A NOBLE'S PATH

A smuggler of contraband fights to control her own magic while working for royal law enforcement in this second installment of a series.

Disinherited noble Inez Garza is a skilled smuggler in Canto, where magic is illegal. But after her involvement in an incident at the Academy of Natural Studies, Queen Hortensia orders her to perform community service with the King’s Men indefinitely. To placate Áliz the Jabberwocky, who runs the hidden market (the primo spot for the illegal magic trade), Inez agrees to search for an informant among the KM. Though she has the capacity to be a powerful mage, Inez sometimes can’t control her Powers. She struggles to keep her magic covert while handling KM duties, which include a raid on Birthright. The group is one Inez has helped fund and whose leader, Rowley, she’s befriended, as they all support Magical Return, the movement that wants magic to be legal again in Canto. But another KM assignment—identifying a sheep thief—ultimately leads Inez to someone’s nefarious plot to bring down the royal house. As such a threat against royalty will give the KM incentive to go after Birthright, Inez hopes to stop the sinister operation. In this latest volume of Cruz’s fantasy series, the author once again masterfully weaves together myriad subplots and characters. Inez, for one, is reluctant to acknowledge her love for Zavier Cole, heir to the Canto throne and a King’s Man who may be getting close to Lady Meiri, from whom the heroine needs a favor. These various elements, perhaps unsurprisingly, generate a brisk pace that rarely wavers. Despite her erratic Powers, the bright, astute protagonist is persistently levelheaded, as she’s regularly engaged with individuals she distrusts. As readers are no more aware of others’ motivations than Inez is, a solid, delightful mystery steers the plot to a villain’s inevitable unmasking.

A charismatic heroine propels this kinetic and imaginative fantasy sequel.