Last month I posted a review of The Decoy Princess, where I expressed a suspicion that I was reading the beginning of a series. Imagine my complete lack of surprise when, just two weeks later, I discovered book 2 on the shelves of my local FSF bookshop.
Princess at Sea opens with Tess on board the Sandpiper, the royal ship. She, along with the rouguish card sharp Duncan, and rival player Captain Jeck of the Misdev army, is escorting Queen Contessa and her new husband Prince Alex on their honeymoon. The palace hopes Tess will be able to smooth some of Contessa's rough edges before she spends any time with her husband's family in the neighbouring kingdom of Misdev.
When Contessa tosses Alex's heirloom sword overboard in a fit of pique, it looks as though the alliance will be short-lived. And war looks likely when Alex throws Contessa into the sea after it - she can't swim. All that seems less important when Sandpiper is boarded by pirates, who kidnap Tess, Contessa, Alex and Jeck. The pirates seem much less concerned with ransom than with tormenting their prisoners, and it falls to Tess to save the day.
In the rest of the novel we learn whether Tess can save her sister and brother-in-law, choose love or duty, survive an ordeal never before survived, save the kingdom, prevent a war, rescue a ransom, detect a traitor, maintain her position as a player, prevent her rival winning a round of the game, avoid overdosing on magical poison, switch allegiances, deceive the enemy, and control the wind.
Cook creates a realistic, three dimensional alternative universe, with fully fleshed characters. In particular she manages to resolve both love triangles (Tess/Duncan/Jeck and Contessa/Alex/Thadd) in a satisfyingly anguished way - in novels this is often neat and tidy, but here it is as distressing and full of conflict as real life. I can see another installment on the horizon, and I sense I'll be buying that too! - Alex
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