An escaped Imperial Princess of Dasnaria learns to live like a regular person in Jeffe Kennedy's EXILE OF THE SEAS. This is book 2 in the  Chronicles of Dasnaria series, and is a much more equanimical read than book 1, PRISONER OF THE CROWN. In book 1, Jenna grows up in the viperous harem of her father the emperor. First abused by her twisted mother while growing up, Jenna falls from bad to worse once her father trades her to her husband, a sadistic and abusive monster. Jenna escapes at the end of book 1, having endured a brutal existence laid out in painfully descriptive turns. In comparison, EXILE OF THE SEAS shows Jenna learning to stand up for herself and become a fully actualized person. This book left me cheering for Jenna's progress.

Jenna escapes from Dasnaria by sea. While shipboard, Jenna meets a warrior woman who begins to teach Jenna how to defend herself, which leaves me cheering. The warrior convinces Jenna to commit to becoming a fighter priestess of the goddess Danu. Jenna then commits to serving as a bodyguard to a caravan traveling to a distant locale, which will hopefully keep her one step ahead of the Dasnarian guards who are certainly searching for her to haul her back into merciless captivity. These new experiences bring Jenna alive, and it's so lovely to watch her blossom.

There is an understated love interest, but book 2 is not a romance. It's a rich fantasy with romantic elements, showing the path of an isolated princess to becoming a confident woman and integrated community member. This series is loosely connected to other Twelve Kingdoms books by Kennedy, but no knowledge of the overall series is needed before reading EXILE OF THE SEAS. The reader would be well served to have read Prisoner of the Crown before embarking on book 2 however. Kennedy's EXILE OF THE SEAS showcases the fantasy journey of a tormented young woman who is becoming so much more than her background would suggest.

Book Summary

Around the shifting borders of the Twelve Kingdoms, trade and conflict, danger and adventure put every traveler on guard . . . but some have everything to lose.

ESCAPED

Once she was known as Jenna, Imperial Princess of Dasnaria, schooled in graceful dance and comely submission. Until the man her parents married her off to almost killed her with his brutality.

Now, all she knows is that the ship she’s boarded is bound away from her vicious homeland. The warrior woman aboard says Jenna’s skill in dancing might translate into a more lethal ability. Danu’s fighter priestesses will take her in, disguise her as one of their own—and allow her to keep her silence.

But it’s only a matter of time until Jenna’s monster of a husband hunts her down. Her best chance to stay hidden is to hire out as bodyguard to a caravan traveling to a far-off land, home to beasts and people so unfamiliar they seem like part of a fairy tale. But her supposed prowess in combat is a fraud. And sooner or later, Jenna’s flight will end in battle—or betrayal . . .

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