Review: Engrossing tale
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 5, 2014
I just finished this book and can say that it's one of my favorites not just by this author but also of anyone I've so far read in the m/m genre.  The story starts out with Vellem traveling to a rival nation in order to marry Prince Perdith and secure peace after years of war between their countries.  It starts out with the same premise as your regular marriage of convenience tale, but quickly takes a dark turn with assassination attempts.  And when tragedy strikes during their wedding ball, you quickly realize that this isn't going to be your standard fluff piece with no substance.The story is rife with likable characters.  I actually mourned the loss of one particular character who was lost so early on, but it would have been unrealistic if everyone survived.  Those who are fans of m/m romances where the main couple just jump into bed soon after meeting will be disappointed, but those who prefer slower build romances will enjoy this hopefully as I did.  Though I'm aware there are some who felt the romance was rushed and somewhat tepid, it didn't feel that way to me.  Probably because I'm used to this kind of thing from reading far too many historical romances... I kind of thought it was somewhat more realistic seeing as theirs was a marriage of convenience, and both men are of a practical nature. It should also be noted that this has rather explicit content when Vellem and Perdith eventually come together, something which surprised me as I wasn't expecting it based on previous stories I'd read by the author.  Be aware though that it doesn't happen till much later in the story.  This is more of a standard fantasy novel rather than one that focuses solely on the romance aspect.I loved the fact that Vellem had moments where he was the opposite of what you would expect as the 'hero' of the story.  He made decisions and executed actions that were brutal, but were also in keeping with his background and the backdrop of war the story takes place in.  He had moments of insecurity which made him human, and since the story is told from his POV, you can at least understand his actions.  I also loved his relationship with his brother, Koit, and enjoyed all of their interactions.As I mentioned, this has a likable cast and I found Bertin and Kestel especially interesting.  They had chemistry leaping off the page even though they were in only a handful of scenes together, just begging for their own tale.The setting has medieval, regency, and middle earth elements.  There are dragons, and mentions of faeries, goblins, trolls and ogres, although save for the dragons, those other creatures don't make an actual appearance in the story.Anyway, well worth the money I spent on the book.  There were some (minor) grammatical errors / typos / missing words here and there but they didn't really distract me all that much.  Yes, it's not perfect, but I'm still giving it 5 stars as I enjoyed it completely.