THE EDGE OF THE BLADE is book two of The Uncharted
Realms series and book five in The Twelve
Kingdoms
series by fantasy writer Jeffe Kennedy. Kennedy writes
strong women, whether she is writing romance or fantasy,
and I love how her women will take agency if they are not
given it in their world. This, along with her great world-
building skills, endears her writing to me. THE EDGE OF
THE BLADE is another great entry in this wonderful series
exploring the Twelve Kingdoms.
At the end of the first Twelve Kingdoms trilogy,
new High Queen has risen from her former rank of captain of
the imperial guard now to ruler of the whole Twelve
Kingdoms after killing her corrupt and evil father, the
former king. Ursula sends out her chief librarian Daphe to
be ambassador to the nearby threatening kingdom of Dasnaria
and sends her best spy, Jepp, along to protect the
ambassador. But Daphne is sold into marriage by Kral's
scheming and left behind in a strange land with her new
husband (in book one of The Uncharted Realms, THE
PAGES OF THE MIND) and so Jepp must step up to act as
ambassador, a role she clearly has no skills for. Jepp is
forthright, sexually liberated, and skilled at combat-
things that definitely do not endear her to the oh-so-not-
progressive misogynistic Dasnarians that she is intended to
negotiate a treaty with.
General Kral of Dasnaria, also Imperial Prince of the
royal house of Konybgrr and heir to his brother the
emperor, escorts Jepp back to his kingdom to treat with the
emperor. The first night they meet, Jepp and Kral have a
lust-filled night of sexual delights. Due to his culture,
Kral thinks that this means Jepp is exclusively his- his to
bed and to protect and shield- but Jepp quickly
demonstrates that is not so. This puts Kral and Jepp
delightfully at odds for most of the book. I love their
the tension between the two, and their banter and growing
closeness.
Lively action, political scheming, and witty banter
characterize THE EDGE OF THE BLADE. Even the secondary
characters are skillfully done. The Uncharted
Realms are a delightfully imaginative world of magic
and shifting alliances, and each book in the series brings
another couple together as well as advancing the overall
story. While this book could be read on its own merits,
reading the series in order will give the fullest
appreciation of the story. Kennedy's THE EDGE OF THE BLADE
is sure to please those who love fantasy and romance.
The Twelve Kingdoms rest uneasy under their new High
Queen, reeling from civil war and unchecked magics. Few
remember that other powers once tested their borders—until a
troop of foreign warriors emerges with a challenge . . .
Jepp has been the heart of the queen’s elite guard, her
Hawks, since long before war split her homeland. But the
ease and grace that come to her naturally in fighting
leathers disappears when battles turn to politics. When a
scouting party arrives from far-away Dasnaria, bearing
veiled threats and subtle bluffs, Jepp is happy to let her
queen puzzle them out while she samples the pleasures of
their prince’s bed.
But the cultural norms allow that a Dasnarian woman may be
wife or bed-slave, never her own leader—and Jepp’s light use
of Prince Kral has sparked a diplomatic crisis. Banished
from court, she soon becomes the only envoy to Kral’s
strange and dangerous country, with little to rely on but
her wits, her knives—and the smolder of anger and attraction
that burns between her and him . . .
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