THE LOST PRINCESS RETURNS is aptly named by author Jeffe Kennedy, telling the story of the traumatized Imperial Princess Jenna returning to the country of her degradation as her triumphant alter ego Ivariel. Make sure that you read the “Dear Reader” introduction at the beginning of the book, though, which does a great job of showing the multiple levels of interconnectedness of the vast universe of the Twelve Kingdoms, Uncharted Realms, and Chronicles of Dasnaria stories and how this book fits in with the many others.

Imperial Princess Jenna fled her cruel family and her sadistic husband twenty years ago. She recrafted herself to become a warrior and a Priestess of Danu, falling in love and raising a family along the way. She’s become such an honorable person. I have so enjoyed watching her over the course of the series as she renamed herself Ivariel and invented a new identity, matured, and ultimately found happiness and purpose. Now that magic has returned to the lands, Ivariel feels she must return to the land of her birth to keep a promise she made to her captive sisters.

In order to fulfill that promise, Ivrariel must confront and defeat her evil brother who has become the Emperor of Dasnaria, along with her power-mad mother. Fortunately, Ivariel has a lot of help for this final battle. An ensemble cast gathers to fight Jenna’s twisted family and the tainted god Deyrr that Jenna’s flight liberated decades prior. This is a quick read, but no less satisfying for its brevity. The innate purity of will and spirit that our heroes and heroines display keeps the story from becoming too dark. Kennedy does her usual deft work at magical plotting and at battle scenes, keeping the tension high. THE LOST PRINCESS RETURNS wraps Kennedy’s Chronicles of Dasnaria series up nicely, providing closure to the princess and the reader.