In spring/summer of 2025, Julie Johnson’s The Wind Weaver was somehow unavoidable. It was one of the romantasy releases of the season, but it’s still on my TBR. But did you know this author already released loads of other books, mainly within the contemporary romance genre? Amongst these books however, is another romantasy series, even though it wasn’t classified as such at the time. This series is the “Forbidden Royals” series, consisting of three books. I read the first one, Dirty Halo back in 2021, but never gotten around to the sequels. Until I finally picked up Torrid Throne on a whim. Did I enjoy this book after such a long break? Please beware of spoilers for Dirty Halo ahead.
About the book
Title: Torrid Throne
Author: Julie Johnson
Series: The Forbidden Royals #2
Pub date: March 21, 2019
Publisher: Independently published
Page count: 268
ISBN: 9781733663311
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Romantasy
Rating: 4/5
“The Princess Diaries meets Game of Thrones in this epic, engrossing royal romance…” Two months ago, Emilia Lancaster was a regular girl with a regular life. Now, through a cruel twist of fate, she finds herself living in a castle with a crown on her head, the sole heir to the Germanian throne. Between the charity balls, press events, and royal obligations, Emilia’s days are suddenly full of unfamiliar responsibilities. And with a series of new suitors vying for her attention — not to mention Carter Thorne, the one man she can never have, sleeping one suite away — her nights aren’t much simpler to navigate. One thing is certain: Emilia’s heart is in undeniable danger. But as enemies of the crown circle ever-closer… her life may be in jeopardy as well…
My review
Before reading
When I first heard about the “Forbidden Royals” series, I immediately knew that I wanted to read it. These books were right up my alley, because although romantic fantasy wasn’t called romantasy back then and wasn’t a real subgenre, I devoured this type of book. After reading Dirty Halo, I was determined to continue reading the rest of the series soon, as it was indeed right up my alley. I still remember that I flew through that book, although I never wrote a review for it. Now, I was looking for a book that was book fast-paced and an easy read that didn’t require too much thinking, and since I’ve been doing a lot of decluttering lately anyway, this was the perfect moment to finally pick up this book. I did expect that I would have some trouble getting back into the story after a 4.5 year-long break, but also that it would be an easy read again.
Characters
Although her life is anything but ordinary, protagonist Emilia feels lifelike. One day, she was simply whisked away from her perfectly ordinary student life to become Princess of Constantia. Emilia had no idea, she didn’t even know she was of royal blood. She visibly struggles to fulfill this role, as she is not made for it. She misses her old life, and the responsibilities that the royal title entails are immense. Besides those weighing heavily on her shoulders, the events of the final chapter of the previous book constantly haunt her. How can she ever come to terms with all of this? However, the danger has not yet passed, as a small group of rebels wants to eliminate Emilia’s family and thus put an end to the monarchy. All of this leaves Emilia unsure of how to act. On the one hand, she feels lonely, but at the same time, she shuts herself off from everything and everyone around her. She is a young adult dealing with issues typical of her age, such as love, yet who is simultaneously under a magnifying glass. Johnson has managed to portray these struggles well, making them palpable throughout the book. The same cannot be said for the supporting characters though, whose roles only become clearer towards the end. One of them is rebellious, the other a goody-two-shoes. This may be a facade and the sequel in this series will have to reveal that.
Writing
The writing style is similar to that of the previous book in this series. The chapters are reasonably short and the language is accessible. The author uses a first-person narrative, which I always consider a plus. Thanks to all these elements, the book is an easy read. The fact that the book is not too thick also plays a role in this.
Plot
When looking at the plot, several things stand out immediately. It picks up quite soon after the final events of the previous book which took me a small window of time to remember. Nevertheless, the author manages to draw me back in fairly quickly, as a lot came back to me while reading. No summary of previous events is provided beforehand as that was not yet common practice at the time of publication. A good memory is therefore certainly not a luxury. The way this plot progresses is not particularly original. In fact, some elements are quite predictable. You know that things could go wrong and that regained trust is shaky. This is necessary to ensure the series can continue. Although predictability can really annoy me, I found it difficult to stop reading, because all these elements simply make the book nice and easy for reading in between other things. You don’t have to get to know an extensive world, and the plot requires little thought. While this is nice, a bit more world building would be pleasant. It is currently difficult to visualize Constantia, it is a country like any other, without being special in any way. I am curious if anything has been done with this in the final instalment of this series.
Final thoughts
Even though it took me four and a half years to pick up Julie Johnson’s Torrid Throne, it is just as enjoyable as its predecessor. The fact that the story picks up fairly soon after the final events of the earlier book helps enormously with this, so you are immediately fully immersed again. While reading, everything comes back pretty fast, but a good memory never hurts. Protagonist Emilia feels lifelike because the struggles of an ordinary young adult in a world completely alien to her are well portrayed. The only point of criticism is the lack of world building, but who knows, perhaps something will be done about that in Diamond Empire, the final installment of this series. In any case, I am going to make sure it doesn’t take another four and a half years before I pick that up.