“Your Majesty, there is a message for you.”

From Kathleen Bird’s Katherine’s Kingdom: To Love in Peace.

Life has gone from complicated to overwhelming for the princess Katherine, a young woman who only wants what is best for her family. The country of Adven has been torn apart by war and through the tragic death of her father, Katherine is pushed from a member of the royal family to the head of the royal family. The new queen has never been one to just sit back and watch idly, and that same attitude launches Katherine into a quest to bring her father’s body back from the battlefield. Along the way, she meets the irritating Michael; danger constantly threatens to tear Michael and Katherine apart, but the two quickly fall in love and decide to get married and face life’s challenges together. Katherine discovers an evil force that is moving across Adven (and straight for her) and terrorizing anyone that gets in the way. Katherine is left to prepare to take over the throne, defend her people, and remove the evil army from her country… all while hiding a secret that could tear her world apart. Katherine must overcome her fears and uncertainties to answers the questions that threaten to overtake her mind, because the choices that Katherine makes that will change her life (and the lives of everyone in Adven) forever.

Kathleen Bird’s first novel is a solid addition to the fantasy genre; the story blends elements of romance, action, historical fiction, and Christian fiction into a fascinating read. The story moves quickly, but not so quick that the story is a mental blur. The characters are diverse and open for the reader to interact with throughout the story; Katherine is especially raw with her emotions and thoughts. She reads as the perfect heroine: she is confused, but not helpless… young, but not ignorant… questioning, but actively seeking. The relationship that Katherine and Michael develop through the book is a pleasant change to many popular literary relationships in that both characters grow as individuals and as a couple. Katherine’s Kingdom: To Love in Peace is a novel that allows readers an escape into a world that is captivating and enchanting; it is a book that is definitely not to be missed.