Format: Kindle, 302 pages
Release Date: December 10, 2019
Publisher: Reign Publishing
Source: Amazon
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
As a member of the Knights of the Realm, Reid swore an oath to protect her king only to discover he harbors a traitorous agenda. Being
a woman raised in a man’s world, Reid thought becoming a Knight would
give her purpose and strength. So far, it has done nothing but give her
trouble. The king ordered her to spy on the Axian royal family while she
prepares for her marriage—a marriage neither she nor Price Dexter
wants. Once in Axian, Reid realizes she’s being used as a pawn in a
decades-old political match. With the king and Knights seemingly at
odds, Reid’s allegiances are torn, especially when she finds friendship
in the unlikeliest of places.
As the kingdom of Marsden teeters
on the brink of civil war, Reid must decide whose side she’s on—even if
that means betraying her king in order to save the kingdom.
Shadow Knights by Jennifer Anne Davis is the second installment in the authors Knights of the Realm series. Since it has been a minute since I read the first installment, I'll do a bit of a summary. Reid Ellington was raised a boy by her father. Duke Ellington has 4 other daughters so Reid went unnoticed. After 18 years of pretending and passing as a boy, Reid became noticed by Knights of the Realm. As a female who was trained in combat, the young princes Gordon and Ackley, believed her to be the perfect person to spy on the neighboring nation since she can "pass" as both male and female.
Ackley claims that his Uncle Henrick, who rules over Axian, is after the Marsden crown which his brother Eldon currently holds. After passing several challenges put forth for Reid to join the exclusive Realm of Knights, she finds yet more trouble. King Eldon, not knowing that Reid is a member of Ackley's Realm of Knights, is sent to Axian to steal something that is supposed to hold a life changing secret. Reid finds that Axian is a place where she should be living. In Axian, Reid meets the so called enemies who are not what they seem, especially Henrik and Princess Nara. Axian isn't a country preparing for war. Axian is a country that appears to be thriving. In fact, almost all of the family seems rather friendly to Reid except for one.
Flash forward a bit, Reid has been offered up by her father to be married to Prince Dexter who she met while spying on his family. Dexter is a bit cold to Reid for most of the first part of the story until Reid starts getting closer to Prince Gordon, and learns that King Eldon might be rattling swords to take over Axian. Even though Reid has been sworn to protect Marsden, Axian is now in her veins and she can't just sit by idly and allow it to be taken without a fight. Reid, Gordon, Dexter, and Ackley find some common ground as well as learning that Dexter belongs to a similar group to the Knights.
Reid has to face the fact that not only did her king trade her off to another kingdom so she may function as a spy, her father even approved of it after naming Reid is heir. Her duty as a knight and her impending marriage to stop a possible war between the Northern Marsden and Southern Marsden is hanging heavily on her shoulders. Trying to make the best of her predicament, she takes blow after blow from Dexter while being once again faced with the fact that her new kingdom is far more preferable to the dictated hell-hole she came from.
The last part of this story was pretty abrupt and the story ends on a cliffhanger as well as a shocking death of a secondary character and the unknown fate of others including Princess Nara and Captain Gytha who had an unusual relationship with Reid right from the moment they met. The ending also gives us a brief look into the person in charge of the Knights, Anna, who is filled with surprises that you will have to read to find out.
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