Review to come! 
 Update 8/15/17: 
 See more reviews on my blog Novels and Necklaces 
 The Great Pursuit was a phenomenal conclusion to the Eurona Duology and I am incredibly sad to see the store end! Wendy Higgins has given us another epic story with even stronger characters and plot than the first in the series. There was a heightened sense of suspense, deceit, and love throughout the entire book, and I never could tell what was about to happen. The resounding theme is that none of the characters know who they can truly trust, and with all of the events that occur in this story, trust was crucial. 
 Aerity was such a tremendous character in this second book. I fell in love with her character easily in the first book, but she steps up her game entirely in this novel. Aerity becomes the epitome of what a good leader should be. She is strong, fierce, and makes the tough decisions (with some selfish decision thrown in there as well). Aerity faces many challenges and hardships during this book, and it was interesting to see not only how she handled them, but how she overcame them. I also was kept on the edge of my seat because I was desperately trying to figure out how she and Paxton would ultimately be together. I was praying that Wendy Higgins wouldn't break my heart and that these two would be together in the end. Their love is gorgeously written and so beautiful. I love them together as they balance each other out nicely. It was amazing how much they were willing to sacrifice for each other and the kingdom, and every scene they had together was amazing. 
 Another thing that I loved about this story was the fact that every character had a role to play. The minor characters weren't just pushed to the side or have very few lines...no, they actually had major roles in the underlying plot and had strong voices. I loved their storylines, and found new people to ship (and let's just say my shipping game was strong in this book). I would love to see either novellas or future books about these couples just to be able to see that they got their happy ending and go back into this world. 
 However, the one aspect of this story that is a rarity in books today was the strong focus on friendships--both female-female and female-male. This is something huge for me because while I love the whole trope of best friends falling for each other, I do like a break in that sometimes and have two best friends remain just that...friends. This is something that Wendy Higgins showcases extremely well in this book. Aerity's friendship with Harrison is utterly fantastic and they go to great lengths for each other to support and aid the other person. Additionally, Aerity's friendship with Lief was interesting. There was plenty of frustration there, but their friendship evolved and developed very well over the course of the story, and it was nice to see where they were at by the end. 
 Do not miss out on reading this conclusion to the Eurona Duology!! I truly hope there will be more books in the future about other characters, but for now, I am very happy with how this book ended. I adored the entire epilogue, and felt everything was wrapped up nicely. If you are a fan of Wendy Higgins and the first book, definitely check this one out!! 
 Happy reading :)