Synopsis:

Trusting him is the only way to save the kingdom.
Betraying her is the only way to keep them both alive.

Stripped of her memories and her magic, Raven has been left for dead.

As a prisoner in the enemy’s mineral mines, her only clue to who she is and where she came from is the mysterious map tattooed on her hand—a map containing hidden secrets that some people would kill for.

Jeddak is one of those people.

A warrior from the Kovak tribe, he’s hunting for the powerful Zavien stone to pay the corrupt king’s ransom. If he doesn’t return home with it by the new moon, his betrothed will be executed.

When Jeddak discovers that a prisoner named Raven has the only map that leads to the artifact, he allies with her as they navigate treacherous lands and battle against ancient magical forces to unravel the map’s secrets. But can Raven trust this stranger who’s helping her? If the map gets into the wrong hands, thousands of people will die.

As their feelings for each other grow, their tenuous alliance begins to fray. Until Jeddak is forced to make a decision—betray Raven or forsake his kingdom.

Choose wrong, and he’ll lose everything.

I think Laurel Black’s debut Lost Kingdom might just be the fantasy novel to reignite my love of the genre. Enigmatic characters, a layered and intricate world, and an epic journey story that I couldn’t put down—but didn’t want to end.

I longed to free him from whatever invisible cage kept him locked away, but I didn’t know how to find the key. Or if there even was one.

Laurel Black, Lost Kingdom

When the author reached out via my blog and invited me to read her debut novel, kindly including the first few chapters, I was hooked from the first page. Then my copy arrived with so many fun and personalized extras, which only made me more excited to continue the tale.

In Lost Kingdom we meet Raven who has been taken prisoner and forced to work in the mineral mines. She has lost her memory and her ability to use magic. All she knows is that she has a mysterious map tattooed on her palm, a map that many people are after.

Including Jeddak, a handsome Kovak warrior who needs the map to locate a powerful stone that will secure the release of his betrothed. Raven and Jeddak (and Jeddak’s faithful companion bear, Kah) will become tenuous allies, but have important secrets they are keeping from each other.

Lost Kingdom is told from Raven and Jeddak’s alternating points of view, but I was never confused about whose voice was being used. The author succeeds in giving them each a distinct presence, and even more helpful, the physical copy had the name of the speaker at the top of the chapter pages. This may be something that’s common, but it’s not anything I’ve ever come across. It was a little detail that was helpful and fun and pure genius.