Review: The Veiled Threat by Sophia Menesini
Sophia Menesini
(The Veiled Duchess #1)
Publication date: June 30th 2019
Genres: Fantasy, LGBTQ+, New Adult, Romance
Captain Shea Lara is the current leader of The Veiled Duchess. The most feared pirate ship in all of Neried. And now, after completing her former mentor’s final score, she’s retiring. Everything seems to be coming to an end… Until a mysterious stranger drags her back into the fold with an offer for a score she can’t refuse. All she has to do is kidnap the crowned princess of the northern Queendom, Princess Joana of Arethusa. The prize is just within reach. But sparks fly as the two women collide. And an obscured threat that could upturn Shea’s entire world storms on the horizon. She’ll face it alone unless she can allow herself the support she needs from old and new allies alike. Something’s coming and Shea is at the center of it.
Sophia Menesini lives in Martinez, CA with her husband, and their two small Chihuahuas, Ziggy and Zeppelin. The Veiled Threat is her first novel and the first book in The Veiled Duchess Series. Sophia is an avid tea connoisseur and lover of Scotland with an unconventional memory for obscure Disney and Broadway song lyrics.
You can find my blog, updates, and other entertainment at my website: www.sophiamenesini.com
The Veiled Threat was like a journey on the sea - I got an exciting start, a storm of emotions about the story, anger at the way characters acted, and in the end, the sea calmed down when the book ended with me feeling satisfied that I had reached my destination.
When I read the synopsis, I was hooked. Shea Lara, an elvish woman, is the feared captain of a pirate ship. The story begins with her having captured the Pearl of Lycos, the very treasure her adoptive father asked her to get when he died, before she finally retires. But after a life of adventure and piracy, the impulsive woman can't go to living a normal life, can she? So, understandably, she gets dragged in a plot she doesn't understand and accepts to kidnap the crown princess of Arethusa.
This mission felt to me, as a reader, too easy to accomplish, everything goes very smoothly and fast. In fact, a lot of the story feels as if every obstacle is very easily conquered, and even when the characters were in grave peril, I didn't fear for them knowing in a few pages they get out of the situation somehow - someone is always in the right place at the right time to save them.
What I loved was the history of the land and the secondary characters. I felt very emotionally involved with the status of elves within the story, how they are considered a lower race by humans despite being the first beings created by Gods and the fact they are gifted with magic. I rooted for Shea when she did what best she could to save her people, risking it all on a dangerous and foolish mission for the chance to help them somehow. I was sad to read that elves no longer recognize as their own those poor elves who get their ears cut by those who enslave them.
I yearned to read more about V and the Gods and Goddesses, which I think the next book will do. I think the secondary characters all had interesting back stories and enjoyed reading more and more about them.
However, I particularly felt annoyed with how the love story develops. Princess Joanna of Arethusa falls in love at first sight with the elvish pirate and vice versa and this makes them act foolish most of the times. Joanna has multiple occasions where she can escape or lie to get away and she doesn't. Shea can't make her mind as to what to do with her - fulfill the mission or try to escape with her crush. The two become the center of each other's universe so fast that I find it hard to digest. Shea even goes so far as to put Joanna before her crew who she claims to be her family.
Another problem I had with the book is that it lacked proper editing. It was filled with mistakes, some I found very annoying like the incorrect use of the apostrophe in ''let's" or the incorrect spelling of ''your'' and ''you're". I had to re-read a few phrases because words or letters were missing and this should be fixed as soon as possible in a new edition because it takes away from the story.
I recommend this book to lovers of sea adventures and elves as long as you can look past the spelling errors. It is not suitable for children as it contains some graphic description of sexual actions and violence.
