Servant of the Crown by Paul J. Bennett

This is a review of Servant of the Crown by Paul J. Bennett. Published October 20, 2017, Amazon.

I started this book because I saw the author’s Tic Tok and was surprised by the sheer number of books he’d written. I'd been trying to write a book and it inspired me. When I found out the first few books were free, I picked them up and gave them a shot. 

The good: 

Gerald is an excellent character. He had a traumatic childhood. His parents died, and then his wife and daughter died. He moved on but found himself exiled from the only life he knew because the king was an asshole. In his new position as a gardener on a county estate, he meets the exiled princess. She needed a father and he was looking for a daughter. 

The story worked well. It was slow but not overly tedious. The POV switched in a few chapters, sometimes in the same scene, between the two main characters, but I didn’t mind. All the writing instructions I've read say this is a major no-no, but if it works, it works. 

The ending ramped up the tension and made me want to check out the next book only because the story wasn’t finished yet. 

The bad: 

The beginning dragged on and was confusing. We had a chapter about the death of his parents when he was a young boy, and then it jumped to him serving in the Baron's army. It then jumped again to him as a husband. Finally, another time-jump to him as a father holding the bodies of his wife and child. After that, the story became a bit less confusing and followed Gerald's fall and subsequent role as a gardener.

The ending left a cliffhanger, and I admit if Bennett hadn't included the second book in the free pack I found, I would have dropped the series. The last time a book series did that to me I felt so disgusted, it soured me on the whole story. Even though I had enjoyed the first book up until then I refused to check out the next one.

Overall:

I enjoyed the slice of life and the relaxing nature of Gerald and Anna's relationship. They both needed each other to heal from their traumas.