After the upheavals in Restin, Joedan’s duties no longer end at his own safety. Training intensifies, threats multiply, and politics become a battlefield where a wrong word cuts as deep as steel. Guarding Lady Amelia means balancing protocol with conscience, learning when to follow orders and when to challenge them. As rival nobles test the city’s seams, Joedan’s circle widens: new allies with their own loyalties, hardened opponents with long memories, and citizens who will pay the price if the wrong people win. “A Different Path” isn’t about bigger fights for their own sake it’s about the weight of responsibility, the discipline behind courage, and the kind of leadership that’s forged when no option is clean.

What you’ll love

Bodyguard intensity, tactical set pieces, and training that actually changes people

Sharper political maneuvering promises, leverage, and consequences

Relationships deepening under pressure (friendship, duty, hint of romance)

Themes & tone

• Duty
• Integrity under scrutiny
• Chosen family
• Tense, purposeful, hopeful
  
  

Perfect for readers who enjoy
Protective detail stories, academy/training arcs with real stakes, palace intrigue

Series note
Builds directly on Book 1; sets the moral lines tested in the finale.