This is probably my favorite of the author's books that I've read. Well, maybe tied with her very first book. Either way, it was good. The world building was pretty well done and the characters - and there were many - were, for the most part, interesting. I'd definitely pick up the next in the sequel to see where things progress. Oh! And there are no cliffhangers, which I really appreciate.

I received the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This reader's personal opinion, ©2015, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by Google Play, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers* 

Shock and awe.  I absolutely love this series--and am not likely to be able to write a coherent review, any attempt at even starting to talk about what happens is likely to be just a series of spoiler tags.  In fact, if you haven't read the earlier works, read no further.  I think I managed avoiding spoilers for this particular book except as tagged; but, it definitely contains series spoilers.

Glad I held off reading until last hours of Saturday's Dewey's Readathon -- both because easily kept me reading and because the book hangover of this world staying with me would have made reading another book immediately after very difficult. 

Starting with the aftermath of last book's ending:

This reader's personal opinion, ©2015, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by Google Play, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers* 

I'm not ready to start another book yet.  Major book hangover from this one.  I know I stayed up way too late reading when I open to find things I highlighted/noted for this review and the text on ereader had been enlarged to a huge size.

"And as Paksenarrion is there, perhaps she will ride back

with me to Fin Panir to see the necklace."

This series is one of my favorite to read; this series is one of my least favorite to review.  Just hard to explain exactly why such a favorite.  I doubt any if my reviews for this series make a lot of sense. This one had more gnomes.

Harper Price is perfect. She's homecoming queen, captain of cheer squad and her boyfriend is the hottest guy on campus. Nothing can go wrong. That is until a run-in with a strange man who imbues her with Paladin powers and puts her in charge of her nemesis David Stark. The David Stark who mercilessly makes her life a living hell and the boy she might be falling for (gasp!).

This book was so much fun. Harper is an adorable heroine, a little bit of an overachiever but totally likeable, smart and funny. She's also a prude - PDA is vile and she does not cuss. If she were a real person I don't think we'd get along very well. David is the anti-hero. He's moody, insufferable and wears really tight pants (he's a hipster and of course that disturbs Harper's delicate sensibilities). He's also nephew to the school principal and editor on the school paper.

I had a lot of fun reading this book despite the fact that the ending was sort of rushed and the bad guys felt really random. You know, like, toss a bad guy in just for kicks. The book also seemed to put a lot of focus into Harper's messed up love life. Ryan aka The Perfect Boyfriend on one hand and David the Archnemesis on the other. Normally I'd be irritated by this but not this time. Rebel Belle was just too much fun. And you just know that Hawkins is totally setting readers up for the next book with the way Rebel Belle ended. Oh what a fine mess our adorable heroine is in.

Let me just add that the secondary characters were boring too but eh, who needs them. David and Harper were my sole focus so I couldn't really care less. And nobody needs a bunch of cheerleaders with super powers please.

Anyway I'd definitely recommend this to readers looking for a light, fun urban fantasy. Also suitable for those who'd like to ease themselves into the genre, I think.

Disclaimer: ARC courtesy Netgalley and Osprey publishing.  Also the book is illustrated but the ARC did not include all the illustrations.  What illustrations there were great, but since not all were present I won’t be mentioning the illustrations in the review below.

                My favorite Charlemagne stories are, without a doubt, the Italian Romances that feature the woman paladin Bradamante.  There is also an adult level of humor in these translations.            

   This volume in Osprey’s excellent series of Myths and Legends does mention the Italian Romances, yet does not include the R rated bits, making it an excellent introduction to the legends and history of Charlemagne and his knights.