Henchmen of Zenda

by Kj Charles

[lessthelonely]

I haven't read the original material from which this book is said to have borrowed characters and a bit of plot from. It's very slim in length, so I read it quickly and swiftly, and I must say the dialogue is quite entertaining throughout, as the plot is, but this book, like many others, suffers from a lack of build-up in its main romance that is very well promoted in the book's back summary.

The love interest was thoroughly enjoyable, as was the protagonist. Though I definitely enjoyed both of them separately and their banter was delightful, the book commits the falter of spending little to no time building up tension, which I found quite surprising because IT WAS BUILDING TENSION SO WELL BUT IT DEFUSED IT WAY TOO QUICKLY. This left me loving the characters on their own but not really seeing a reason for them to be together.

This book only reminds me that romance is best written by fanfiction writers - and though this book could definitely be considered exactly that, fanfiction, considering it's been written as a retelling of another work, it left me quite disillusioned.

As for the undeniably good: action scenes were greatly written, as was the plot: was definitely surprised to see the amount of treachery that was at play in such a seemingly short book. The antagonists were intricately designed to be hated and it felt good to do so, as for every time Jasper cursed Michael out in his thoughts, so did I.

The approach done to the relationship kinda ruined what could be a 4 start book for me. It's not bad and any one who likes Historical Fiction shall enjoy this read, but you might be left with an unpleasant taste in your mouth if you're looking for heartstopping romance.

Also, quite appreciated the chapter index! Good to know how much time I needed to spend to read one more chapter, even if I read this in basically one sitting!