Rule by Ellen Goodlett (review)

Zofi, Florencia, and Akeylah have all grown up in different parts of the kingdom of the Reaches, unaware that they're sisters until King Andros summons them to court and reveals that he is their father, he's dying, and he plans to choose one of them—whichever proves most worthy—to be his heir. On the night they're all introduced to the court, each sister receives a message from a blackmailer threatening to reveal a secret about her that would upend the fragile peace in the Reaches. The sisters initially suspect one another, but it soon becomes clear that they need to work together to discover who the blackmailer is and to survive. In third-person narration that rotates among the sisters' points of view, Goodlett weaves an absorbing narrative of political intrigue, friendship, and romance; she handles the sisters' growing trust with particular deftness. By the time they identify their blackmailer, Zofi, Florencia, and Akeylah have emerged as a strong team, but they all keep something back as well. The shifting viewpoints give time for satisfying character development for all three sisters and keep the pace moving while laying intriguing groundwork about the world and magic system that readers will be eager to explore in volumes to come. The romance elements are secondary but satisfying, particularly Akeylah's relationship with the young queen, married to King Andros to seal the peace between her kingdom and his. With their bird's-eye view, readers are likely to see what Zofi, Florencia, and Akeylah don't—that the resolution to the blackmail plot is a little too neat—and the cliffhanger conclusion will leave readers desperate for the next volume. SS