The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can’t abide. She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan. She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor’s secret collection. “Fantastical.” -USA Today She flees on her wedding day. I was so completely thrown by it that I almost felt the need to go back and re-read the first half of the book with this new information in mind.The first book of the New York Times bestselling Remnant Chronicles. At one point in the book (more than halfway!) there is a major twist that absolutely turned everything I thought I knew about this book upside down. I can’t wait to read the next book to find out! This is a great example of a book where you aren’t exactly sure if the villains are really bad (at least most of them) and it leaves you wondering what might happen next. But, she can’t necessarily forgive their actions (and neither can we). Lia sees their suffering and sympathizes with them when she learns of the type of life they have led. This is one of those cases – after all, the assassin is one of the love interests in the book! Even though there are certain characters who are definitely “bad guys,” they aren’t dehumanized. If you’ve read my reviews in the past, you know that I love it when the lines between the heroes and the villains in a book are blurry. The love triangle was there, but it wasn’t frustrating or overwhelming – I thought it was perfectly done! I found her attraction to both men and her occasional straying thoughts to be realistic. She makes a choice and, for the most part, sticks with it.

But Lia doesn’t spend the whole book waffling between the two men. There is a slight love triangle aspect to this book – both the assassin and the prince catch Lia’s eye and they both fall for her. She especially shows true strength of character in the second half of the book, when she must face extremely difficult circumstances and never gives up hope. And, though she does what is best for her, she doesn’t do it without thought to the people around her – and ultimately, when she realizes the true impact of her actions, she’s willing to make sacrifices for others. Even though Lia grew up as a princess, she is happy to live an ordinary life and doesn’t balk at hard work or at tasks that might seem beneath her. In some ways she was selfish – after all, she put her own happiness above the good of the kingdom – but you could certainly understand and sympathize with her when she makes this decision. She was strong and determined, but not without flaws.

The kiss of deception review