The Kiss of Deception

The Kiss of Deception: Mary E. Pearson

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

GUESS WHAT I HAVE A NEW BOOK ON MY FAVORITES LIST AND IT'S THIS ONE! Ugh, it was sooooo good. So I picked it up like a few months ago and read the first chapter, for some reason I wasn't really into it and the book was kind of long so I wasn't ready to make the commitment to it. I'm not sure what made me go back to it. Well I did and I couldn't put it down, my days were consumed with thoughts of this book. Haha are you judging me? I'm judging me. 

There is so much tension in the first half that I was loving. It kept switching from Lia's, the prince's, and the assassin's point of view. The prince just wants to go see this princess who didn't want to marry him, he didn't even want to talk to her. The assassin gets paid to slit her throat. Can the prince stay away? Can the assassin still go through with slitting her throat after seeing her? My initial first impression after that: 

"I wasn't sure whether to admire her or plan a slower, more painful death for the royal renegade."

It's SO much more than a generic love triangle book, though!! There is something much deeper unfolding beneath the initial plot that you can sense but can't put your finger on. I found myself paging back through the book several times to make sure I wasn't missing something. THEN around page 300 my reaction was just:

"I could almost laugh at Father's suggestion of taking a mistress after the wedding. This girl could make the whole royal court and half the king's army regret such a decision."

What is wrong with this book? Nothing that comes to mind. I loved every little bit of it. I just kept wanting more and more. All of the characters were so exciting - even ones that played tiny parts. They were severely unique, nothing like I've ever read before. That is something refreshing, because now you read a book and you see bits and parts of other novels pieced together into one. I could never predict what was going to happen through the whole book even though I kept trying. Words can't even describe how much I loved this book which was sort of surprising to me because I've never read historical fiction, if that's what it even is. I would classify it as 3/4 historical fiction and 1/4 fantasy. Regardless: 5 amazing stars!! 

"I will find you…

In the farthest corner…

I will find you."