Princess at Sea Audiobook By Dawn Cook - as Kim Harrison cover art

Princess at Sea

Princess, Book 2

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Princess at Sea

By: Dawn Cook - as Kim Harrison
Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
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One day Tess was the crown princess of Costenopolie, and the next she discovered she was a beggar's child, reared as a decoy to keep the real princess safe from assassins. But Tess' flair for politics, self-defense, and shopping--and her recently discovered magical powers--thwarted the kingdom's enemies and restored the real princess to the throne. Now she dons an ambassador's robe to help Costenopolie put its best foot forward--and to keep the newly crowned queen from tripping over her own...

Assigned to chaperone Queen Contessa and her new husband on their honeymoon voyage, Tess spends more time playing referee between the temperamental pair. Before another battle royal can erupt, a storm forces the ship to drop anchor where another vessel is similarly stranded--and Tess finds her heart stranded between a roguish cardsharp and a disturbingly attractive army captain. But Tess' potential suitors are the least of her worries. The crew of the neighboring anchored ship reveal themselves to be pirates and abduct the royal couple for ransom--unaware that Tess' magic is the real treasure in their midst...

©2006 Dawn Cook (P)2014 Audible Inc. Classics Fantasy Fiction Royalty Magic Heartfelt
Fun Adventure • Interesting Plot • Excellent Narrator • Plucky Heroine • Good Storyline • Enjoyable Fantasy
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I love Kim Harrison. So I purchase this series and enjoyed the first one. However. It doesn't move very fast has slow self-indulgent mental ramblings of the heroine which seemed weak and kind of pathetic. . I much prefer her later heroines. They're much stronger. . That being said there were some good moments in the book and the overall story line is good.

Kim Harrison before she learn how to write well.

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Narrator sounded like she was slurring most of the book. Couldn’t really follow story line because her words stumbled

No was good

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The heroine leaps from crisis to crisis more in spite of herself then because of herself. I would like a little more self confidence. it was a fun car book where you don't have to pay much attention to follow what's going on.

good listen

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I am happy I got this book. I still like her other books the best.

Great book

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This is a story of magic, espionage, and romance starring a character who spent most of her life believing herself to be the heir to a kingdom, only to find out that she was a decoy used to protect the real heir. (See "Decoy Princess".)

Here, the real heir and her new husband are traveling by sea when ... things happen. And it's up to Tess to solve the problems caused by those things.

The characters are quite good, with believable strengths and weaknesses, and they develop in interesting ways through the course of the story. The world is rather sketched in, though we do see more of the magic used by the "Players", who run the world behind the scenes. And the plot is tightly crafted, with obstacles and successes (which never feel unearned) sprinkled liberally about.

It's been several years since I read the first book in this series, and I don't really know why I waited so long to continue it. Dawn Cook (who also writes very successfully under the name "Kim Harrison") has written an excellent fantasy series. The only thing keeping me from giving this book 5 stars is that I really wanted to wake up the protagonist to what was going on around her. (She's young, it's in character, but it was very frustrating.) That said, I would recommend this book and the series, and if there is ever another book about these characters, I'll buy it.

Strong espionage fantasy with a frustrating MC

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loved it! The main character came across as a pre-teen at times. Oh Duncan, Duncan....

heading required but it says optional

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The plot of this story is quite good - pirates and hurricanes, kidnappings and betrayal, true love and dark magic - how could this book miss the mark so badly? It's the main character's fault. At the beginning of the story she's an heroic woman dealing alone with overwhelming responsibilities and drama. However, as the story went on she regressed into a whiney, sniveling, pubescent brat with anger management issues and unbelievable naivete. Seriously, can a grown woman really make so many stupid mistakes? I found myself terribly irritated with her rantings and fast forwarded through the rest of her diatribes. This is a truly great writer, but this book has put me off this series. I'm done.

Good plot, bad character development

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This one not as good as the first. I found some of the magic scenes draggy and going on and on. Suspense is good.

Good plot but dwells overlong on feelings!

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This is the first book in Cook’s Princess duology. Dawn Cook also writes as Kim Harrison. I enjoyed this fun fantasy adventure novel. The book is very YA in tone and is mostly about the heroine figuring out who she is (both in an actual and more philosophical sense).

I listened to this on audiobook and it was decently done. It wasn’t my favorite audiobook because I didn’t like the voice the narrator used for Tess and found it distracting. I never really got used to it. I would recommend reading this on in paperback rather than listening to it.

Tess has been raised as the crown princess of Costenopolie for her whole life (at least as much of her life as she can remember). However when a neighboring kingdom makes a bid for the throne through marriage Tess finds out she’s just a decoy.

This leaves Tess reeling. She is fleeing for her life and desperate to do what she can to help her people and kingdom...except they aren’t really her people or her kingdom now...so where does that leave her? Tess is an interesting heroine; she has mad ninja-like skills from her training but is also strangely naive because of her sheltered upbringing in the castle. This gets her into trouble more than once.

I really enjoyed our heroine and her struggles with her own identity and purpose in life. They were easy to relate to and fun to read about. There is a lot of action and adventures in this book as well. There is some romance but it is fairly light and not a huge part of the story.

Overall I enjoyed this YA fantasy adventure and plan on reading the second book in the series. Tess is a fun heroine and entertaining. I would recommend to those who enjoy YA fantasy adventure “princess” stories.

Fun fantasy adventure novel

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I don't know what is it about this series I like so much.

It feels immature, Tess does like to blame herself for absolutely everything that goes wrong, she is so sure of her own importance and her mission...And yet, she is plucky and stubborn,and comes up with interesting solutions to her problems, but it's like she is not using her brain, she is almost like a savant, intuitively feels it instead of thinking it through.

There is even more adventure and heartbreak in Princess at Sea, than in the first book. Tess, appointed as an ambassador, accompanies her sister and her new husband on their sea voyage, when they are captured by pirates and held for ransom.

However, the pirates don't believe that Tess has any value and aren't interested in keeping her alive. As a revenge for killing some of their comrades in battle Tess is thrown into a pit with an animal which just happens to be a punta - the same animal that gives Players their magical abilities.

She barely survives the encounter, but her body is full of poison which makes her moods and magic highly volatile. Still, Tess is determined to persevere and save everyone, and Jack, whose tasks are the same, becomes her unwilling but formidable partner in this.

The pirates are bloodthirsty, the shipwrecks are fearsome, the sea battles are ferocious, there are powerful storms and unexpected, heart wrenching treachery. This book tests Tess's mettle and I truly felt for her. The ending is surprisingly lovely, and I am totally looking forward to the next book in this series.

Easy listen, YA fantasy full of adventure with an occasionally annoying heroine. Recommended.

Easy listen

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