Book Title: Royal Obsession

Author: Megan Maldonado

Blurb:

Everything comes with a price…
For Carmella Woods, daughter of the prestigious and highly favored Lord Woods, feeling caged is no novelty. Her entire life has been designed in the hopes to make her fit, to adapt to what her parents perceive as respectable, honorable. Not doing so has high, unthinkable consequences. Consequences she has faced in the past, and has lost the fight against in the present.

Doing her best to be an obedient daughter and keep her essence—her spark—has proven quite difficult, especially since the favored her father praises are nothing more than a group of superficial bigots.

Until Derek Warren reenters her life.

Gorgeous, egocentric Derek Warren. Womanizing, dangerous Derek Warren.

After being fiercely rejected by Prince Derek, Carmella can hardly glance at him without feeling enraged. Though that quickly changes as her life is swooped into a whirlwind, with the prince at the center of the chaos—of the blaze. A link to who she truly is.

In a battle between past and present, truth and lies, Carmella must decide whether to fight the licks of flame that threaten to consume her, or embrace them.

My Review:

This is the third book in the “Royal Series” and covers the story of the Fire Kingdom, focusing on the relationship between Prince Derek and Carmella Woods. While she lived under the constant supervision of her father, Derek lived a life without regrets, sometimes even without thinking about the consequences his actions had. Can such a combination ignite a fire? Sure it can! It can even burn down a kingdom of fire wilders. I must admit that this is the first book I’ve read from the series and that it can be easily read as a standalone.

“Some friendly advice. Next time, don’t assume that all women are weak, that all women are powerless. Because people who assume, end up in bad situations.”

After being hurt by Prince Derek, Carmella does her best to avoid him, even if her now broken heart wishes differently. Since sometimes avoiding him seems not possible, she tries to provoke him, challenge him. But the prince seems clueless to her behavior and cannot understand why she acts this way around him. What starts as a beautiful love story will end in something far more complex that will leave you wanting for more.

Carmella is trying to do her best to keep her father’s anger at bay, even if she hates attending to social events. She’s started taking fighting classes in secret, as a way of revenge against the attitude she is forced to have. Having little to no support from the other family members, she confides part of her secrets to her best friends, but not even they know how far her father’s anger reaches. When she tries to find comfort in Derek’s arms, she realizes she’s nothing but a moment’s fling for him. His constant flirting with other girls has left her heart and trust broken.

“So you rather lose me, lose us, because of some fucked up preconceived notion that things are black and white. They’re not. Life is full of fucking color Twinkle. Beautiful colors. Ugly as shit colors. Colors that bring life to life”

Derek on the other hand seems oblivious to her turmoil. He lives his life to the full potential, enjoying as much as possible his position as prince. Still he is well aware of the fact that one day he’ll take his father’s crown and thus he has to deserve it. I must admit that in the beginning of this review I was willing to give 4 stars because I could not understand Derek’s actions most of the time. I mean, what was he actually thinking? Was he that stupid as to think he can have Carmella whenever he wanted? But after analyzing up close, I think at some level he understood she hated his world, she hated parties, having to put a polite face in front of those she could not stand. With all his flaws, when need arises, he acts to the fullest of his power.

“Life could be described as a multitude of puzzle pieces. Puzzle pieces that defined an image. An image that would be portrayed once done.  Each fitting into a specific spot.  Each constructing a different path. Different connections that would aid in joining certain sections together. Miss one and there would be no place to drop the other. Linking them as crucial to the puzzle as the entirety of it. Choices were similar in theory. When it came to life. When it came to paths. When it came to carrying your supposed destiny.”

The author has done an amazing job, not only with the story and the way the characters were built, but also with the way it was put in words. Each feeling, each emotion is very well transmitted to the reader. I was quite taken by the exceptional writing skills the author has.

Suffice to say that I loved the book and by now I can tell you that I’ve finished Book 1 and it’s also amazing! This is my first book by Megan Maldonado and I’m already a fan!

About the Author:

Megan Maldonado lives in Miami. She spends her spare time curled up in bed with every paranormal romance she can get her hands on, watching Marvel movies with her nerdy family, and writing. Megan writes Young Adult Paranormal Romance and New Adult Paranormal Romance.