FROM AMAZON: The best-laid plans, even of princesses, can go awry...very, very awry.

Loved it!!!

Seventeen year old Saraid is on her way to Muaburni to marry it's leader and she is eager to show him what an accomplished queen she can be. She has studied The Book and prepared as much as she can to be queen but her travels are interrupted by Cadel, a young warlord, who forces her to question her goals. This is a lovely romance and even though this kind of tale has been told hundreds of times I still enjoyed it. The characters were engaging and the story was well told. I think the book would have benefited from some more editing. The writing wasn't always believable and there were several grammatical errors. All in all i thought the story was good and I would read a follow up but I think the writing needs to be cleaned up a bit. I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through the early reviewers program. ( )

Pretty darn good!
Saraid is the youngest princess of Thekla who must Journey to the far-off land of Mauburni to marry her betrothed Lord Commander. She is excited for the journey and has packed her most valuable possession... The Book which she has studied since adolescence on how to become the proper queen for her new husband. But the journey through the desert is long and throught with danger. Cadel is a warlord set on kidnapping the princess. When he does so, things start to get very complicated for Saraid and she must make a choice. Will she make the right choice for her new country and herself?
I feel like the story has been told before in so many different cultures with so many different players. however with that fact in mind I also think that this story was very well written. The banter between Saraid and Cadel is both humorous and awesome. Not as sweet & fuzzy as a lifetime film but definitely along those lines.
From the moment you start reading this book you dive into the world of this book which always makes for a really good story. The author writes in such a way that it pulls you right in from the very beginning and holds your attention until the end.
I enjoyed reading this story even though I felt like I had heard it being told before. It is a great tale and you always wonder about the choice to be made at the end.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a quick and easy read in the romance department 💕 ( )

From the moment I started this book, I fell into its world. I didn't feel that awkward strain that occurs when writers are trying to craft a new world and feel the need to pull an uncoordinated Tolkien and invent a messy language or something. I similarly immediately understood the heroine. Saraid is thinking through the tough decisions of adult life while still a bit of a child, and that is wonderful to see done well. The story itself isn't wholly novel: there's a lost king, a princess betrothed to a stranger, and an impending trade war. That did not stop this story from being exciting and captivating.

I was a bit worried about the main love interest at first. I found him a little emotionally manipulative, and I don't know that his reticence to explain himself was ever satisfactorily answered. But I just don't care. Much like Saraid, I ended up liking him and rooting for the two to finally sort out their priorities and see that they needed to be together. The book has just enough heat for teens to relate but not enough to see it banned from middle school libraries, and those scenes didn't suffer from awkward, contrived sexiness that bears no likeness to something that would happen in real life.

I really like how the big climax (funny word given my last sentence) focused on Saraid sorting out how to balance what she wanted and thought was right with being a good leader. It's convenient (and narratively oh-so-satisfying) that the unselfish choice led to her also getting what she wanted, but her thought process definitely showed how she weighed her decision and demonstrated her development as a human and a royal.

If you like stories like "Ella Enchanted," this will absolutely tickle the same fancy. It's also fairly short and not in a series, which is refreshing for this genre! ( )