Musings on Romance
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of The Sea King by CL Wilson. One of those books I was prepared to lose sleep over. Loved it. (But there is a very dark section about 1/2-2/3 in and it might be too much for some readers and some things which made me a little uncomfortable as well. I loved it anyway.)
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Wardance by Elizabeth Vaughan. My advice? Read/re-read the earlier books before reading this one. It doesn’t stand-alone well.
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet. Book 1 in the Kingmaker Chronicles, this is not the complete story so don’t expect everything to be resolved at the end. However, there are no cliffhangers and there’s a lot to like. It has a whiff of Kate Daniels and a more than a smidge of Captive Prince while being unique and different.
Why I read it: It was a gift. Lucky me!
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): It’s difficult to describe this book. Part of the joy of it is watching the plot unfold and go in unexpected directions. The blurb doesn’t give much away but one really doesn’t need to know much more to dive in. For those who might need a little more, I’ll talk about the plot a bit further however.
Agnieszka is at first completely confused as to why she was chosen by the Dragon. It doesn’t appear the Dragon is very happy about it and she has no idea what to expect. To find out that she has magic is an absolute surprise. What is not a surprise to her however, is that her magic doesn’t work in the same way as other magic users. Agnieszka is always untidy and clumsy. She can walk from one room to the other and rip her dress, stain her hem and spill something on the carpet, all without trying. She’s messy and untidy and terrible at simple spells. However, when The Wood mounts a concerted attack against Polnya and her beloved valley, she is forced to learn how her magic works very quickly and the Dragon finds unexpected help. When the Dragon is called away and her best friend Kasia is taken, reckless, impulsive, fierce and loyal Agnieszka risks herself for her friend. As The Wood’s corrupt influence grows, Agnieszka finds herself in increasingly desperate straits and things very definitely get worse before they get better. Continue reading
Why I read it: This was recommended by many Twitter friends so I bought it.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.
THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.
Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): My Twitter friends were right. I liked Radiance very much. The conflict is mostly external and the romance is really quite delightful.
Ildiko and Brishen both knew they would be expected to marry for political alliance rather than affection and both are resigned to their fate. Nevertheless, each has some misgivings about marrying someone from another species. This is the first inter-species romance I have read and I appreciated that the first look at “other” was from Brishen’s point of view. It was the humans I was seeing as different and the descriptions were apt and amusing but they also served to relax me into the “other” of the Kai (the species to which Brishen belongs). Continue reading
I’m over at Dear Author today with a review of Liesmith by Alis Franklin. If you’re familiar with Norse mythology then this might be just up your alley.
© 2024 Kaetrin’s Musings
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
