Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Publication Date: March 2010

One Word Review: Captivating

Author Website: www.donnahatch.com

GoodReads Synopsis: 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 telpathic 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.

Kathy’s Review: Donna Hatch is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. I’ve read all her regencies and was excited to see what her fantasy world would be like. I wasn’t disappointed, it was clear that Hatch put a lot of thought into creating her world of Arden and the surrounding countries, as well as all the new and interesting creatures that roamed the land. Princess Jeniah was very believable and consistent. While her character did grow throughout the story, I still felt like she stayed true to herself, she was just given more opportunities to show her character throughout her trials. I liked that she was smart and could take care of herself, and was also still vulnerable and wasn’t afraid to get help. I am definitely a fan of Kai (Team Kai), he was a great hero and I loved watching him fall in love with Jeniah, they had great chemistry together. I really enjoyed their story. I’m pretty sure this is a stand-alone novel, which I liked. It was nice entering their world and having some satisfactory conclusions at the end. However, it also would have been nice if it had been a trilogy and some things dragged out a little more, either way it’s a great read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good romantic fantasy.

Content Warning: There is a lot of war, battle scenes and some violence. Otherwise, it’s pretty clean.

Bookworm Rating: 4.5