guise of a spy for her country, but nothing she does can erase the hidden scars from her past. Worse yet, traces of her mother’s time magic force her to relive snippets of the past. Her scars are ripped open, the wounds made fresh again and again.

Gemma wrestles with her pain and fear and magic alone, while seeking redemption for her past sins – the deaths she feels she could have prevented. When she saves the life of her mortal enemy, she has no idea it will bind their lives in a dangerous quest for the truth.

I listened to it all in one day. Narrated by the talented Lauren Fortgang, I enjoyed it immensely.

I also suggest checking out her Crown of Shards series.