Author Jeffe Kennedy
Format e-ARC
Print Length 400 pages
Publisher Kensington Publishing Corporation
Published Dec. 27, 2016
A HAWKS PLEDGE
"The Twelve Kingdoms rest uneasy under their new High Queen, reeling from civil war and unchecked magics. Few remember that other powers once tested their borders until a troop of foreign warriors emerges with a challenge . . ."
Jepp has been the heart of the queen s elite guard, her Hawks, since long before war split her homeland. But the ease and grace that come to her naturally in fighting leathers disappears when battles turn to politics. When a scouting party arrives from far-away Dasnaria, bearing veiled threats and subtle bluffs, Jepp is happy to let her queen puzzle them out while she samples the pleasures of their prince’s bed.
But the cultural norms allow that a Dasnarian woman may be wife or bed-slave, never her own leader and Jepp s light use of Prince Kral has sparked a diplomatic crisis. Banished from court, she soon becomes the only envoy to Kral’s strange and dangerous country, with little to rely on but her wits, her knives and the smolder of anger and attraction that burns between her and him . .
My Opinion
The Edge of the Blade is the second book in the spin-off series Uncharted Realms. Jepp’s character was introduced to the reader in The Twelve Kingdom series- as the best scout in Princess then Queen Ursula’s guard- the Hawks. Jepp originally went on a diplomatic trip as the body guard of Dafne, now she is the queen’s ambassador to Dasnaria. A job she is ill fitted for as she does not have a diplomatic bone in her body.
Jepp is a fish out of water in Kral’s world. There woman or docile, cherished and protected put on display but rarely consulted. Jepp is a strong independent woman who does not know the word shy much less the phrase “you catch more bees with sugar than with vinegar.” She rubs Kral the wrong way right from the beginning. Yet there is an undeniable attraction- the same attraction that got her in this miss.
Dasnaria is not as progressive as the Twelve Kingdoms and it will take all of Jepp’s skills a spy as well as Kral’s interference to keep her alive. The cultural differences between the two kingdoms is interesting- Jepp’s stance that the Dasnaria were in the wrong was a bit on the annoying side only in that it is how people really act in situations that are foreign to them. Her backbone, confidence and in general I got this attitude has you cheering for her and hoping that she is right. She is very comfortable and outgoing when it comes to her needs as a woman, something that others may be uncomfortable with.
I adored Jepp- I loved Kral. He was so alpha male that it was pretty hot to see him go all protective mode over Jepp. There is an aspect of his life that I disagree with and wish that it wasn’t so but it is handled with perceptive. Jepp deals beautifully with the situation.
The Edge of the Blade is a fantastic fantasy novel with a lot of romance. I would suggest reading the first series before starting this one but you don’t have to. I just liked having the back story.
My Rating 5 out of 5 stars
Favorite Quote “You are the one I crave, that I see in dreams and wake longing to touch.”
Other People
Zynda- shifter, magical
Trond- ship’s doctor
Helva- Kral’s sister
Inga- Kral’s sister
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