Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save Lia's life, her erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: There's Rafe, who lied to Lia but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be savages. Now that she lives among them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country... and her own destiny.

2.5★

Well that was interesting, It took me way to loon to finish this book , I think it has something to do with the hate/love relationship I had with this book.

On the one hand I really liked the story or maybe the potential behind the story. I did like the writing and I think that was one of the things why I kept reading this book.  On the other hand there were so many things that made no sense to me or even the story. I thought given the situation and the synopsis we will get more action, but we didn’t, what we did get was a lot of talking, sneaking around ,playing mind games and oogling each other.. Everyone was playing a game, I liked that part that I never knew what really is going to happen…. For the most part anyway.

But  there were some other things that made no sense to me … first of they keep saying how the Vendans take no prisoner. But she is the one they take and not only her but also the Prince, who plays his own little game and again is not a “prince”. Anyway… she is their prisoner, but yet , she gets around everywhere , first sneaking then almost openly . She gets into places she shouldn’t have and always fools the guards, which also made no sense, since they knew her face.

That alone was weird enough, but then she is supposed to be the enemy swine, that everyone hates but of course with the exception a very few, everyone likes her and even helps her out. 

Then to top of my annoyance list … the big bad,the villain of this story also seems to be falling for her…… like the two others were not enough.

Overall I liked some things and the story and the end was interesting and I kind of want to see where it goes from here on, but I’m not sure when if ever …really.

I liked Lia fir the most part but Rafe and Kaden I couldn’t not really connect to even worse in this book where I thought I actually get to know more about them and will finally be able to connect and care about them but that never really happened.

I rate this book 2.5★

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In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

3.5 ★

I really enjoyed this book and everything about it. I loved the writing, the world building and most of all the characters that take us through this journey. The book has multiple POVs but for the main part we get Lia. I really enjoyed her and the more I got to know her the more I liked her. She had a few eye rolling moments but overall I loved her.

One of the main parts I loved about this book was, that we don’t find out who is the Prince or the Assassin, even as we read their POV. I loved that and it kept me going and guessing. Once we find out I was not overly shocked, as you can start figuring it out if you look close enough as you read. But it still was great fun.

Another thing I liked was the friendship in this book. Her friendship with Pauline was super great and later with some of the other people in town. I hope we see more of them later on in the books.   

When it came to the guys, I’m not sure who I liked more, and to be honest she didn’t spent all that much time with either if them at least on page. I’m hoping we get to know them better in the next book and maybe I can say more about either of them, right now I dint really connect to either of them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and the cliffhanger ending had me reaching for book two right away. We get a little of everything in this book. Humor, romance, action, heartbreak and betrayal.

Can’t wait to see where the story takes us

I rate book one 3.5 ★

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oh, oh...... that can't be good 

Hmm wonder what really is going on with Kaden 

Wow... next please!!! 

Full review to come