Lia is the princess of the kingdom of Morrighan, and it is her duty as the First Daughter to secure a marriage between herself and the prince of the neighboring kingdom of Dalbreck. But Lia, independent and headstrong, does not wish to be treated merely as another soldier in her father’s army – she wants to marry someone for love, a theme we have seen time and again in fairytales, and yet still rings true. On the day she is to wed this prince she has never met, she does what any of us would do if we were trying to escape an inevitably unhappy marriage – she runs away, her faithful servant Pauline with her every step of the way. By fleeing the kingdom and defying her father the king so blatantly, she has committed an act of treason.
It doesn’t take long to realize that there is a natural attraction and connection between Lia and Rafe. They can’t help but be drawn to each other, but as their romance begins, Lia notices that she also has an unexplainable pull toward Kaden. Thus, we have our love triangle in the story. The book reaches its climax when the Assassin, instead of killing Lia as he has been instructed to do, captures her and brings her back to his homeland as a prize for the Komizar, the heartless, brutal ruler of Venda. When the Prince hears of her abduction, he crosses the continent chasing after them, attempting to rescue the girl he has fallen for against his will. The book comes to a close when Lia and the Prince are taken as prisoners, and Lia learns who the Prince truly is, instead of the lowly farmer she had believed him to be all along.
One of the many things I loved about this book is that the narrator alternates between Lia, the Prince, and the Assassin, changing points of view and letting us as the reader see a bigger picture. The writer cleverly keeps us wondering which man is which – is Rafe the Prince or the Assassin? She intentionally keeps you guessing. I will follow her example and not just come right out and tell you. You will have to read the book and figure it out for yourself. What I will say is that my assumption was entirely wrong and my jaw actually dropped when I realized who was who. I love it when a book does that to me! That’s clearly one sign of great writing.
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I freaking love this book! Go Rafe! I'm still working my way through book 3. But boy oh boy is this series so good! Also reminds me of another, though superior, book I read a while back…Corren and all… 😉
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I'm so glad that you love it as much as I do! Keep working your way through book 3 – it will be worth it!
Another book, huh? 😉
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