Raised with the manners and bearing of a queen-to-be, Tess
discovers on the eve of what she believes to be her wedding
that she was in fact a decoy. The real princess, Contessa,
meanwhile had been kept safe from assassins and hidden away
in a nunnery. Now Contessa, thanks to Tess, is on the
throne of Costenopolie and married to Prince Alex of a
neighboring kingdom. Tess has been recognized by her sister
as royal and has a new appointment as ambassador of
Costenopolie.
Tess' first assignment is to escort her sister and new
husband on their honeymoon cruise. It sounds posh enough
but being confined on a ship with the bickering couple is
enough to tempt Tess into jumping overboard. The boredom
comes to a sudden halt when Contessa and Alex are kidnapped
by pirates and held for ransom. Tess has also been taken,
but the pirates don't consider her a Royal, no matter what
her sister has proclaimed, and are only too keen to murder
her for killing several of their own. Eventually, they
settle for throwing her into a pit with a punta, a large
venomous wild cat, and taking bets on how long it will take
the animal to kill her.
Tess mind links with the cat, attempting to calm it. It
almost works until the cat is startled, bites her on the
shoulder and escapes the pit, leaving Tess still at the
mercy of the pirates and now dying of the bite. In her
delirium, Tess forms a mind link with Jeck, the Captain of
Alex's royal guard, and is able to direct him to the
pirates' island base. Jeck, through a special magic of his
own, heals Tess, but the venom remains in dangerous levels
in her body, making her magic wild and unpredictable.
It should be a simple search and rescue for Jeck, but
nothing is ever simple when Tess in involved. The escape
attempt is partially botched, although the Royals are
rescued. However, Tess is still a captive of the pirates,
who soon overtake the rescue ship and take the Royals
again! Tess and Jeck are left on the ill-fated ship, now
set on fire by the pirate crew, to die. Tess and Jeck,
never on the best of terms, now have to save themselves
before the pirates reach Costenopolie with their demands.
Both major players in the game of power behind the thrones,
Tess and Jeck are often at odds and must learn to work
their wills and magic together for the good of Costenopolie
and the captured royals.
PRINCESS AT SEA is more brilliant summer fantasy fun from
Dawn Cook, author of THE DECOY PRINCESS, as well as
the Truth series. It sounds like a lot of action and it is,
but Cook also takes time to develop her characters and
their world. It helps that this is a series and Cook has
several books to bring her story and characters to light.
Tess has two love interests and I was never sure which way
she would lean. At different times, I found myself as
unsure as Tess as to who I liked the best. There were some
definite surprises in the way the plot turned but the
twists served the story well. Cook has outdone herself in
this follow-up book. You could read it without reading THE
DECOY PRINCESS, but that would be just crazy. Why deny
yourself the extra fun?
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