Saturday, June 6, 2015

The Tears of the Rose by Jeffe Kennedy - 5 stars

The Tears of the Rose, the second book in the Twelve Kingdoms series, is a fantastic read filled with drama, romance, fantastic symbolism and self-realization.  I give it five stars.

In the novel, which picks up where The Mark of the Tala left off, Princess Amelia is grieving the loss of her husband and love of her life, Hugh.  She is also devastated by the loss of her dreams for the future and her relationship with her sister, Andi, now Queen Andromeda of Annfwn, who reportedly killed Hugh during Urosin’s attempt to “rescue” Andi from the Tala.

Through some interesting turns, Amelia realizes that she’s pregnant, and since Hugh was heir to the throne of Avonlidgh, she and their unborn child become pawns in the political maneuverings of Amelia’s father, Urosin, King of Ordnung and High King of the Twelve Kingdoms, and her father-in-law, Erich, King of Avonlidgh.  In order to protect herself and her child, Amelia must figure out what the truth is and how to avert war.  Given that Amelia was always the beautiful and kind princes who related to others via her beauty and sweetness, she has to dig deep within herself to find the wisdom and courage to free herself from the political web.

I really loved the character development in this novel.  Yes, there was some action and adventure, but this novel tells the story of the Twelve Kingdoms during a lull in overt warfare.  So what readers get to see is how Princess Amelia finds herself and routes two kings in the process.  There are some really deep themes touched upon as Amelia figures out how to be alone without Hugh, e.g., her realization that her relationship with Hugh will be forever pristine because they had not had time to face the challenges that all couples face.  A lot of time in the beginning of the novel shows Amelia acting in ways that can really only be described as whiny and bratty.  So it was a relief to see her come to her senses and realize that though her life was perfect with Hugh, she had no assurances that her their relationship was going to continue to be all unicorns and rainbows.  Such is life, and I’m grateful for romance novels that keep that kind of reality front and center.

Another thing I liked about the novel was the symbolism of the rose.  As Glorianna’s avatar, Amelia is inextricably linked to pink roses, and the idea of the rose is woven throughout the novel.  One of my favorites is the idea of smell and Amelia’s growing ability to smell the intentions and emotions of other people, e.g., lies smell like something’s burning.  Another favorite rose symbol - Amelia learns that she has thorns!  I loved seeing her embrace and wield them to her advantage.

As far as audience, there are a couple scenes with graphic sex, both in narration and dialogue, making this novel appropriate for adults.

Overall, I loved this novel and can’t wait to read the next.

Review originally written for The Romance Reviews. com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=15795.