What if I was yours?
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| Available at Amazon.com |
Shield of Sparrows
Devney Perry
Hardcover, Deluxe, 511 pages
First published May 6, 2025
ISBN 9781649378514
The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel. I’ve spent my life kneeling―to their will and to my father's.
As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king. I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.
But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life. Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him―bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not―a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.
But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated?
And what if―for the first time―I reached for it?
It has been years since I picked up a story that was classic fantasy romance. This all but abandoned blog is evidence of that. But, that being said, this was a damn good book and with no news, or whisper of rumor, of when book two of this series will release, I'm going to attempt a bit of a recap. It will contain minor spoilers so click off and away if that's a problem.
Odessa Cross is the eldest daughter of her father, the king of Quentis. But she is not his chosen to take on the fate of the Sparrow, the bride of one kingdom sworn to the prince of another. She is not his chosen spy. Nor his chosen assassin.
That title, each of them, has always been held by her half sister, Mae―a worthy lead female character in her own right.
Until the Guardian chooses Odessa, claiming her to fulfill the Chain of Sevens and also the treaty of the Shield of Sparrows as the prince's wife and future queen of Turah.
::sigh::
I was enthralled by this book. Page after page, I struggled to put it down.
The story is the journey. Odessa travels via sea and land, accompanied by her lady's maids, through a world plagued by monsters. The migration is coming, and with it, the worst of the worst of them will fly. They will hunt and they will savagely kill.
Her protection lies with the Guardian, a prince, and men whose loyalty proves true again and again.
But Odessa wants a sword. She wants to fight. She wants to save herself, and her people. Most of all, she wants to prove to her father that she is worthy.
And, yes, she wants to kill the Guardian.
So who better to give her a blade and train her?
Shit, my face was hot.The Guardian's finger hooked under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Need a moment?"I swatted his hand away and took a step back, raising my fists. "No. Let's get on with it.""Your wish." He mocked a bow, then slapped me in the face.
Oh that Guardian.
"I speak on the prince's behalf," he says. Sure you do. You do that. Hell, I'm game. Let's play.
"Praise is for the bedroom, Cross. Not the training field."
On to the spoilers...
They will never make it to their destination: Allesariah, the capital of Turah. Odessa will prove herself a terrible spy and a worse liar. She will face betrayal. And she
will not yet know why the magic of the Voster makes her skin crawl.
But she will choose her husband. She will take a life. And she will save many. She will befriend a princess. And she will uncover the origin of the cursed Guardian.
Never dull, but much is left unresolved.
"Are you angry, Sparrow? Use that rage. Fucking. Fight."
I hate you.
If he could read my mind, I wanted that at the front. I hate you.
A slow grin streched across his mouth. "There's my queen."
5 out of 5 stars. And I will be preordering the next book immediately when it becomes available.
