The Princess Knight (The Scarred Earth Saga, #2)

by G.A. Aiken

[EBookObsessed]

G.A. Aiken has assembled quite the cast of characters for this adventure.

This is the second book of a fun new series by G.A. Aiken. The second story features my favorite two characters from the first book. The first is Gemma, sister to Keeley, the Blacksmith Queen. Keeley never understood why Gemma would leave her family to become a nun and dedicate herself to a god instead of her family.  But the simple peace nun part was only a disguise.  My favorite parts of the first story is when Gemma would approach some warriors that were trying to attack them and they would laugh at the nun and she'd rip off the nun cloak and underneath was her chainmail and order markings and suddenly warriors were screaming "War Monk" and running away.   Gemma had risen quickly among the monks of her order but shockingly, not every loves the bristly Gemma, not that she cares at all, but there were some who objected to her rising to a leadership role. Her future among the monks was thwarted when her mentor sends her back to her family to protect them from an assassination attempt by her younger sister, Beatrice, who had delusions of grandeur that she was to be queen of all the land, and who is now married to the Old King's son and rules half of the country, while the Blacksmith Queen rules the other half.

The hero of this story is Quinn who is an Amichais (or Centaur) and he is the brother of Caid (Keeley's lover). Quinn is the polar opposite of Gemma. While Gemma is always on guard and no-nonsense, Quinn can't stay serious for five minutes straight. He is simply incorrigible and the more somber a situation, the more he needs to screw with everyone for no one's entertainment but his own.  Quinn is the youngest son of the family and will likely never be a leader to his people.  Hence he has no real responsibilities and as the baby of the group, he never has any worries.

Quinn has made himself part of Gemma's protection. Protection that a well-trained War Monk doesn't need but as Gemma is a princess now to her sister Keeley's throne, she find herself mostly being tossed back behind Quinn as Gemma is usually out front in any battle with sword in hand. Romance-wise, Gemma and Quinn's connection is more laid back. We have seen this dynamic in prior G.A. Aiken/Shelly Laurenston stories, especially her honey badgers, where the hero is very laid back and really just follows around the heroine who is kind of bat-shit crazy in a hold-my-hoops, already ready to fight way.   His job is to guard her back while she's kicking butt and taking names and maybe, sometimes, stop her before she tries to take on someone too big to battle alone.  While there is no grand gesture romance or passionate longing looks, we do have Quinn always ready to stand beside Gemma in every battle she gets into or starts...mostly starts.

In The Princess Knight, someone is attacking and killing the various religious orders in the country. Monasteries, churches, temples, etc. are all being attacked and burned and the leaders inside murdered. Keeley always feels the need to protect everyone, which makes her a perfect Queen.  So regardless of the fact that none of these factions and their various gods get along,  Gemma agrees to locate surviving witches, peace monks, temple virgins, divine assassins and the like and offer them a place a safety with Queen Keeley. Gemma also wants to go take care of the War Monks of her Order, none of whom knew about her assignment to protect her family, and even knowing they believe Gemma abandoned her duties, she goes to offer them safety with Keeley.

And while Gemma is out and about the countryside, she decides its time to visit little sister Beatrice's castle to find out whether or not she is behind the attacks on the religious orders and even if she isn't (and who else could it be) but knowing Beatrice, that evil brat is to be up to something, and Gemma is determined to find out what before Beatrice and  her army sneak up to Keeley's door. Of course, the various religious misfits Gemma and Quinn have collected want to come along.  Well, maybe having a common enemy will keep them from killing each other.

This series is just so fun and it is an interesting twist on the usual G.A. Aiken/Shelly Laurenston stories but like most of her stories, the cast of characters is such an eclectic collection of oddballs that you have to keep watching just to see what they are going to do next. We meet some more crazy characters at the end so I am not sure who will be the focus of the next book.  Whether it will be another little sister since Gemma's parents can't seem to stop procreating, or one of the new characters just tossed it, we will need to wait and see.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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