Mundie Moms

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Book Review- Queen In Exile


By Donna Hatch
Published by Walnut Springs Press
Released on March 23rd, 2010
Received by Walnut Spring Press
5 Stars- A Fantastic Read

Rumors of war hang over Princess Jeniah’s peaceful country of Arden, a land that shuns both magic and warfare. Following a lifelong dream, Jeniah forms a telepathic bond with a revered creature called a chayim, who is prophesied to save her kingdom. But when a Darborian knight comes upon Jeniah with her chayim, he sees only a vicious monster about to devour a maiden, and he slays the beast.

Devastated by the loss of her chayim, and fearing that her own magic is evil, Jeniah doubts her destiny. When an enemy invades Arden City, they slaughter the people, storm the castle, and execute the entire royal family except the princess. Rescued by the knight who slew her chayim, Jeniah is now heir to the throne of Arden and the only hope for freeing her people from tyranny.

On the run and hunted by enemy soldiers, Jeniah must place her life and the fate of her kingdom in the hands of this trained killer. Torn between embracing her destiny as queen of Arden, and her love for a mere knight, she must ultimately rely on her magic to save herself and her people from death and tyranny.

There are few books that completely sweep me away into their worlds, and leave me thinking about them days after I've read them. In some cases I have to fight the urge to not pick it back up and read it immediately after I've finished it. Donna Hatch's Queen In Exile did just that, as it held me captive the moment I opened the book and entered it's beautiful world.

Queen In Exile has everything I love in a good fantasy book, lore, action, romance, forbidden love, a strong heroine who emulates everything I love in a main character, along with a dash of humor, wit and suspense. Donna weaved together the perfect blend of romance, forbidden love, and the right amount of action, that I couldn't put the book down and happily lost sleep over reading it.

Not only is the setting beautiful and vivid, but the characters are lively. Jeniah is the beautiful Princess of Arden. She has a hidden magic ability to "blur", which allows her to stay in her form and blend in or look different to those looking at her. Gifted with a very rare bond with a mythical creature called a chayim, who will be a source of guidance and strength for her, Jeniah is destined for great things. I really love her character. She has quickly become a favorite heroine of mine and she's a character I came to admire for her strength and wit as she struggles and grows into a leader of her people.

Highly favored by his King and known for his strength, Kai Darkwood was sent to Jeniah's kingdom to help them in time of war. Upon arriving, this Knight in shining armer sees what he thought was Jeniah in distress, he kills the chayim not knowing it's rare ability. Now forced into exile as war hits her kingdom and consumes everything she's ever had, including her family, Jeniah now finds her life is in the hands of the dashing Knight Kai Darkwood. Jeniah discovers Kai isn't a ruthless killer, as she envisions all Knights to be and Kai, who's loyal and faithful to the customs of his land, finds the ability to love again, even though he knows a heir to the throne and a commoner can't marry. What I really love about Kai and Jeniah's relationship is how it developed. I felt it was real and not a forced or rushed one. They both learn to trust and rely on each other, and the end result is a breath taking love story that left me with a happy sigh at the end of their story.

I really liked the cast of characters that make up Kai and Jeniah's guards and friends. Kai's oldest friend Garhern brings the right amount of snark to the story. I really liked the scenes with Garhern, Jeniah and Kia, as I felt that I was being let in on the secrets both Kia and Garhern have closely guarded for years. These two know how to dish it out to each other, and I couldn't help with laugh out loud with their scenes. The action, the characters, the twists and a possible secondary love interest made Queen In Exile come alive for me. If you're looking to get swept away in a unforgettable love story, full of adventure, suspense and sprinkled with a few hot boys with swords, I highly recommend picking up this book!

8 comments:

  1. I do love to get caught up in a fictional world, and this one sounds like it's just the book to help me do that! You had to fight the urge to not read it again immediately? That's a sign of a fantastic read right there! Characters always make the book for me, and it seems like these characters are full of depth and well developed, I can't wait to read this one now! And that cover is stunning.

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  2. Jenny- I am in love with this book! It's a full package deal for me and I loved everything about it. I know that sounds so cliche. The characters are great. Yes, I really wanted to re-read it immediately after I finished it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I can't wait to hear what you think about it.

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  3. I am going to have to check it out.. it's added to my 'Wish List' :) Thanks for sharing!

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  4. It's YA, but can also be adult. It's all CLEAN romance, nothing bad at all in it. I would even recommend it to young teens.

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  5. I love the title and that is a beautiful cover! Thanks for the great review. I'll check it out!

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  6. I just had to stop by when my publisher's publicity manager told me about your glowing review of my book.

    Wow! Thank you, Mundie Moms!!!

    To answer girlsinthestakcks.com's question, though Jeniah is 18, the book is not technically YA because Kai is in his 20's. It's clean enough for YA (no sex, no bad language) yet sensual enough for adult.

    Thank you again, MM, for the dazzling review!

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  7. Heather- I think you'd love it.

    Donna- You are so welcome! Thank you for the comments. I absolutely loved reading it and it's one I'll be re-reading.

    G.I.T.S.- It's one you'd love!!

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