By: Mercedes Lackey

Available on: Amazon, Audible, and Barnes and Noble.

Overview:

Blurb: This is the third book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series; while it can be read as a stand-alone, it does make more sense if you have read The Fairy Godmother with certain characters that make an appearance. Katya, a daughter of the Sea King, is a spy for her father. She is sent ashore and meets a kitsune who she aids in defeating a demon. While on another mission, Katya meets the Seventh Son of the King of Led Belarus, another kingdom of the Five Hundred Kingdoms.

However, this kingdom has no Fairy Godmother, just the magic of Sasha, the Fortunate Fool and Seventh Son. Katya and Sasha fall in love, quite quickly, and end up separated when Katya is kidnapped by an evil Jinn. Katya and Sasha have separate adventures, including run-ins with Baba Yaga herself and the Queen of the Copper Mountain, as they strive to get back to one another.

Katya isn’t the only one that has been kidnapped. Because of The Tradition forcing his hand, the Jinn has been taking women of magical abilities away and keeping them to drain of their powers. One of the Swan Sisters has been stolen away by the Jinn, another captive is an actual ghost who is earth-bound. A snow maiden and shapeshifter have also been taken.

As ever with a Five Hundred Kingdoms, they also help many others along the way. All in all, a nice, happily ever after sort of story, with magical beings and multiple folk tale characters abounding.

Trigger Warnings:

Bastardization of Mythology, Blood, Bullying, Death, Disabled Character (sort of), Food, Murder, Off Screen Sex, Poor Coping Mechanisms, Purple Prose, Sex, Toxic Masculinity (mentioned in passing), Unsafe Sex, Violence, Violent Imagery, War

Body Count: 2, technically? Does it count if they’re already dead?