Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog earns a small commission at no extra cost to you from any purchases made through these links. You can read the full disclosure underneath the Privacy Policy.
Rise of a Queen
by Rina KentSeries: Kingdom Duet #2
Published by Self-Published on November 19, 2020
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance
Format: eBook
Pages: 289
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Audience: 18+/Adult
Add to Goodreads
Purchase at Amazon
Nothing is fair in love.
This is my kingdom. My territory.I own everything and control everyone, Aurora included.She shouldn’t have barged into my world with no armour.She shouldn’t have caught my attention with no warning.Alas, she did.Then she thought she could disappear.If a battle is what it’ll take to protect and own her, I’ll shed blood.Wars aren’t fair, and neither am I.
Rise of a Queen is the second part of a duet and is not standalone.
Rise of a Queen concludes Jonathan and Aurora’s story, picking up where Reign of a King left off. Since starting Rina Kent’s books, I’ve noticed her skill in writing antiheroes, the MMCs you hate to love because they’re walking red flags. (Let me first say, in real life, I wouldn’t tolerate men with red flags. I only tolerate them in fictional books.) Once you learn their backgrounds and see how protective they are, you can’t help but fall for them. This is Jonathan’s case. I understood him much better in Kingdom Duet, even though I didn’t like him at first in Royal Elite.
This book centers on Aurora discovering who is targeting her, suspecting it’s related to her father, who is up for parole. Her father’s victims believe she helped him with his murders, but she turned him in years ago. Threatened, Aurora does what she knows: run and hide. Jonathan, however, refuses to let her run and hide and is set on protecting her. The problem is that Aurora thinks Jonathan killed her sister and questions if she can trust him, especially because of how he’s treated her lately. I questioned his actions in the first book, too, but he eventually won me over in this book.
I enjoyed this book for its suspense, mystery about Aurora’s pursuer, and the growing romance between Jonathan and Aurora. Jonathan’s methods with Aurora can be overbearing, but he cares in his own way. I appreciated how protective he was, even though she had every right not to trust him.
If there is one thing about this duet is that Aurora’s father certainly shouldn’t be released on parole. He was a monster, and I felt for Aurora having him as a father. Fortunately, Jonathan is there to help her when it comes to dealing with her father. No one will mess with Aurora. There’s also Ethan, whom Aurora goes to, but Jonathan won’t tolerate it. Jonathan is definitely the jealous type.
I loved Levi and Aiden’s roles in this book, as Jonathan’s nephew and son. They are wary of Aurora and Jonathan’s relationship, especially Aiden, since Aurora resembles his mother, and he always questions her absence and doesn’t trust his father. He learns the truth about Aurora (aka Clarissa), though, and why she was absent.
Overall, this is another great installment, and I give it four stars. I’m glad I picked up her books a couple of years ago, and I’m reading them in publication order. I have quite a few books to read to catch up to her most recent books, but I’m determined to read her books.
POV: Dual POV (Single POV)
Standalone or Part of Series: This is the second book in the Kingdom Duet series and needs to be read in order.
Would I recommend the Kingdom Duet? Yes. If you enjoy reading Dark Billionaire Romance stories with an antihero, like Jonathan, then check out the Kingdom Duet.
If you haven’t read the Royal Elite series, which has Levi King and Aiden King’s stories, then I definitely recommend reading those books. That series introduces Jonathan and why readers like me first had issues with him.
What to Expect:
🖤Age Gap Romance
🖤Billionaire Romance
🖤Enemies to Lovers
🖤Forced Proximity
🖤Possessive Hero
Favorite Quotes:
“You don’t have to protect me. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t protect myself.”
“I’m not protecting you because you’re a woman. I’m protecting you because you’re my woman.”
“May I ask what you intend to do with this man once you find him?”
“Make him wish he was never alive.”
Because no one, and I mean no-fucking-one, touches what’s mine and lives.”
“I want to bring hell on the world that had her apologize for things she didn’t fucking do. I want to eradicate the people who judged her without knowing her story.”
About Rina Kent
Rina Kent is an international bestselling author of everything enemies to lovers romance.
Darkness is her playground, suspense is her best friend, and twists are her brain’s food. However, she likes to think she’s a romantic at heart in some way, so don’t kill her hopes just yet.
Her heroes are anti-heroes and villains because she was always the weirdo who fell in love with the guys no one roots for. Her books are sprinkled with a touch of mystery, a healthy dose of angst, a pinch of violence, and lots of intense passion.
Rina spends her private days in London daydreaming about the next plot idea or laughing like an evil mastermind when those ideas come together.
Related Posts
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
- Cover Reveal: ‘Burning for You’ by Kasie Haley - May 11, 2026
- Happy Mother’s Day – Single Mom Romance Books - May 10, 2026
- Review: ‘Double Play’ by Jill Shalvis - May 9, 2026