Reviews : Blog Tour: Once Upon Two Kingdoms by Anna del C Dye

I am pleased to share this book by Anna del C Dye, with you.

I'd like share the cover with you.

Freedom to Choose is Paramount for any human

An arrangement made when Elizabeth was just a babe ties her to someone she has never met, never spoken to, never loved. Now she desires freedom—a way to choose her own path—her own husband. The moment Elizabeth meets Patrick she knows he is her soul mate. But when you are bound to a crown how is any choice your own?

Sound intriguing? I thought so.

But, before we get into the book, Here's a bit about the author.

Anna was born in the extreme South along some famous beaches. She grew up with four other siblings, being placed in the middle.

Anna moved to the USA to marry her husband Rodney, and has resided in Utah since then. Her husband, a native of Idaho, met her in her hometown. They fell in love and she came to Utah on Christmas Eve to be married two weeks later. They are the parents of three princes and a princess.

Early on in her life she showed an affinity for sewing and took classes that have rewarded her with the opportunities of doing the costuming for the cast of four musicals, and Utah’s own Fantasy Con, which she enjoyed immensely. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Some of Anna’s writing recognitions:

She received the Editor’s Choice Award from the International Library of Poetry and had her article entitled A New American Mother published by Desert Saints Magazine. Her short story entitled Amerine—Fairy Princess won an award in a League of Utah Writers contest later to be published by Kalkion Magazine. (Now it has been published as an e-book.) Other articles about family and relationship have been published frequently in the MOMS CLUBÒ of Salt Lake Valley-West. She has published 7 books on her Elf series. Her and Rodney’s love story was published by Deseret book in the anthology entitled Angels Round About compiled by July C. Olsen. Another of her articles was included in the Anthology Mother’s Message in a Bottle, edited by Tyler Hayden and published by Nimbus Publishing.

Links to social media sites for the author

ReadersFavorite.com: https://readersfavorite.com/search.htm?searchword=Anna+del+C.+Dye&searchwordsugg=&option=com_search&searchphrase=exact

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AnnaDelC

My website:

http://www.annadelc.com

Twitter:

https://twitter.com

Shelfari:

http://www.shelfari.com/o1517897501/shelf

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1066077.Anna_del_C_Dye

Links to where book is sold

http://www.annadelc.com

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=anna+del+c.+dye&sprefix=Anna+del+C%2Cstripbooks%2C265

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Anna-del-C-dye?store=book&keyword=Anna+del+C.+dye

And now for my review!

Once Upon Two Kingdoms is an interesting tale, set in a more medieval period. Since there are references to parentage in French, I'm assuming it's in Europe, or a place similar. Two individuals are promised to each other in marriage when their fathers get the idea into their heads, despite the sorrow of their wives.

Eighteen-odd years later, they unexpectedly meet, but don't realize they are destined to marry each other. Neither wants to marry someone they've never met, but, with the circumstances as they are, they do end up having feelings for each other.

Then things start to get really crazy. A king is murdered. A queen dies. Lies are spread, and intrigue abounds as a mastermind tries to put the two kingdoms at odds with each other. Obviously there is someone else out there who doesn't think the two lovebirds should end up together, betrothal or not.

But as any good teenage, suddenly turned monarch will do, they continue to thwart the evil plans of this murderous traitor. Of course, they don't seem to realize this, though both are planning for war, against each other. Sadly, neither knows that the very countries they are planning to destroy belong to the person they love most. And neither has the courage to tell the other who they really are!

Well, I won't give too much away, but I will give this about the story:

As far as characterization goes, I think that Ms. Dye portrays a typical pair of teenage lovers who hate their lot in life, but are eager to go their own way. I do think that Elizabeth does show a lot of the same qualities equated to blonds in modern jokes, rather silly and irresponsible, but then, so does Patrick. Circumstances do make them grow up a bit, but they are never too mature for childish antics, even if it goes against the grain of their character.

The world Ms. Dye has creates is a beautiful world, though I wouldn't mind more description about the insides of the castles. I was pleased at how some of the elements of each country definitely came into play i the story.

Over all, not a bad romance, a bit slow paced for my taste, but will likely please a lot of the younger audiences, especially fans of star-crossed lovers who can't seem to every quite cross the right paths.