Pathways (Kingdom Chronicles #1) by Camille Peters

Eileen has never been interested in love. Ever since her father's abandonment, she's vowed to never experience such pain again. But the enchanted forest has different ideas. When the continuously shifting pathways lead her to a mysterious stranger, Eileen finds her promise to fiercely guard her heart increasingly difficult to keep.

One night when she becomes lost in a storm, the enchanted forest's pathways lead her to the castle, home to the kingdom's Dark Prince, where Eileen finds herself entangled in what many consider an opportunity but which Eileen believes to be a curse: competing for the Dark Prince’s hand through a series of tests that judge one’s royal worth. Eileen is neither royal nor interested in becoming a princess. But the mysterious stranger she met in the woods has his own reasons for helping her succeed, although the cost of his assistance may be too high: that of Eileen's heart, the one thing she's vowed never to give.

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Wow, I love this pretty cover!  It is a perfect representation of what is inside this book.  😍

I thought this was a sweet story.  I loved the whole idea and feel of the forest being a living entity- guiding, helping, responding.  The forest gave Eileen a home- a place of refuge and security after she lost her father and I could really feel her attachment and love for it. The enchanted forest gave the story a magical and romantic feel.

The characters felt very young with some immaturity showing through.  This is a YA book and I would say probably on the younger end of that spectrum.  I often felt frustrated with the characters and their reasoning but when I put back into perspective that this is a "young" young adult book, it didn't feel so off.  Both main characters show growth and that felt really good as a reader.  There is a good cast of secondary characters which had me hoping that maybe their story would be coming next.  Overall I really enjoyed this debut novel from Camille Peters and I'm looking forward to more!

This is a book that I would easily recommend to a young teenager and feel good about it.

This book is just $.99 on Amazon right now (make sure and check price before purchasing) and it is also on Kindle Unlimited!  

Content:  clean, kissing

- I received a complimentary copy of this book.  All opinions expressed are my own.