Review: Queen of Cambridge - Shakir Rashaan

Review: Queen of Cambridge - Book #6 Queens of the Castle - Shakir Rashaan - February 2022

There are some books that feel like slipping into a favourite chair at home with a cup of tea beside you , familiar, comfortable, and filled with characters you’re always happy to catch up with. Queen of Cambridge by Shakir Rashaan gave me some of that feeling, particularly because of its connection to The Castle universe.

Caressa is certainly a woman who knows what she wants. As a billionaire chocolatier and one of the biggest names in the confectionery world, she has built an impressive empire, but she isn’t content to sit back and admire what she has already achieved. She’s looking towards new ventures, new opportunities and, as we soon discover, new complications.

Caressa is shrewd, determined and very much a woman who can hold her own. Of course, when business and pleasure become rather too closely intertwined, things start getting messy. Enter Ishmael , an international weapons dealer with connections that could be extremely useful to Caressa’s expansion plans. There’s an immediate attraction between them, but with a former lover now turned enemy lurking in the background, their relationship is anything but straightforward.

I enjoyed the focus on Caressa and her chocolate business. There was something rather delicious about having a billionaire chocolatier at the heart of the story, and I liked seeing her ambition, business instincts and determination play such a major role. She’s a strong character, and watching her deal with the consequences of some of her choices kept me turning the pages.

However, I have to admit that this one left me feeling a little disappointed.

Going into Queen of Cambridge, I was hoping for more of The Castle. Having enjoyed the Kings of the Castle and even some of the Knights of the Castle stories, I was looking forward to seeing more of that world woven into this book. While The Castle is certainly there in the background, it feels more like a familiar landmark on the horizon than a central part of the story.

Instead, the spotlight is firmly on Caressa, her chocolate empire, her business ambitions and her complicated romantic life. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, and readers coming to this story specifically for Caressa may well enjoy that focus. For me, though, I wanted more of those Castle connections and that feeling of being immersed in the wider world.

Overall, Queen of Cambridge was an enjoyable enough read, with a strong female lead, romance, danger and plenty of business intrigue. I just found myself wishing for a little more of the Castle magic that had drawn me to the story in the first place.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gfwToE