Samhain Publishing, $5.50, ISBN 978-1-60504-073-8
Fantasy, 2008
Twice a Prince is a genuine sequel to Once a Princess. The same principal cast resume the storyline that hasn’t concluded by the last page of the previous book, so if you have not read this book but have full intention to later, it may be a good idea to read the review of the previous book to get an idea of what is going on and skip reading this review. I try not to leak any spoilers here, but heaven knows, even the identity of the heroine’s love interest is a spoiler of the previous book, so you may want to err on the side of caution and not read any further.
Anyway, in this story, Sasharia Zhavalieshin, our heroine, decides to search for her missing father with a vengeance. At the same time, she decides to put any developing relationship with her love interest on hold because he had been lying to her for the most of the previous story. This man won’t give up on them so easily, though. As Sasha and this man do their thing, Sasha’s mother Princess Atanial is still the “cherished guest” of King Canardan’s tower. King Canardan has his own problems aside from Sasha – his own brother is plotting to place the man’s son on Canardan’s throne, as if Canardan’s own son backstabbing him in the back isn’t problematic enough. Having feelings for his prisoner who is no doubt plotting against him as well is definitely not going to make his day any better. As for Atanial, she is trying her best to stall Canardan from discovering the whereabouts of her daughter.
Twice a Prince is, like the previous book, an utterly fun comedic fantasy romp. This one though sees Sasha becoming oddly enough the least interesting character in the story as the games played by Canardan and Atanial become far more intriguing than Sasha’s straightforward Urban Fantasy Gurrl antics in the story. Nonetheless the author has a great sense of humor running through the entire story and the main characters, even the bad guys, are fun to follow as they are two-dimensional and well-developed. As a result, this is a most entertaining read.
I know, this review is so vague when it comes to details but as I’ve said, I can’t really give any specific details in the plot without going into major plot developments in the previous story. What I will say though is that if you like fantasy romps with kickass heroines and plenty of humor (that doesn’t go over the top or involves slapstick tomfoolery), the author’s Sasharia En Garde! series may just do nicely.
