According to prophesy, "a child from the coast destined to
rule and conceived in the month of the eaten red moon will
make an alliance of the heart to set the mighty as pawns
and drive out the tainted blood rising in the south." Tess,
Princess Contessa of Costenopolie, is born in the correct
place at the correct time and the Red Moon Prophecy has
dogged her ever since. A target of assassins since the day
of her birth, Tess has been trained in the art of defense.
It was necessary.
Now, with her nuptials fast approaching, the attempts on
her life have increased. When her intended, Prince Garrett
of Misdev, arrives in Costenopolie sooner than expected,
Tess is excited. Anticipating marriage to the handsome
prince, Tess forces an early meeting. It's at this meeting
she learns for the first time that she's not the royal
princess, but merely a decoy whom her parents purchased as
an infant, one of three such babies and the only one to
survive infancy, to stand as a target while the real
princess is being safely reared by nuns. Tess is devastated
and confused, but her roiling emotions soon turn to horror
as Prince Garrett murders her parents in front of her to
force them to reveal the location of the real Red Moon
Princess.
Garrett, a second son, has long desired his own kingdom and
has come prepared to murder and steal to meet his end. Tess
manages to escape the palace and is soon alone and on the
road. With Garrett's soldiers on the way to apprehend the
real princess, Tess knows she must find a way to reach her
sister first, get her back to the city and crowned as the
rightful heir before Garrett captures her and forces a
marriage. Pursuing Tess is the Misdev Captain of the Guard,
Jeck. A man of much power and little emotion, Jeck is
concerned with the fate of both princesses for his own
devious plans. Tess meets another complication on the road
in Duncan, a vagabond card cheat. Although Tess tries to
get rid of Duncan for his sake as much as her own, he
sticks to her like glue. THE DECOY PRINCESS is no longer
sure who she is, but she knows she'll never consider any
option that does not have her returning to Costenopolie,
taking back the palace and putting the real Contessa on the
throne. And at some point in her journey, Tess discovers
that even though she's not a princess, she is many other
things -- an apprentice, a thief and finally a player in a
game that governs the fate of kings, princesses and pawns
alike.
This is a superb book! Tess is likable and believable as
she goes from being a pampered royal princess to a hurt and
confused young woman on her own. Tess turns out to be
stronger than she knows. A well-drawn cast of characters
and a good solid story arc keeps you reading and guessing
until the end. I wish everything I picked up to read was as
pleasant a surprise as THE DECOY PRINCESS. Fans of
Patricia Briggs, Robin McKinley, Tamara Pierce, Wen
Spencer and Sharon Shinn need to add Dawn
Cook to their list of must-read authors.
Princess Contessa's dreams of living happily ever after
marrying a prince are shattered when her "parents" reveal
that she's actually a street urchin they raised as their
daughter to thwart assassins from their real target.
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