This started out good but went downhill to annoying.

Male spy is hot headed and not as competent as his female colleague. And that combination means he does foolish things that cause problems. On top of the last 2/3 of the book is her saying ‘no I’m not marrying you’ and him being possessive, insistent, and causing trouble. And then there is the ‘you had sex once so you are pregnant’ bit.
But it all works out because she gets shooed off for a rest while he tells the people in charge about everything that happened, disinherits himself, and she finally agrees to marry him.

Irritating.

Not to mention all the crap with rape. Because there is a bunch of crap with rape. Also some generally problematic sex. ( )

This was a very quick read: once I started I didn't want to stop. I got very caught up in the intrigues of the two main characters and the danger they faced if their covers were blown.

That said, the world building needed some serious work. The plot focuses very tightly on the lives of Athan and Soliel, Laurentine spies in the enemy Corhonase citadel. Great for character development. But not so great for the larger picture. Questions I had were never addressed. Like: Just why were the two countries enemies? What was the bigger political picture?

And on a more philosophical question: Which side was on the right? The POV characters were Laurentine so of course sympathies naturally lie there. But the Corhonase were not evil. Their culture had problematic elements... but then so did Laurentine's.

In the end I had to give in to the inevitable and accept the book was never going to be a larger political epic. Instead, it was a snapshot in the lives of two spies finding their way through danger together. That story was satisfying at least. ( )

I found this an enjoyable read, particularly the first two-thirds, which are driven primarily by the tension of the premise: spies in the court of an enemy kingdom, who meet anonymously and thus don't recognize one another when they meet in public, struggling to fulfill their mission before a cruel spycatcher finds them out. I found the last third of the book was somewhat less satisfying as it seemed to rely more on the interpersonal angst of the main characters to provide tension. For me, this worked best as a thrilling spy adventure. I found the prose very readable and it drew me deep into the world right away. I would be interested to read more by this author!

Note: This is an adult novel, and contains plenty of adult content.

Turns out it's mostly a romance. It was okay. ( )

I loved the plot intrigue in this book, suitable for those that sometimes get flumoxed by too many charachters, they are quite distinguishable. This book stands well on it's own. I'd love to see a sequel though where it would go... This is a romance story, the age range would be hard to pin point, it's would not really appeal to most adults, I would place Saliel and Athan in their early 20's though, may appeal to the older teen, there are some scenes of a sexual nature that may not be appropriate for younger readers. ( )