Title: A Guiding Light
Author: Susan Copperfield
Series: Royal States #4
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018
Adam and Veronica are a seriously cute and lovely couple. One that I was rooting for from the very beginning of the story. And I really like that although they both have a lot of history, they are working towards one another throughout the entire story. Even if they take forever to actually get back to one another, they have managed to grow and change towards each other. Plus, Adam’s total and utter devotion and love is kind of adorable.
The dangers and grossness of childhood marriage contracts is touched upon a little in Null and Void. And I love that although the two instances in this series have happy endings, the story of Adam and Veronica also highlights the beginning of the end of this practice. There is something seriously gross about children being pushed into marriages. The fact that within this series, they are actual legal and binding contracts between kingdoms… incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.
The difficulties that Adam has with his family are really heartbreaking, and as the story unfolds, you realise that they aren’t all evil. I definitely got the impression towards the end of this story that they actually abandoned him to protect him. But, none of his abandonment issues or their motives are really dealt with in this story. I would’ve loved to explore all of this a whole lot more. Particularly once you find out that they were both victims of marriage contracts. And also just generally bad ass individuals. Ones that I kind of immediately fell in love with…
Like all of Copperfield, Blain and Franklin books, this is one that is filled with a wonderful dose of humour and wit. Yet, as with the rest of the Royal States series, there is a whole tone of comments on society as a whole. Other than the childhood marriage grossness, A Guiding Light focuses on the power of money, banks and the stock market. It felt really poignant to read a story about this at the moment – with the cost of living surpassing our wages and the knowledge that everyone is in a whole lot of trouble moneywise.
As a villain, the king in this is an absolute nutter. I mean, he’s probably been one of the worst bad guys in the whole series – mostly because his evil deeds impact on his wife and children. Particularly his youngest son and eldest daughter – they both have suffered a lot at his hands. I kind of love that he ultimately paid the price for murder and manipulation. Now onto the next amazing novel in this series and the social issues that I’m sure I’ll have to think about upon reading it!
Earth and Skye 
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