The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon

| ISBN: 978-1545391778 | Pages: 330 |

Publication Date: May 9, 2017 | Source: Own

| Rating: 5 out of 5 stars |

★★★★★

"There will be a battle, and you will need to protect your heart." 
Kjell of Jeru had always known who he was. He'd never envied his brother or wanted to be king. He was the bastard son of the late King Zoltev and a servant girl, and the ignominy of his birth had never bothered him. 
But there is more to a man than his parentage. More to a man than his blade, his size, or his skills, and all that Kjell once knew has shifted and changed. He is no longer simply Kjell of Jeru, a warrior defending the crown. Now he is a healer, one of the Gifted, and a man completely at odds with his power.
Called upon to rid the country of the last vestiges of the Volgar, Kjell stumbles upon a woman who has troubling glimpses of the future and no memory of the past. Armed with his unwanted gift and haunted by regret, Kjell becomes a reluctant savior, beset by old enemies and new expectations. With the woman by his side, Kjell embarks upon a journey where the greatest test may be finding the man she believes him to be. 

All hail the queen! I've been going crazy ever since I heard that Amy Harmon was coming out with a sequel to The Bird and Sword which I absolutely adored reading last year. I had the book delivered home because I was in the midst of finals and would not concentrate if it had shown up at school. I have to admit that the thought of the book waiting for me at home was one of the things that pulled me through finals week.

I loved Kjell in The Bird and the Sword but I wasn't focused on him since all my attention was devoted to Lark and Tiras. The fact that this story follows and reveals more of his character allows readers to take notice of how he has developed across the two novels and honestly made me want to go back to reread the first book just so that I could pay more attention to his role. 

“Come to me, and I will try to love you. I will try to love you, if you but come back.” 

There's a lot of mystery around Kjell's background but he's always been rooted in this role as the Captain of the King's Guard and brother to the king. He had no desire to rule and knew what he was fighting for but that all changes when he discovers that he is Gifted with the power to heal. When he's assigned to rid the country of the remaining Volgar, his problems multiply when he stumbles across Sasha, a young girl with the ability to see glimpses of the future. 

“I have been hated before. But I don’t know if I’ve been loved. I think . . . once . . . I must have been, because I know how to love.”

The whole dynamic between Sasha and Kjell has that same magicalness that all of Amy Harmon's couples have. I loved how they interacted with each other, how Sasha encouraged Kjell to really grow into his character and how Kjell remained someone Sasha could rely on throughout all the up and downs.

“The very best things in life are born of difficulty. Whatever comes too easily is easily abandoned.” 

Speaking of ups and down, oh my goodness. The amount of times my jaw literally dropped to the floor is too many to count. The whole story has you on the edge of your seat because things keep happening that you don't expect and your heart is feeling more feels that humanly possible. There are honestly no words to describe how amazing of a journey this novel takes you on and every second is precious.

Once again, I'm floored by another Amy Harmon novel. Everything from the characters to the plot to the world is beautiful, magical, and absolutely unforgettable. One more thing before I wrap this up, I always love the messages that Amy Harmon weaves into each of her novels and this one is no different. The Queen and the Cure is breathtaking but remains rooted in the reminder of love's powerful ability to heal and nurture life to continue to grow.