Just Wonderful!

I listened to the first book in this series a year ago and enjoyed it immensely, so I was delighted to see that Book 2 had arrived. And what a pleasure it is!

In Book 1, Amalina is ‘chosen’ by the Count of Ardeel to become his servant in his high castle up in the mountains, much to the dismay of her father who has to make excuses to the people in his village that she has gone on a long trip to visit relatives in Germania. But everyone knows the unspoken truth that she has been taken by the inhumanly powerful and (literally) blood-thirsty Count - most likely, they think, as one of his many victims.

But Amalina is of course very much alive, and in Book 2, as she grows up, she finds herself becoming more assertive with the Count, whose respect and admiration for Amalina (although rarely stated by him) appears to grow. Amalina is directed to travel, with the Count’s other servant, the conniving yet likeable and comical Genadie, to the Western Kingdoms to find a suitable companion for the Count from among the royalty in those lands and also finds herself getting entangled in a plot to overthrow him.

C.L. Holmes writes with heaps of imagination and flamboyance and this story is brimming with wonderful characters, plenty of humour - and only minimal blood and gore! It is beautifully narrated by Andy Stevenson whose range of voices and character portrayals is second to none.

This is a series that is building into one of epic proportions. If you love stories that depict a world of fantasy and intrigue, then seek this out. Just wonderful!

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