Twisted Games by Ana Huang - Book Review

Twisted games by Ana Huang, is the second book in the twisted series, is a romantic novel between a crown princess and her bodyguard. It is packed with mystery and suspense. I am impressed with the plot and the background story just as the first book. I enjoyed reading the first and the last parts but felt too bored towards halfway because I felt Rhys was overly obsessed with Bridget and the story was predictable and lengthy at times which can be skipped. 

In Twisted love, we were introduced to the group of four friends - Ava, Bridget, Stella and Jules. The first book "Twisted Love" was about Ava and her brother's best friend Alex. "Twisted Games" is focused on Bridget's love story. In the first book, we ended up where Bridget - Princess of Eldorra, her bodyguard is going back to Eldorra as his wife is pregnant. And Bridget is getting a new bodyguard - Rhys Larsen. 

Twisted games starts with Rhys starting as Bridget's new bodyguard. Rhys is a serious and cold , ex-military man. At first, Bridget and Rhys don't really get along because Rhys is too strict towards his clients with a bit of harsh and arrogance. But then slowly something more starts to build between them which turns into a strong friendship, and then it turns into something more deeper. 

Rhys doesn't let Bridget to visit the musical festival with her girls because he wasn't sure about the security arrangement of it so he built an indoor “festival” for her in her house. He put up a tent, arranged for snacks, and played the festival live on the TV. And he lied to Bridget that this was her friend's idea to put it all together but it was his efforts.

And then comes the day when Bridget's brother Nikolai decides to abdicate his title to the throne to marry a commoner and now Bridget who is never prepared to be a queen, unfortunately she has to be the next queen of Eldorra. But tension arises between Rhys and Bridget because navigating her new role, she must hide her desire for a man she can't have anymore - her bodyguard, her protector, her first love. 

While Bridget was having her lessons on becoming a queen, the news about both holding hands and they being in love got published on the news. Rhys was fired and Bridget's grandfather was in the hospital due to the shocking news. A few days later, Andreas (Bridget's cousin) came to meet Rhys and revealed the darkest secret of his father. And Bridget was forced to marry someone else in the Royal Family as per the royal marriage law. 

Climax is unpredictable. I was just surprised they could go so far. What I loved most was who Rhys’ father turned out and what he discovered about him and also the mystery behind who leaked their pics. I absolutely loved Bridget and Rhys for confronting the Speaker. As Rhys and Bridget work through the issues that they face, they come to realize that their love is stronger than any law.

But some things can't be denied. When Bridget's life turns upside-down, Rhys is the one who is by her side through everything. As much as I loved Bridget, I didn't like when she crawled to Rhys on his commands. Rhys too was overly possessive, some scenes were uncomfortable but I think the whole series is the same so I didn't let it affect me rather I focused on the plot and enjoyed reading it. 

I also missed her girl best friends and their bond with each other which was missing in this one. Overall, the story development was great with the dark secrets of the characters which made me pleasantly surprised by how the story played out. 

Favourite quotes from the book:

"There's more to life than trying not to die."

"Maybe I'm tired of living life the way I should and want to live life the way I could."

"What's past is past. Can't do a damn thing about it now."

"It was true what people said about not knowing what you had until it was gone."

"Her pain seeping through my skin until it became my own."

"People in love are the most insufferable on the planet."

"No one expects you to be perfect, even if it may seem that way."

"If I wanted something, I had to fight for it, even if meant the possibility of crashing and burning in front of the entire world."

"And sometimes, we have to make impossible decisions."