Queen Bee

I downloaded this book for my kindle fire to read while vacationing, and it is FABULOUS! If you love Bridgerton, I highly recommend this! Ela/Lyra is such a fierce character and it was interesting to watch her revenge plan unfold and learn the origins of why she wanted Poppy to pay. I found myself laughing at some of the scenes out loud, which I rarely do with books, and the banter between her and the duke's son was witty and entertaining. Buy this book!

3.5 starsA cute spin on Bridgerton ~ it definitely reminded me a bit of Daphne or Anthony's stories but with a twist of revenge.I enjoyed this one, the life lessons really added to my rating. It was a bit slow to start out, but once it got going, I was pulled in more.Who doesn't prefer vengeance to forgiveness these days?To watch Lady Ela realize that friendship and love outweighed her need for revenge was eye opening. Lord Ridley was really caught in a tough spot, but yes, he should have stood up for his friend, but who doesn't want to do right by their parents. Church was such a welcoming presence in Lady Ela's life, she truly needed to be shown the love that everyone deserves.

Book is well written. If you like Bridgerton it's in the same genre.

Love this book . Great read. And even better underlying message. They should write a second book continuing their story .

This was a nice sweet romance. It was a bit short in length but the story flowed well and the characters were well developed.

📖 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝🎧 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐢 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥"𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥."I absolutely love Amalie Howard’s story telling. Her historical romance books are my favorite. This was the first young adult/zero spice story I’ve read by her and I loved it! There are a ton of chess references. If you loved Check & Mate or The Queen’s Gambit you will love this story! ♟️While there is a romance plot line in this book, I don’t feel like it’s the main story. To me, the main story circles around revenge. I really enjoyed Ela/Lyra’s plots and schemes at revenge. The story jumps back and forth between her childhood leading up to the ruination of her reputation, and her present as a woman in high society living under a new name.The MMC, Keston, was charming and sweet. Although he messed up as a child, I could understand how it happened. He had quite of few lines that had me SWOONING.I freaking loved Ela/Lyra. Her past hardened her, but underneath that is a unique and strong willed woman who goes against society’s standards!The main villain of this story, Poppy, was absolute despicable! (She was a perfectly written villain.)Overall, I enjoyed this story, and Ela’s path to healing. I wished there was more justice in regard to what Poppy did, but that’s just me being petty. 😅If you love historical romances that have a “mean girls” sub plot, go read 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐞 today! I highly recommend the audiobook! It was excellent!“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴.. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘈 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥.“Tropes:💋 Revenge🫶🏼 Historical Romance♟️ Chess Coded💕 Dual Timeline🎀 Young Adult

I’m obsessed with this YA historical romance. Lyra (El) is an amazing leading character balancing revenge with her own morals and life goals as she comes back into the ton with the plan of revenge on her childhood friends who lied and got her sent away.Poppy was annoying and I’m so glad none of it worked out for her. Zia is easily my favorite character and I’d love to read her book in the future! Lyra and Kes’s story blows it away though, they have chemistry and tension that only a historical romance can provide and I loved it!Finally, I loved the research the author did for this book and explaining it all in the Author’s Note. It’s always wonderful to see history in a new, correct light!