Author: Elizabeth Hart
Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’s Books
ISBN: 9780063441118
When a maid isunexpectedly named the heir to the throne by a dying king, the restof the royal family is up in arms. Worse, the king leaves behind anote for the maid saying he was probably murdered, and she may benext.
Author Elizabeth Hart debuts with a standalone novel that is arealistic look at court intrigue while also satisfying diehardromance fans in Red as Royal Blood.
Ruby has spent her entirelife in the castle of the kingdom of Lumaria. She doesn’t remembera time outside of serving the royals. The official story is that herfamily died in the war, and she was dropped off in the castle kitchento keep her safe.
Since then, she’s learned to clean and fetch andmake herself known only when the royals need something served tothem.
Despite the trouble shewould encounter, Ruby has struck up a longstanding friendship withPrince Rowan. The two sneak out to play games of chess and get intoall sorts of mischief together.
Ruby’s best friend, Sara, thinksRuby and Rowan are more than friends, even though Ruby denies it. Notthat she would mind; like his brothers, Rowan is so good looking it’salmost a crime.
But Ruby is an independent thinker, and she doesn’twant to be tied down to anyone or anything just yet.
All of that changes whenthe king dies and it’s revealed that he recently changed the lineof succession to name Ruby as his heir. Everyone, including Rowan, isflabbergasted, and Ruby is more shocked than anyone else.
Why wouldthe king name her of all people? They didn’t have any kind ofconnection to one another, and her parents died in the war. She can’tremember a time they even spoke to one another.
Things only get morecomplicated on the first day Ruby enters the late king’s chambersand discovers a note he left her that says if he’s dead then it wasbecause he was murdered.
He’s named Ruby as his successor, becausehe’s not sure if he can trust anyone else. Worse, he believes Rubymight be next to die, unless she can unravel the secrets behind hisdeath.
Ruby doesn’t know if shehas time to uncover a murder plot and run an entire kingdom and tryto keep the rest of the royal family at bay.
Every one of them has areason to hate her, especially Rowan’s big brother, Asher, whowould have inherited the throne if his father hadn’t changedeverything.
Ruby wishes Asher would understand that she didn’t wantto be queen in the first place, even if it means an opportunity tolive a life of luxury.
She also can’t figure out why her insidesturn to jelly every time Asher gets close to her, but if she doesn’tsurvive the assassination attempts on her life they’ll become worsethan jelly.
Author Elizabeth Hart doesa great job of balancing the demands of royal life with the mysteryof who killed the king and could want Ruby dead along with thebudding romance between her and Asher.
As a protagonist, Ruby issmart and plucky but Hart doesn’t let her win every time. Thein-built flaws and frustrations she experiences makes Ruby even morelikeable as a main character, which will make readers more eager tofind out exactly what is going on.
Hart leans into redherrings that are commonly found in murder mysteries and turns themaround with a deft hand so that readers will be left guessing themurderer’s identity.
At one point almost everyone is plausibly asuspect, no easy feat to pull off when there are so many characterswho could justifiably want Ruby dead. Hart gives all of themreasonable motives, which adds to the tension and excitement as itbuilds.
The romance subplotoccasionally feels shoehorned into some scenes, and the world buildingwhen it comes to the language could have been more imaginative.
Seeing common-day expletives in a book set in what feels likeVictorian times can feel a little jarring. Hart clearly has thewriting chops to build an engaging story; doing some research onexpletives from the eras or, even better, creating her own would havemade the book that much better.
For the most part,however, this was an enjoyable read that will keep readers guessingto the end. Readers who enjoy books about royal life with courtpolitics thrown in will definitely enjoy this one. I recommendreaders Bookmark Red as Royal Blood by Elizabeth Hart.