Princess Faraine has been shunned by her people and sent to live in a convent, but when her sister is affianced to the Shadow King Vor, she is brought from the convent by her father to attend her sister and make sure the marriage he wants happens. Faraine and Vor meet on the road when he saves she and her brother from some disreputable Fae and make a connection but knowing a relationship with her would not help his kingdom he chooses her sister to marry.

I have a weakness for romantic-fantasy novels and was really pleased with this plot, characters, and their world. Silvia Mercedes spun a really interesting take on an arranged marriage trope- most likely because their two worlds were so vastly different and viewing those differences through Faraine’s eyes held my attention. Needless to say, the above summation of the plot wasn’t exactly how the story played out but the betrayals and deceit were balanced out by heroics and good deeds making both Faraine and Vor easy to root for because they were so likable.

Some of my favorite moments were prior to the “wedding” when Vor and his people were experiencing the strangeness of Faraine’s world, and then when Faraine was in the depths of Vor kingdom and she was discovering the differences in her new home. Those small details are for me what makes good world building so great and this author did a nice job of painting a picture for the reader, not only of the characters, but of their surroundings. These details gave the book such a nice roundness. As this is a re-release, I immediately go the second novel and continued to read their story- and it was just as good.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

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