The Rebel Queen by Lexi Blake Blog Tour

From New York Times and USA Today bestseller Lexi Blake comes a new novel in her Thieves world…

After returning from the outer planes, Zoey expected a joyous reunion with family and friends. She couldn’t be more wrong. Her kingdom is in the hands of Myrddin, her friends are on the run, and her children are being hunted by the supernatural world. But that isn’t the worst of it. They aren’t just outlaws—they are fully grown adult outlaws.

In the four days that passed while they were gone, twelve years have passed at home. Now Zoey, Danny, and Dev find themselves in the middle of a new war where they are hunted by old foes and former allies… some they could never have imagined would turn against them.

As Myrddin’s plan becomes clear, Zoey realizes she just might hold the key to stopping him for good and reclaiming their kingdom. Doing so means risking it all to steal back an artifact out from under the wizard’s nose. The fate of everyone on the Earth plane hangs in the balance, and one wrong move could cost Zoey everything she loves.

 

 

Book 1
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I was numb again, jogging through the halls I’d once known so well, following the children I’d born and now barely recognized. It was a dream. It had to be. There was no way that Olivia Carey had used her powers to try to choke the life out of me, no way my home had been taken over by my worst enemy. No fucking way I’d missed my children’s formative years. They weren’t warriors. They were coddled and protected.

Rhys was an eleven-year-old with a cocky grin who wouldn’t ever think to order his parents around. Rhys was a good boy who followed the rules. He was every teacher’s pet.

Evan played with dolls, not bows and arrows.

I was going to wake up. I had to. I would wake up and be safely in our bed at Summer’s palace. I would be in between Dev and Daniel, and I would tell them all about this awful dream and they would laugh at me. I would go through the portal again, but this time we would find ourselves back in Danny’s office and everyone would be so relieved to see us. We would take down Myrddin and move on with our lives.

I didn’t have to believe that prophecy. I could control this.

If I could only wake up.

“Evan, to your left,” Rhys yelled as he moved by a connecting hallway. He didn’t even look back. He simply tossed the words over his shoulder as he jogged along.

Evan zipped past her fathers and was firing down the hall before either could protest. She had two arrows off and landing in her targets as Fen leapt to her side. He growled and the third shadowy figure who’d been coming down the hall took off running. But not before Evan got off another shot, and I watched the last attacker go down even as Kelsey hustled me along.

“I think the kiddos know what they’re doing,” Kelsey assured me. “Let’s follow their lead. This is their world. They know it far better than we do.”

It was their world. Not mine. It couldn’t be mine.

We ran, the ground still rumbling under us, and suddenly we found ourselves moving through familiar doors into a dark place. Ether. But not Ether.

“What the fuck did he do to my club?” Dev stopped and stared at the changes the years had wrought.

Ether had been a high-tech nightclub where all of the supernatural world came to play. It had a light-up dance floor and a sleek bar. It had been modern and energetic.

Someone had decided to give the whole place a Hell makeover. It had been redone in shades of red and black.

“I win!” A muscular man walked from behind what used to be the bar. It had been exchanged for what appeared to be some kind of shrine. I didn’t have a chance to really look at it because Lee was right there. He held every bit of my attention.

He was so changed, but when he high-fived his brother and then grinned my way, I could see my little boy.

“I bet Rhys that Papa would be way more upset about Ether than he was about how old we are,” Lee admitted.

“I assure you, Rhys wins that bet,” Devinshea promised. “I’m upset about many things. The atrocity they’ve done to my beautiful club is merely one of them. I don’t want to see the penthouse, do I?”

“According to our spies, you do not,” Rhys replied.

 

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This book is fabulous – and it made me cry. Much like Zoey herself, I really didn’t expect the world she returns to in this story. Her children are grown, and they are rebel outlaws fighting against a new regime.

This is definitely not the subtle spinoff Blake gave us with Kelsey’s books. Zoey, her husbands, and their friends re-enter a future world with a whole new cast of characters. It works in many ways. I love the adults the royal children have become. Zoey’s sense of disconnected wonder at the warriors who were babies yesterday will resonate with parents everywhere. The strained relationships between the two generations feel real and raw – but hopeful. The dangers in the future world are more interesting than the settled lives the Royals were leading at the end of the previous series. I love the increased Fae presence in this book.

Where this book doesn’t quite work is the pacing. Much of the story is a collection of conversations. Readers are given a refresher course on the past ten books while also being introduced to the new world in this book. There’s a lot of world building. Character building. Relationship building. The action in this book doesn’t happen until the final few chapters. There are hints of romances to come but there isn’t a central romance here. For a series that now includes two Fae sex gods, there is actually very little sex.

The focus of the story is Zoey, Daniel, and Devinshea’s relationships with their children and the others left behind. This is a reflective, often heartbreaking story told from the perspective of a queen and mother whose world changes overnight. The story sets up several future storylines for the royal children, but nothing actually concludes in this first book. The preface explains the author’s headspace while writing this book. While it isn’t as fast, as fun, or as sexy as previous books, I think many readers will relate to Zoey’s conflicted emotions in her new world.

 

 

 

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author LEXI BLAKE lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places. Lexi believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome or foursome may seem.

Connect with Lexi

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Rebel Queen (Outlaw #1) by Lexi Blake to read and review for this tour.