Review: The Snows of Windroven by Jeffe Kennedy (@mlsimmons, @jeffekennedy)

The Snows of Windroven by Jeffe Kennedy
Series: The Twelve Kingdoms #6.5
Published by Self-Published
Published on: March 12, 2018
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 102
Format: eARC
Source: Author

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A new power is at work in the Twelve Kingdoms, unbalancing the fragile peace. For the High Queen and her sisters, it might mean a new alliance—or the end of the love of a lifetime…
As a howling blizzard batters the mountain keep of Windroven, Ami, Queen of Avonlidgh, and her unofficial consort Ash face their own storm. Their passion saved them from despair, but Ash knows a scarred, jumpy ex-convict isn’t the companion his queen needs. He’s been bracing himself for the end since their liaison began. When it finally comes, the shattering of his heart is almost a relief.
With a man haunted by nightmares and silent as stone, Ami knows only that Ash’s wounds are his own to hide or reveal. She can’t command trust. But just as they are moving apart, a vicious attack confines them together, snowbound and isolated with an ancient force awakening within Windroven itself. If they truly mean to break their bond, Ami and Ash must first burn through a midwinter that will test every instinct—and bring temptation all too near…

Previously published in the anthology Amid the Winter Snow

It is no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Twelve Kingdoms series. I really enjoy this romantic fantasy series. It has great characters and a wonderful plot that’s full of suspense. In this book, we get another look at the youngest of the sisters of the original trilogy, Amelia.

In the original full-length books, we get the original part of her story. She marries Prince Hugh and gets pregnant with twins. Unfortunately he dies in the first book, before Ami even gets her story told. However, she does meet another man. He is a convicted felon and then becomes a priest. His original goal is to guard her, but it becomes more.

Their story isn’t an easy one. Ami is a princess. Ash is a felon. He doesn’t see how he could ever be with a princess. Ami thinks he wants to go back to Annfwn, the place his family is originally from. So, needless to say, there are some communication issues between the two.

My favorite part of this story was getting to spend time with the twins. They are toddlers now (I’m sure the age was mentioned, but I don’t remember). They got their grandmother’s ability to shift into other creatures. The boy turns into a bear cub. The girl into a cougar cub.

“I don’t like going to an inn, either,” I continued. “Though the Thirteen are slowly learning not to hate shapeshifters on sight, the more rural we go, the more likely we are to encounter old prejudices, I’d think.” I posed it as a question, and Graves nodded. “Ayup. There’s knowing your prince and heir to the Avonlidgh throne has shapeshifter blood, and there’s seeing him tearing up the curtains as a black bear cub, breaking everything in sight looking for sweets.”

Stella popped into human shape again—wriggling and naked toddler—throwing her arms around my neck and planting a kiss on my cheek. “Ash,” she proclaimed.
“Yes, sweetheart,” I gave her a one-armed hug. “Go with your mother now.”
She planted one more kiss on me, jumped off the bed, neatly ducking Ami’s grab with shapeshifter speed, and darted out the door, black hair flying and tiny butt twitching. Ami stared after her in dismay. “I’ll be so happy when she learns the Tala trick of shifting back with something to wear. She’s a princess, not a naked hoyden.”
“She’s a baby,” I replied. “She can run around naked for a few more years before she has to worry about her gowns all the time.”

There is also the Feast of Moranu (Moranu is one of the three goddesses that are worshipped in this world). There is a scene where Ash tells how his family celebrated this holiday. I really enjoyed it.

Endings and new beginnings were part of the celebration of the Feast of Moranu. In my youth, we all helped clean our small cottage from top to bottom. The scent of soap and vinegar unexpectedly came back to me, a background for the spiced bread my mother baked and the hot wax of candles my parents lit at sundown. Then we wrote or drew images of what we wanted to leave behind with the old year, things we felt bad about or wrongs done us that we needed to let go of.

This was a fun addition to the Twelve Kingdoms series. I’ve seen several people who’ve read this story without having read the rest of the series. While I saw they enjoyed it (enough to go back and read the series from the beginning), I think people who’ve read the series (at least through book two to learn Ami and Ash’s story, even though this takes place after the sixth book), will enjoy it more. This series is a fun fantasy romance, with amazing characters and plenty of action/suspense.

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