“Love and companionship were not in her destiny. She’d seen her fate, and her life path ended always at the same place…”
The Sorceress Queen and the Pirate Rogue is the electrifying second novel in Jeffe Kennedy’s Heirs of Magic series.
Stella has always been one to count her blessings. Empath, sorceress, shapeshifter, and healer, she’s grateful for the gifts the goddess of shadows has bestowed upon her even if they’ve left her sensitive to emotions, or stand physical contact with anyone but her twin brother. But now that her brother has found his true love, Stella feels more alone than ever before.
But nothing haunts her like the vision of the lonely tower where her life path ends.
Jakral Konyngrr is a man of simple taste: good whiskey, some coin in his pocket, and a fine blade in his hand. Though he’s no prince, not a shapeshifter, and not blessed with any magic, he’s happy in his skin. And yet he seems doomed to live the life of a hero from a tragic ballad because the only woman he’s ever wanted barely knows he’s alive.
As much as Jak longs for Stella, he’s resigned himself to being in the background forever – but at least he can guard her back.
But now Jak and Stella have been thrown together – along with a mismatched group of shifters, warriors and sorceress friends – attempting to avert magic rifts that release monsters into their world. The strange Intelligence behind the bizarre and deadly attacks seems to have developed a fascination for Stella.
“Jak…” She sounded so sad, turning away to look out over the glassy lake. “You’re such a good person. A fearless fighter. A loyal friend, handsome, fun. You make everyone laugh.”
Each word flayed him open more surely than Rhy’s wolf teeth had.
“Please don’t say any more,” he whispered soundlessly, mostly a prayer to his merciless goddess, but Stella’s keen shapeshifter ears heard him anyway.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, pity in her gaze.
“I mean it, Jak. You really are the finest of men.”
I have been a massive fan of Jeffe Kennedy’s work for a long time and her Twelve Kingdom Universe books are some of my absolute favourite books of all time. I was so excited when I found out she was writing another series set in this vibrant and enthralling world. I absolutely adored The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince, the first book in the Heirs of Magic Series, and think The Sorceress Queen and the Pirate Rogue was a fantastic addition.
I loved getting to see more about this charismatic group of friends, and I really enjoyed getting to see them from a different point of view and all the new insights that came with that. The book is split between Stella & Jak’s POV and I liked seeing the different ways the characters interacted with one another, along with the dynamic between the individual members of the group from their perspective and be able to compare that to how they were portrayed when we saw them from Astar and Zephyr’s perspectives in the first book. It also meant we got to explore more of the characters personalities & get to know them even better.
This created an engaging and insightful depth to not just individual character’s development, but the overarching plot and dynamic between the characters.
I laughed quite a lot throughout this book. I loved the chemistry and witty repartee & ribbing between the characters and that, along with their camaraderie, meant there was never a dull moment.
“I wasn’t behaving badly,” he complained.
“You’re being an ass,” Gen hissed at him under her breath, as if there were any way in the world Stella wouldn’t hear that.
…
“It might be. And I do know what I’m doing,” she said to Jak. “So stop acting like a mother hen.”
“Am I an ass or am I a hen?” he asked philosophically.
“It’s entirely possible to be both,” Gen shot at him…
This light-hearted humour is well balanced with the more serious & suspenseful action scenes, along with romance between Jak and Stella.
I am a reader who tends to prefer books that skew slightly towards being more character-oriented and I did find that The Sorceress Queen and the Pirate Rogue seemed to be more plot oriented than the first book in the series. I feel like The Golden Gryphon and The Bear Prince focused a bit more on Astar & Zephyr’s relationship and while there were still great moments between Jak and Stella during this book, I would have liked some more.
I did find that the plot was incredibly engaging and had me hooked right till the end, and while the shift between character/plot orientation between the two books wasn’t a big one, it was one that made sense considering the book is only about 280 pages on kindle – which is around the same as The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince – but the stakes are higher and the threat is escalating. I think if there had been more Jak and Stella moments, with a book this length it probably would have meant having to sacrifice important aspects of the plot or pacing.
I loved getting to see Jak and Stella’s relationship develop, it was so well written and very well paced for the length of the novel. I found the balance between the heart-warming emotional intimacy they shared & the steamier and more sexual moments was perfectly done.
“If I could touch you, my star, I would tease you past endurance,” he said, his voice as caressing as if he’d touched her indeed.
“I’d start seducing you with occasional touches. Nothing too intimate. All publicly polite. My hand on the small of your back. A brush of my fingers against yours as I handed you something. And you’d wonder if they were accidents, but they wouldn’t be. I’d go slow, so I wouldn’t frighten you. Just little caresses, until you began to look forward to the next one, began to yearn for the feel of my hand against yours…”
I also loved how much focus was put on consent, which was something that stood out to me during The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince as well. The consistent & continuous seeking of consent is something that doesn’t seem to come up in a lot of books very often. I’ve found that more often than not there will generally be a single conversation about consent and that’s it. It’s really refreshing to read books that have such a consistent focus on consent, not just throughout the entire novel but during intimate or sexual scenes as well.
“It means that telling Stella of my strong feelings might create a sense of responsibility on her part,” he explained. “Especially for Stella, who feels everyone else’s pain so keenly. If she decides to be with me, it will be on her terms, because that’s what she wants, not because she feels the burden of making me happy.”
The third book, The Dragons Daughter and the Winter Mage (releasing September 2021) looks to be Gendra’s book and I can’t wait to read it. I really like Gen and I’m excited to read her point of view, as well as the fact that it looks like her love interest will be someone we haven’t met yet. I’m really looking forward to getting to see the point of view of someone who isn’t familiar with – or grown up with – any of them, and see how the group interacts with them.
I’m particularly interested in seeing how they’ll all react considering Gen’s last attempt at love – which also happened to be with someone they hadn’t known before – unfortunately, didn’t end so well.
The Sorceress Queen and the Pirate Rogue is a fantastic & heart-warming friends to lovers, high fantasy romance, packed with charismatic characters and a gripping plot, that perfectly balances action with humour and romance.
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