The Kiss of Deception

Actual rating 3.5

Ok, huh, ok.

Where to start... oh, I know, the disclaimer: as usual this review will be filled with spoilers, proceed with caution.

Now, well... I had...uh, fun, but this book could've been way better. Too vague? Okey dokey.

The first half was awful.

I actually liked the main character, she was nice and not too swoony. I have to admit that I really liked that she picked up on the regular plebeian chores fast, I always find myself groaning internally at how some works paint nobility as clueless stupid people that can't do anything, as if their hands were broken by pampering, I mean, yeah, they've never done any work... like, ever, but really how hard can it be to sweep the floor, clean tables or put a kettle to boil (I'm looking at you, Downton Abbey). Of course I'm not saying that serving tables is easy but so it is for everyone, and also she was willing to learn. Short rant over.

The big problem is... nothing happened. From the moment they started running away I was hoping for one close encounter with a solider to spice thing up and... well, nothing. It's ok, I'm sure something will happen at the town... no? Alrighty, I guess when the prince and the assassin arrive something will happen... no? W-well I'm sure the assassin will try something, oh, he has fallen for her... but what about the princ- no, there he goes too. This is my cue for the rolling of eyes. Jesus, some of the writing was terrible... not disgustingly so but I definitely have various passages with notes saying only “eye roll” or “eye rolling intensifies” or even “hey! Is that my brain?”.

[insert here a screenshot of my notes while reading, but couldn't paste here because you can't put pictures from you camera roll and I was too lazy to create an account in imagur or something to upload pictures to the net]

I swear there was always something to roll my eyes at. And nothing happened. And then rolled my eyes a bit more, and some more nothing happened... For nearly 300 pages in a book 468 pages long. Nothing. I can't remember anything remotely important going on in this interlude and I know the romance was supposed to help but it was awfully boring, yes the author was building the character relationships and I would guess that the plan was that the romance would be enough to keep us occupied... because she needed to think how the rest of the book would go...? honestly, I have no idea why she made this part so long and slow and dragging. The only reason I was kept interested was the fact that Rafe was supposedly the assassin and that offered things going somewhere (pro-tip: when the promise of something, anything, happening is the only thing keeping the readers in, that's when you need re-examine some of your life choices)

Also, I hate to sound trite but I was so very annoyed at the love triangle I couldn't stop thinking how much better this would be without it. (I literally, and I mean literally, was in the shower thinking: she just should've left it out, this an obvious love triangle à la Twilight without the benefit of it being a pioneer). Yes, it indeed made the story intriguing later on but as I have said, the book's first half would have been loads better without it.

Now, I did have a ‘what if who we think this is is actually someone else' moment at the start of the novel but discarded the thought because the interesting conflicts Lia feeling greatly attracted to the assassin would bring were admittedly the only interesting conflicts anywhere near the horizon of this novel... so it's understandable that I wasn't surprised in the least when that reveal happened, and the rest of the book I wondered whether that was really the author's intent or it was just me reading carelessly. (I still do)

I like my romance sparkled throughout the story, and I specially like it when there's actually a story... and y'all know how important it is to me when done right... or wrong.
Luckily the novel picked up from here and got interesting. There were some touching moments and exciting reveals and character development.

Now, as per custom, some very specific sins:

* Oh, what's that? You're angry you don't love the guy before marrying? You're not angry you haven't even met the guy yet? But don't worry, he's not old nor decrepit or smelly, instead he's the handsomestest person you'll meet and you'll have an instant true love connection because of magic, no, seriously, ~magic~.
* “She's the most interestingest because she doesn't care about jewellery or clothes or getting dirty, she's so different from the rest, because girls that don't like girly things are the most interestingestest for some reason”
* Oh, these dudes have this shady vibes but yeah whatevs they sure are a fisherman and a farmer
* Yes, you love her, yes you've known her for three hours.
* No, she had no interest in these shady books she stole and that practically had her killed, not even a glimpse of curiosity, not even to know if these were the scholar's secret porn magazines stash. None, at all... that is, until it was convenient for the plot.
* No one is alarmed her friend is barely twenty and is already pregnant and a fugitive??
* Yes, I, too, am utterly tired of the misinterpreted relatives' affection scene as a lovers' encounter cliche. Quit it, find something new.