It is no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Twelve Kingdoms series. I really enjoy this romantic fantasy series. It has great characters and a wonderful plot that’s full of suspense. In this book, we get another look at the youngest of the sisters of the original trilogy, Amelia.
In the original full-length books, we get the original part of her story. She marries Prince Hugh and gets pregnant with twins. Unfortunately he dies in the first book, before Ami even gets her story told. However, she does meet another man. He is a convicted felon and then becomes a priest. His original goal is to guard her, but it becomes more.
Their story isn’t an easy one. Ami is a princess. Ash is a felon. He doesn’t see how he could ever be with a princess. Ami thinks he wants to go back to Annfwn, the place his family is originally from. So, needless to say, there are some communication issues between the two.
My favorite part of this story was getting to spend time with the twins. They are toddlers now (I’m sure the age was mentioned, but I don’t remember). They got their grandmother’s ability to shift into other creatures. The boy turns into a bear cub. The girl into a cougar cub.
“I don’t like going to an inn, either,” I continued. “Though the Thirteen are slowly learning not to hate shapeshifters on sight, the more rural we go, the more likely we are to encounter old prejudices, I’d think.” I posed it as a question, and Graves nodded. “Ayup. There’s knowing your prince and heir to the Avonlidgh throne has shapeshifter blood, and there’s seeing him tearing up the curtains as a black bear cub, breaking everything in sight looking for sweets.”
Stella popped into human shape again—wriggling and naked toddler—throwing her arms around my neck and planting a kiss on my cheek. “Ash,” she proclaimed.
“Yes, sweetheart,” I gave her a one-armed hug. “Go with your mother now.”
She planted one more kiss on me, jumped off the bed, neatly ducking Ami’s grab with shapeshifter speed, and darted out the door, black hair flying and tiny butt twitching. Ami stared after her in dismay. “I’ll be so happy when she learns the Tala trick of shifting back with something to wear. She’s a princess, not a naked hoyden.”
“She’s a baby,” I replied. “She can run around naked for a few more years before she has to worry about her gowns all the time.”
There is also the Feast of Moranu (Moranu is one of the three goddesses that are worshipped in this world). There is a scene where Ash tells how his family celebrated this holiday. I really enjoyed it.
Endings and new beginnings were part of the celebration of the Feast of Moranu. In my youth, we all helped clean our small cottage from top to bottom. The scent of soap and vinegar unexpectedly came back to me, a background for the spiced bread my mother baked and the hot wax of candles my parents lit at sundown. Then we wrote or drew images of what we wanted to leave behind with the old year, things we felt bad about or wrongs done us that we needed to let go of.
This was a fun addition to the Twelve Kingdoms series. I’ve seen several people who’ve read this story without having read the rest of the series. While I saw they enjoyed it (enough to go back and read the series from the beginning), I think people who’ve read the series (at least through book two to learn Ami and Ash’s story, even though this takes place after the sixth book), will enjoy it more. This series is a fun fantasy romance, with amazing characters and plenty of action/suspense.
**Book was provided to me by the author. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the author.