Review - The Envoy's Honor by Antonia Aquilante

The day Corentin, his husband-to-be Bastien, and the royal family knew was coming has finally arrived. A delegation from Corentin’s homeland, Iviria, is at the palace doors. Their leader, Ederic, is insistent that Corentin needs to return with them to be punished. The group’s second most senior member, Kirill, doesn’t understand why Ederic is so insistent on Corentin’s return, or why he is so confrontational with the Tournai royals. The one bright spot is Griffen, Bastien’s brother. Both men admit their attraction to each other, but they don’t see where it can go since Kirill will eventually have to return to Iviria, with or without Corentin.

“The Envoy’s Honor” picks up the unfinished business from book five of the series, The Dragon’s Devotion. Naturally, you should read the previous book before this one so you’ll know the background to the story. That said, the two protagonists themselves haven’t played any significant part in the previous books. We have met Griffen, as Bastien’s brother, but haven’t got to know him.

It doesn’t feel like we get to know Griffen any better in this book. Compared to many of the other main characters featured in the series, Griffen is not as well developed. He is definitely of the type we’ve come to expect from these stories, but there’s not much we learn that makes him stand out as a unique individual. Kirill fares a bit better. He comes across as a man with a strong sense of duty and one who doesn’t trust easily.

This last book of the Journals of Tournai doesn’t really wrap up any of the threads that run through the books. The apparent plot against the princes doesn’t get resolved. A young courtier acts very suspiciously in one passage, but nothing comes of it. Nor is there any mention of the mystery surrounding the spells that protect the kingdom, which are woven around the royal family and their talent. There’s a sequel series involving Iviria, so it seems this book is more a launchpad for that to that than a conclusion of the current books.

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