Lonen’s War

Written by Jeffe Kennedy

Narrated by Esther Wane

An Unquiet Heart
Alone in her tower, Princess Oria has spent too long studying her people’s barbarian enemies, the Destrye—and neglected the search for calm that will control her magic and release her to society. Her restlessness makes meditation hopeless and her fragility renders human companionship unbearable. Oria is near giving up. Then the Destrye attack, and her people’s lives depend on her handling of their prince…

A Fight Without Hope
When the cornered Destrye decided to strike back, Lonen never thought he’d live through the battle, let alone demand justice as a conqueror. And yet he must keep up his guard against the sorceress who speaks for the city. Oria’s people are devious, her claims of ignorance absurd. The frank honesty her eyes promise could be just one more layer of deception.

A Savage Bargain
Fighting for time and trust, Oria and Lonen have one final sacrifice to choose… before an even greater threat consumes them all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Aug 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094439761

Jeffe Kennedy

Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning, best-selling author who writes fantasy with romantic elements and fantasy romance. She is an RWA member and serves on the Board of Directors for SFWA as a Director at Large.She is a hybrid author, and also self-publishes a romantic fantasy series, Sorcerous Moons. Books in her popular, long-running series, The Twelve Kingdoms and The Uncharted Realms, have won the RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Fantasy Romance, been named Best Book of June 2014, and won RWA’s prestigious RITA® Award, while more have been finalists for those awards. She's the author of the romantic fantasy trilogy, The Forgotten Empires, which includes The Orchid Throne, The Fiery Crown, and The Promised Queen.Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with two Maine coon cats, plentiful free-range lizards and a very handsome Doctor of Oriental Medicine.She can be found online at her website, every Sunday at the SFF Seven blog, on Facebook, on Goodreads and on Twitter. She is represented by Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

Reviews for Lonen’s War

[Selena Wallace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I actually really enjoyed this story! The characters are fun to follow and are bubbling with potential.
Now the plot is a LOT with the main point of focus being between the Destrye and the Barrons. We begin by watching the Destrye strike against them, where we are introduced to our main characters Lonen and Oria.
Lonen is the Prince of his tribe the Destrye, he is brooding, handsome (obvi), and a good man at heart, feeling deep remorse for his actions in battle but committing them anyway for the good of his people. Oria, a delicate young princess is locked away in her tower, seen as the lowest ranked of her family due to her sensitivities. Now her exact reason for these sensitivities i thought to be a bit convoluted so my best understanding is that each of her people can feel emotions but she feels emotions and magic much stronger than anyone else. Confusion or not Oria is a very admirable character, weak but not helpless, pushing herself past her breaking point for the good of her family and her people.
While i am starting to care more about our main characters the story is so detail heavy and fast paced i found it difficult to bond too deeply with either main. Though, there are a lot more books so that just means more fun development as i devour this series.
There were many complains about the voice acting and while i didn’t have an issue with it i can understand how Lonen’s voice in particular could be a bit jarring at first. Oria’s voice in my opinion, is perfectly lovely and easy to differentiate between the other female characters.

[Chris With Luv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have a bit to say about this book so I'll post it on Goodreads. It was fine. Good enough to make me keep listening, but not enough to care about the story or characters or anything. The book overall felt flat; it didn't feel 3 dimensional, like it was real. I might listen to more someday, maybe not. We'll see. The narrator was good though.

[JoyceSesuwutPiert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Totally enjoyed this audiobook! It really held my interest! I couldn't go to sleep until I got to the end!

[Kaitlin Emanuel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written and compelling narrative, once i started listening I didnt want to stop. Good narration, I think the voice of Oria is great, and the voice of Lonen took a little getting used to, but I think works very well in the end.

[Anna Puchar-Krause · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book more then I thought I would. Narrator was fair.

[Natale Michaud · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm hooked and can't stop listening. This book ended and I started book 2 right away. The narration is not great, but not bad either.

[Nata Kis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Would be a very good book, but for narration! The voices she's making are just awful! Some intonation would be enough. Really annoying

[Jennifer boyd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good story so far, flowed well. I wish the narrator would use a woman's voice for Oria instead of a ten year old girl, too whiney and high pitched.

[Millsy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've listened to all 3 books in this series, all in the one day. They were so enjoyable i just had to continue the story which was filled with really likeable, interesting characters, along with a great narrator to bring individual characters to life.

The only not really criticism, criticism, is that they are so short. For me, I could happily have listened to twice the length, I didn't want to stop listening.