Tour Stop: The Essence by Kimberly Derting (Review+Giveaway)

*Banner borrowed from Chapter by Chapter, another awesome book blog!*
The Essence (The Pledge #2) by Kimberly Derting Publication: January 1st, 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry 

At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to Charlie’s psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness.

Charlie is not weak, but she’s being pushed to the brink. In addition to suppressing the ever-present influence of Sabara, she’s busy being queen—and battling a growing resistance determined to return Ludania to its discriminatory caste system. Charlie wants to be the same girl Max loves, who Brook trusts, but she’s Your Majesty now, and she feels torn in two.

As Charlie journeys to an annual summit to meet with leaders of nearby Queendoms—an event where her ability to understand all languages will be the utmost asset—she is faced with the ultimate betrayal. And the only person she can turn to for help is the evil soul residing within.

*A copy was provided for review purposes*
The Essence by Kimberly Derting was just as amazing as her first novel in the series, if not a bit better. We follow along the main character Charlie as she encounters even greater journeys in her life. Charlie is now the highly-regarded queen of Ludania, as she has defeated the evil queen before her, Sabara. Charlie knows that even though she has defeated the evil queen, Sabara still resides in her as she has a strong connection with Charlie through the essence. As day by day goes on, the queen's power becomes stronger and stronger. Charlie not only has to deal with this, but also with the new responsibilities from being the queen. Because Subara did not give proper care to her country, Charlie has an even greater job of making things right in her country once and for all. Now she has to make appearances to her people, and attend summits with queens from different countries to barter for resources and many important and needed supplies for her country. All the while dealing with an assassin on the loose amongst her own who wants to kill her and a steamy romance with Max, a boy who she loves but isn't sure of her feelings for. The Essence packs a punch with a detailed plot and an exciting adventure. 
Charlie was still an amazing main character because she's smart, witty, and funny. The only hard thing to adjust to was the fact that she had an evil queen who keeps trying to influence her actions and feelings, leaving Charlie messed up and not knowing what to do. But this was definitely not a negative aspect though as it made reading the book even more interesting if not nerve-wracking (who knows what an evil queen can make a person do XD). So when Sabara was NOT trying to corrupt Charlie, I highly enjoyed reading from her POV. She's still trying to adjust to her role as the new queen of her kingdom, which is a very difficult job, while dealing with many other problems that just keep on appearing in her life one after another. This is one strong girl though guys, so she's able to make it look like a piece of cake!
The romance in this book was very mild compared to the first book. This actually kind of disappointed me because Derting has such a great way of capturing an intense relationship between two people with her writing. For most of the book, Max was absent, but for when he was there, he was just as lovable as he was in the first one. There WERE a couple of swoony scenes, but there weren't ENOUGH (hehe, I'm greedy). Although, I understand why there was the absence in romance. Charlie's now a queen guys, it's kind of impossible to get off free time when you've just become the new friggin' queen of an entire country, ha ha. I accept it this one time as you've made up for the lack of romance with the on-pour of plot Miss Derting, but I am definitely looking forward to a growth in their romance in the next book.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to those who've read the first one and finished it with high hopes for the next. As for those who haven't read this series at all, The Pledge is the one for you people! The Essence really captivated me with it's heart-pounding suspense and action, sweet and mild romance, and a great flow in the author's writing style! GIVE ME THE NEXT ONE PLEASE! ;)   
My Rating:

My Favorite Quote:

"She may be my queen, but she's also my friend. And I'm warning you: Back off."

*Giveaway*
a Rafflecopter giveaway

*THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!*