Book One - The Kiss of Deception - The Remnant Chronicles

Holy crap, batman. This book, y'all. It's like this crazy hodgepodge of things all smushed together in a neat little ball that totally came at me and knocked me down. It's fantasy, but it's more. It's a romance, but it's more. It's just a lot of good things. Except one thing. The love triangle, but more on that later. Let's return to the gushing.

You know whenever a main character just has it? (As if I know what it is. I clearly do not have it.) That's Lia. As I read The Kiss of Deception, I was practically decked out in a cheerleading uniform complete with pompoms. Lia is a great protagonist. She's the type that I hope younger girls look up to. Lia worked for this story, and this story worked for Lia.

Now, the downside. Even though this book is without a doubt a five star read for me, there's a love triangle. I never like them. Not ever, not even once. I think they're boring, repetitive, and frankly, they just plain piss me off. The one in The Kiss of Deception is no exception. I felt like it hindered the story more than it contributed to it.

The Kiss of Deception transcends the young adult age group. It's a story that can be enjoyed by any one of any age. It's a perfect example of what a high fantasy book should be like. If you've never read a fantasy book but you're curious about the genre, read The Kiss of Deception. It's the perfect introduction to an amazing genre.

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review with no compensation.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
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At its core, The Kiss of Deception is a swoon-worthy romance. Not a bad thing for me, but it’s definitely not a “high fantasy,” as it is labeled. That being said, it could easily turn into a high fantasy in book 2. (We will see…because I’m obviously getting the sequel.) Plus, we all know genre labels are just for marketing anyway. wink emoticon
I enjoyed The Kiss of Deception a lot. I loved the cheese. There’s a lot of cheese...goat cheese in particular. (That’s a joke for fellow readers.) And I was absolutely blown away by one of the twists. I literally stopped and went “WHAAAAA?” I had to turn back in the book to see how the hell I missed something as huge as that. Mary E. Pearson successfully confused me in the web of deception. Well done, Mary. Well done.
In regards to this web, here’s what you can expect: a runaway princess, a chasing prince, a hired assassin, lots of loooooove, and tensions between some seriously violent countries. On top of that, we get to see the places in between the countries, and that aspect was one of my favorite parts of the entire novel. That and the excerpts from the ancient texts (and ultimately how they get threaded in).
There is a lot of slowdown in the center of the book, where she’s really just trying to be a regular girl (a waitress at that), and while I read many complaints about it, I enjoyed it. I liked seeing this “princess” cliché dragged down to just a normal girl learning how to be herself. It was awkward, delightful, and pretty fun. It made for a quick and light read, which I thought fit her tone for what she wanted most during that time period in her life. It also lead up to a bigger, personal sacrifice, a depth in her maturity, and a striking ending filled with desperation and…of course…more deception.
All that being said, I do wish the author had slowed down on certain action-packed scenes. While waitressing and love scenes were long, a lot of the action scenes were short. There was one violent scene I thought was tremendously important, but it was summed up so quickly I almost felt like we didn’t get the impact of it all. However, the follow-up to that scene was tear-worthy, and I suppose the pacing kept the voice in tact. I can only hope we get more in book 2!
Looking forward to the sequel,
~SAT
Recommended to: Romance and light fantasy readers. If you love a good fairy tale with a princess who doesn’t want to be a princess in it, you’ll love this story. Must love cheese.
Favorite Quote: Sometimes a gift requires great sacrifice, but we can no more turn our backs on it than will our hearts not to beat.

Let's talk about first impressions--they are IMPORTANT.

If, for example, you start reading a new book, and the first glimpses you get of ALL THREE main characters are less than flattering, you might be tempted to toss said book aside in disgust and hope the next one goes better.

YES. You might.

And honestly, in this situation, I would not blame you. Not even a little bit.

So here's the deal--I'm not one of those the-less-romance-the-better types. I'm the opposite, in fact. In most cases, a book completely devoid of romance is a book I will almost certainly find lacking. That being said, I don't like romance tossed in willy nilly, b/c, this book needs romance, so, "Hey! You two over there! Yeah, you! Make googly eyes at each other. I don't care if it doesn't make sense, just do it! Thaaaat's it, muuuuuchhh better."

In fantasy, one of the most common ways for romance to play out is the Arranged Marriage scenario. Neither party is happy about it, but something IMPORTANT is at stake, so two self-sacrificing souls agree to wed for the greater good. Then, despite the obvious unfairness of their situation, stuff happens, they fall in love, and they live HEA.

And this makes you happy, b/c SELF-SACRIFICE.

But what if Princess is a narcissistic little brat who not only runs away from her arranged marriage, but drags one of her good friends along with her?

B/c who cares that the only way to ensure the safety of her family and the general population in the face of a barbarian invasion is to keep with tradition and unite her family with Prince's family, b/c NEITHER family has the strength to survive alone?

Not Princess. *frowns*

And not only does she not care, she laughs ALL THE TIME. Ah-ha-ha-ha laughs. Like Keira Knightley ruining Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. "Running away equals TREASON to my hard-case father, who had my cousin hanged for desertion and buried him in an unmarked grave along with his mother (hard-case father's SISTER), who threw herself off a cliff in despair."

Ah-ha-ha-ha.

*flares nostrils*

Oh, and Prince only agrees to the marriage b/c his father tells him he can take a mistress.

And don't even get me started on Reluctant Assassin.<------if you're going to be an assassin, you need to frickin' OWN IT.

BUT despite ALL of that, I kept reading. And it got better.

Nathan over at Fantasy Review Barn recently used the term "grab-bag" in one of his reviews, and I'm totally stealing it, b/c that's exactly what's going on here. We've got corrupt advisers to the monarch, a foreign, misunderstood queen who keeps IMPORTANT secrets from her daughter, gypsy caravans, a too-young soldier who bonds with his captive, etc.

Oh, and there's also a TIGER. Can't forget about the (random) tiger.

So what's Princess doing now that she's the master of her own destiny?

Working at an inn as a barmaid. YEP. Freedom RAWKS. And it seems like she'd be content to stay there doing honest work forever, but that would be boring, so a Bad Thing happens that probably could have been avoided if she hadn't run away from her responsibilities, so of course, she blames herself (b/c it's her fault), and she resolutely decides to return home, leaving behind the "farmhand" she's fallen in love with.

And it all goes downhill from there. The situation, not the story. The story, despite it's lack of anything new or original, is surprisingly entertaining, and I'll probably read the next book--who knows what bits and pieces will be thrown together in the next installment, right? I'd recommend this book to anyone who isn't a termagant like I am, and who thinks it's ridiculous to place the responsibilities of two kingdoms on the shoulders of a teenager.

I pretty much agree with the other 1- and 2-star reviews. The book was--simply put--very boring. Nothing happened in what felt like forever and for so long that I caught myself skimming and skipping entire pages to get to an exciting part. Why did it fail? Well, it wasn't the plot because that one had potential. It was the writing itself. The author spent way too much time describing trivial things like chopping an onion or taking a bath or braiding hair. Too many details of things that didn't matter, didn't move the plot along. Needless to say that I didn't finish the book - I shouldn't have to force myself to read on.

The LOVE STORY was predictable and many things were just so cliché. The "she secretly meets her brother in the woods and the love interest(s) think he's her lover", or the classic "I shouldn't love her because [insert anything from family, history, duty, etc.]", or my favorite one "everything's different now because... ehh.. cos she's pretty? I guess I love her now!" There's no real build-up either: pages of nothing, then a few conversations about berries, and suddenly it's the big love. Sorry, I just didn't feel it.

The main character Lia wasn't really likable either. I didn't hate her, but I certainly did not feel with or for her. First off, I don't really support the "running from something that could help save lives for selfish gain." It's not a very smart way to deal with anything. And second, she did something really big, really grave that I find shocking and wrong no matter how pure the intention. SPOILER Lia tells her best friend Pauline that the love of her life died rather than telling her the truth, which is that he is a liar and cheater and doesn't love Pauline back. In what world can it possibly be okay to assume that death would be easier to deal with than betrayal? That was a big turn-off for me. SPOILER END

As a side note, the book is written in 1st person POV but switching between all three characters. I personally didn't enjoy the switching as much because it gave too much away - I basically knew at all times what all three characters were feeling and thinking, so it didn't leave much up for imagination, dreams, or hopes. To me, half the fun of a love story is to not know what he thinks or feels when he looks at her, touches her. At the same time though, I felt like I didn't know the characters at all.

The Kiss of Deception is the story of Lia, Princess of the Kingdom of Morrighan. She is to marry a prince she never met from a neighbor country, and is fiercely against it. But her parents are willing to give their daughter away without as much as allowing her an opinion, so she decides to take matters into her own hands – and runs away on her wedding day.

As the news of her escape reach other kingdoms, the Prince she was supposed to marry is intrigued about her and decides to find her and satiate his curiosity – at the same time, an assassin is out to find her as well, and both arrive together in the tavern where she now works under disguise. Not knowing who either of these new strangers are, Lia finds herself falling in love with one of them…

I debated giving this book 3 stars for a long time. It’s got everything to make it a meh or even bad book, and so many tropes I could write an entire post just about them. There was just so much I wondered a few times if the author was trying to win some sort of Guinness World Record for book with most clichés. So, coldly thinking, I wanted to give it 3 stars. But I must confess: this book was so entertaining I could hardly put it down.

The characters are mostly flat, with predictable personalities. Apart from Lia, who was the most complex character of the book, although not quite “complex” as much as “not entirely flat”, everyone else just felt like I had seen those exact characters twenty times before. The world development also felt generic, as well as most of the plot. But!

The writing was done really well, it’s quite gripping and I was never bored while reading. The story sucks you right in, and you never feel like it’s being narrated to you, but (maybe because of the 1st person POV), it feels like seeing the story unfold through the characters’ eyes. I really enjoyed the friendship of the women working in the tavern, and how they supported and respected each other. It was nice to see that in a book for a change. My favorite part is the last third, when Lia finally becomes a little less selfish and develops into a more interesting and dignified character. There was far more adventure, magic and less swooning than in the rest of the book. It ends in a very high note – I have high hopes for the rest of the series.

If you know what you’re in for, this book is great: it’s mainly a romance, with some action and adventure, and a fantasy background. It’s basically a chick lit, don’t be mistaken about that and don’t expect high fantasy, or bad-ass super powerful Princess battling with magic to save her people – it seems to me that book #2 might have Lia as a more powerful character, but for book #1 she was basically waiting tables a lot and wondering about kissing boys, and not so much wondering about how she ruined a political alliance with the other Kingdom. It was such a good guilty pleasure reading!

Also, during the first half of the book the author tries to keep you guessing about who’s the assassin and who is the prince, but it seemed quite obvious to me. The idea was interesting, but the characters were too cliché to make it a difficult task to guess who is who.

There are many things that don’t completely make sense in this book: why did Lia think the peace between Kingdoms was less important than marrying the love of your life, the Prince tracking her down just for his own curiosity, how the Prince and the Assassin arrived together where Lia worked despite the Assassin having to cover way more ground to get there, etc…

But I loved it anyways and I am itching to read the next ones.

Veredict: I recommend this book if you’re in for some guilty-pleasure style romance set in fantasy. If you prefer high fantasy and dislike romance books, stay away from this one.

This Kiss of Deception is the first novel in The Remnant Chronicles. Many people I know completely adore this series and its characters. I had heard nothing but wonderful things about this series, so I went into the first book with excitement. Sadly, for me though, the first novel in this series fell flat.

Lia runs away from her kingdom on her wedding day and takes shelter as a barmaid in another city. She quickly meets an assassin (who has been sent to kill her) and a prince (whom she was supposed to marry). The rest of the novel is more or less the two men falling for Lia and Lia falling into lust with the two men. There is a lot of smirking and a lot of looking. There are some hints that Lia may actually have prophet/seer powers, but that doesn't go anywhere in this novel. Basically the novel is just one boring love triangle.

Also, I have to say this - the novel is nearly 500 pages and it was really slow. The first couple of chapters and the last few pages were intense, but the middle was all routine: Lia works, Lia flirts with the men, the men think about Lia, and we start again. Things do pick up toward the end, but by then I had more or less lost interest.

There are some hints that things could be more complex and interesting in the next novel. So. . .maybe there is some hope.

****** BEWARE THIS CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS******
I am really happy that I picked this book series up. I bought all three books from Target after having reading the free sampler online that gives you the first couple of chapters. I was intrigued from the get go but was unsure about the elaborate word use for this magical land. I am really happy that I decided to just jump in with both feet. After having finished it I must say that it was a great read. I don't have any issues with the (some call it) love triangle in this story. It doesn't really seem to be one in my opinion but I can see why others may have an issue with it. I love the main character, Lia. She is strong willed and passionate. She is a caring person and I can relate to her. I got a little teary-eyed when she assisted a boy assassin with the task of killing his "dying" horse. I think in the end I am happy that she ended up falling for the Prince she was meant to marry in the beginning but not knowing he was the Prince at the time. I will admit the book started off a little slow for the first part of her getting ready for the wedding but once her and her ladies maid, Pauline, took off for a new life the book began picking up it's pace. There were a couple of things that threw me off, first one being was during Chapter 6 when Pauline and Lia were in their new land, Terravain and they were bonding more with their new life, they were discussing "first kisses". The subject of Pauline's beau, Mikael had come up and she gave the impression that she never kissed him. Yet, in a few chapters later we find out that Pauline is pregnant (in later chapters to find out that it is Mikael's baby). So if she never kissed him, how can she be pregnant with his child? And the opposite spectrum, if that was not the case then why would she lie to Lia about that? To me, that just didn't make sense. Also, for some reason, the characters would not openly talk about Pauline's pregnancy. I mean even Lia to herself during her reflection time wouldn't come out and say, "with child" or "pregnant". Not sure why? They would just say things like, "Pauline was ready to start preparing for life", "I felt movement in her stomach", "Pauline retched up her entire morning meal". Well, as the reader we know what this all means but it was weird that the characters wouldn't say it. Next, the little snippets of psalms or poems or songs, whatever they were, in-between chapters coming from texts from Gaudrel and Venda and Morrighan were very confusing because no reference to them were in the story it was only towards the end that I was able to get more insight into what these ancient texts were. But while reading it was very confusing and I didn't understand who was talking to whom and what the child they were referencing was. I wish more introductions were given to those rather than just throwing those as page fillers. Something had told me that this book would leave off on a cliff hanger and it did. I guess I have "the gift" !! Hehehee I am not a fan of cliff hangers but seeing as I already have the next installments I am not going to complain. I liked the trials that Lia went through during this book and how I was able to see the insight of her thoughts. I also liked the many different prospective coming from the other main characters in the story that way you could see what they were doing or thinking. The writing style was easy for me to follow and I liked this idea. I am not sure what time period this book is supposed to be in but I kept getting an olden days vibe. Like the 17th century. All in all I really liked the book and I am eager to start the next book in the series.

***More reviews on Off to Amazing Places Blog .com***

Hi, it's Aashna! Today I am going to be reviewing The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson. This book has been hyped up to the extreme, and I am pleased to say that it definitely lived up to it. It was exactly what I needed: an intricate fantasy book with high tensions and plot twists. A lot of what people were talking about was the massive plot twist at the end, and I don't know why, but it didn't surprise me at all. I mean I could see why it could be surprising, it just didn't surprise me. There were amazing characters and a nice world set up. There were so many details and layers I just wanted to keep uncovering. I could not put this down, for good reason too.

Across the board there were great characters. The main character started out a little iffy. I thought she was actually a brat, and I wasn't expecting my opinion to change so much. The character development was top notch. I saw the girl from the beginning of the story transform into, not a stranger, but a better, stronger version of herself. The supporting characters were very well done. I was interested in them, yet they did not steal our heroine's spotlight, as it should be done. I do also think that Pearson managed to give them all a history and depth, without spending too much time on them.

What a rollercoaster of a plot! There was always something happening that was beneficial to the overall arc. I never felt like scenes were added just to pad the length. We had a clear beginning, middle, and end. It also was not too all over the place. It was contained within its own boundaries, focused on its own issues. The story felt like a classic princess story, yet still managed to feel completely new.

While the romance has been a point for much praise, I was not it's biggest fan. This book combined my two most hated romantic clichés: insta-love and the love triangle. I think it reflects poorly on the main character to be falling for two people at the same time. It was interesting how she didn't now who was her prince and who was her assassin, but that wasn't enough to save this. And the insta-love thing. Do I even need to speak about it again? It's overused and DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. Yes, the men were swoon-worthy. No, there was not time for any love to develop, whatsoever.

This is a great book, which deserves 4 stars. I had so much fun reading it and have already highly recommended it to many of my friends. I have no idea what's going to go down next, and I cannot pick up the next book fast enough. If I had to have one thing happen in the next book, I would just hope that this romance sorts itself out. I'm done with the necessary drama.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope you will join me again as we go off to amazing places.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson is one of those books that caught my attention immediately because of the cover and title. I liked how mysterious the cover looked with the silhouette of a girl who is turned away from the reader, with green skies like foreshadowing some bad event to come. The title portrays the same type of theme as the cover, something good being followed by a deception of something bad which is really exciting for me as I look for interesting reads.

What kept me interested in this novel was mostly due to the fact that Princess Lia was no cowering princess resigned to sit in her place and follow the duty of her position as First Daughter. Instead she is determined to take control of her own destiny and find her own happiness. And this right here is why this novel was so amazing. It had the concept there throughout the book, yet how it was executed really differentiated this book from others in similar categories and with similar storylines.

1. Princess Lia
I've already mentioned how she is more of a kick-butt princess than a sit behind the scenes but I can't emphasize how much I love this trope. Lia might have grown up surrounded with riches and simpering lords and ladies, but this doesn't stop her from going out on her own path and taking up the roll of a commoner in a small town who takes orders for food, cleans the pots and pans, as well as the bedrooms like so many others.

Yet enters two mysterious characters that change Lia's whole story and impact her life in a big way, more than she could foresee.

2. Two Mysterious Characters
The Prince:
Our first main character we are introduced to is The Prince. The Prince is the guy Lia ran away from on her (their?) wedding day when she decided to pursue her own life outside of her role as the First Daughter. The Prince is determined to hunt her down for reasons he himself doesn't know, spite? Jealousy because Lia thought of running away and actually went through with it before he could? There are a lot of different reasons the Prince would be interested in seeing Lia, but what will he do when he finally finds her... well you will just have to read and find out ;) .

The interesting part of this book really enters with The Prince in The Assassin
You see, it isn't clear (or at least it wasn't for me) which of the two men who enter our story is the Assassin, and which is the Prince. Let me just tell you, I was using every clue the book gave to help me identify which was which. From the way they looked at Lia, to the way they walked, and even interacted with the other characters, I tried to analyze each aspect in order to find the truth. But this book keeps the secret because when the truth was revealed, I literally couldn't be more shocked.

The Assassin:
The Assassin has a very interesting role within The Kiss of Deception. He is the mystery character from a land very different from the one of Lia and The Prince. He's on a mission to kill Lia in order to keep the balance between the two countries of Lia and The Prince off kilter and to the benefit of his own. Yet his mission goes awry when he actually meets Lia...

Overall I freaking loved this book and am mad at myself for waiting so long to finally read it. I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series and see what will happen next to Lia, The Prince, and The Assassin!

I had been wanting to read this book for years, and I finally picked it up on a whim when I was craving something fantastical to read. I'm so glad I finally read this because it was lovely and just what I needed.

Princess Lia is your typical princess, about to be given as a bride to the prince of a neighboring kingdom in order to secure a political alliance. But Lia doesn't want to marry a man she hasn't even met, so she runs away on the day of her wedding. She flees to a small town in the south of her kingdom, ready to live by her own rules. As she lives in hiding, working as a waitress in an inn, two strangers come looking for her: a prince, who Lia ran away from and refused to marry, and an assassin, whose job is to quietly kill her.

One day, Lia meets both of these men, completely unaware of their true identities, and befriends them. They both bide their time in the town, watching Lia, waiting . . . falling in love. One of the best assets of this book is that the reader does not know who the assassin is and who the prince is either. I loved trying to piece together the clues (and my speculations were correct) to deduce who was who.

This book has a classically fantastical atmosphere. While magic is alluded to and vaguely referenced, there isn't any direct magic that takes place in this book. At first I kept waiting for magical things to happen, but then I sensed the underlying magic present in the story itself, and in the writing. The magic is subtle, but if you look closely, you will find it. Nevertheless, the story still has the feel of a fantasy book.

Pearson's writing in this story is beautiful, and she writes each character with such depth. Lia goes through one of the best character arcs that I've read, changing and growing in every chapter. The story begins with her as a stereotypical naive princess, but that's the point because otherwise her growth wouldn't be as spectacular. She develops into an independent woman who can defend herself and learn from others. Rafe and Kaden also develop drastically as the story progresses, with their morals being challenged and their loyalties being questioned. The boys have to learn for themselves where their duties lie and what paths their futures hold.

My biggest complaint about this book is the map in the front. The map is clearly not to scale, and it irked me to no end. When maps are present in books, I rely heavily on them, charting my way across the world with the characters. They help me get a clear picture of where events are happening and where characters are going. But this map only confused me because of how inaccurate it is. Don't take it too seriously if you use it while reading this series because you'll just have the same problem I did.

Overall, The Kiss of Deception was quite enjoyable. I had a fun time reading it, trying to guess who was the assassin and who was the prince, and how the story would play out (because I really had no idea where the premise would lead me). I loved watching Lia grow into a strong princess deserving of her title, and I can't wait to see how BA she'll be in the next book. Book one left off at the perfect spot for book two, and I can't wait to start reading that next.

This was my first book by Mary E. Pearson.I will be reading more. Moving on to the next book in this series.

I loved this book so much. I am so invested in the lives of these characters. I have not been pulled in this much I read Caraval last year. I can't believe it took me so long to pick this series up. I have loved these covers and I own the books but it wasn't until I seen it on my library so I picked it up.

Lira doesn't like feeling trapped in a Kingdom where she can no be who she wants to be and love who she wants to love. She runs away but before she left, she stole something from the kingdom and now, not only is she being by the prince that she was supposed to wed but also a hired an assassin for the item she stole.

I do really enjoy the love story that unfolds by Lira and Rafe, the prince (which Lira is no aware is the prince)

I also love the story of Pauline. She was such a faithful friend to Lira. I think it would be a great spin off to write about Pauline and let her have her won story. But I haven't finished the rest of the books yet so the story of Pauline may change. (No spoilers please) :)

This book was a page turner. I could not listen to this book fast enough. It was so good. All I could do when I got off work was pop in my ear buds and listen to this and I would even go to bed early just to lay in my bed to listen to it.

I highly recommend this book.

This book is very specifically for those who want a love triangle romantic story focused on the characters that doesn't give you instant gratification. For that audience, it's very good at what it does, with some criticism towards the weak points of the heroine. For those who just like their romance on the side of a fuller story, this isn't for you. Be prepared for a cliffhanger, though the three books of the series are finished so you can plow through if you really like it!

Lia is a princess bargained off to marry a prince of a rival kingdom in order to secure peace, but as her wedding nears, she instead runs away with her best friend to live as a barmaid with dreams of falling in love. Enter two love interests. One is sent to kill her, and the other is the betrothed prince who tracked her down. The story goes back and forth mostly between Lia and one of the males, though his identity is hidden till the end, leaving you speculating on who is who (could be either the assassin or the prince).

While Lia’s character can be perceived as strong, her choices also strike me as selfish given how much their marriage alliance is needed to secure peace for her people. Sure, she’s sassy and has a sharp tongue, but she puts her own quest for true love above the safety of others. Makes me think that her kingdom is better off without her. The setting of the book doesn’t change, as she’s living simply as a barmaid in a village, so it may be a little boring in that respect. The focus is entirely on her romantic prospects and the characters, with a few details thrown in to flesh out her world. If you really like romantic plots, then this book will definitely keep you invested. If you need a little more substance to your reads, a little more detail to the world surrounding the characters, then this book may not be enough for you. While it tries to add some danger, there’s not a lot of action. Other people try to kill her, but her life is not really at risk given that even the assassin hesitates in offing her, and though she’s oblivious, eventually both the prince and the assassin end up protecting her.

As far as the ending goes, it leaves me more content with the progress of Lia as our heroine, and we get an answer to who our love interest is, but you’ll definitely have to continue on in the series for resolution because of the cliffhanger.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

4 Stars

Synopsis:

This book is about Lia, a princess, who doesn't want her father to marry her off to another kingdom just to create an alliance. Lia runs away and meets two guys with secrets of their own. One is an assassin from another country trying to kill her, while the other is the prince she was to be married to. And there the tale begins......It's filled with love, heartbreak, bits of magic, and a whole lot of sleuthing on our part.

Quotes:

“I will find you.
In the farthest corner, I will find you.”

“If I could only reach out and touch the stars, I would know everything. I would understand.”

“Maybe there was as many shades of love as the
blues of the sky”

“There were two ways to approach the inevitable—being dragged to meet your fate or taking the offensive.”

Overall:

WOW!! What a roller coaster!!! This book was so much fun!! I loved trying to guess which guy was which!! Although I was spoiled on who she ends up with (or prefers rather), it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I still didn't know who was the assassin and who was the prince. I would constantly go back and forth trying to figure out who was who. I loved the twists and turns in this book. It was very entertaining.

This book had so many great characters to it that it's hard to pick out a favorite. I also loved the friendships in this book. Pauline, Gwyneth, Lia, Berdi, etc. You could just feel how deep their bond was!! I would love to have these ladies at my side!!  I really enjoyed Lia's character the most. She was raised as a princess, so she did have some issues BUT I felt once she was shown more than the 4 walls of her castle she really became aware that not everyone lived the way she did. This is a girl who could become a tavern maid and not bat an eyelash. She was such a strong woman and if she set her mind to it, she could handle anything.

Lia's relationship with her brothers was another part that I adored in this story. They had each other's backs no matter what. They only wanted the best for their siblings. When one of them was hurting, they all hurt. It was so nice to see their strong attachments to each other.

Let's talk about the guys. Kaden and Rafe. I won't go into details because spoilers, of course, BUT I will say I enjoyed both guys. They each had their own pros and cons but overall, I really fell for both of them. I loved the detective work in trying to figure out their roles. I would say "oohhh, look at that...he's definitely the prince....." "yup...that right there seals the deal for me" etc. I had a blast let me tell you!!

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and cannot wait to read book two!!

P.S. Can I just say that I want to visit Terravin?!?! It sounded like this magical place!! I may even move there, whose with me!??!

This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I liked this story. I did. But I think that my expectations were set a little too high after all the hype for this series.

Okay, this book really had to grow on me. What do I mean, you may ask? Well, this book and I had a love/hate relationship from the beginning. I think the last book that part of my loved and part of me felt bleh about was Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen. Not as much bleh as Red Queen was to me, but I still had some issues with the book. Not enough to overpower me or make me hate the book, but enough to take note. Yeah, I know that was probably super confusing. Let me explain. (Hopefully!)

I think that the thing that threw me off at the beginning was the characters. They just did not resonate with me one bit. At first, the only thing that I really liked about them was the whole love triangle business. My first impression of Lia was that she was selfish and self-absorbed. Pauline felt way too naive to me. Alarmingly so. I honestly didn't feel too strongly about Rafe or Kaden. I sadly didn't have a preference as to which one she would fall for. And that just shouldn't happen with a love triangle. Rooting for your ideal pick is half the fun of reading about it! I honestly almost stopped reading altogether, which I rarely do. But lo and behold, I kept at it and I am thankful that I did. The characters really grew on me. They may have felt obtuse at the beginning, but it gets better. It really does.

Okay, now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, onto the things that I enjoyed. First of all, the world building. The first thing that you will notice about this book is the religious scriptures placed throughout the book. They don't make much sense, but they add a lot to the world building. I liked this strange religious structure throughout the book and how it seemed to build off of an ancient apocalyptic event. I adored the concept of "remembrances" instead of "prayers". It was truly unique. The world building does not stop there. I loved the structure of all the different kingdoms and the rifts between them.

I really liked that the book is written from different perspectives, but you don't know who is the assassin and who is the prince. It adds a lot of mystery to the story as you are trying to piece together who is who.

I felt that this may be a dystopian story, but it was not confirmed. There is the talk of ruins and of the ancients that leads me to believe more may be revealed in the series.

The writing in this book was easy to understand and not jumbled at all. It flowed perfectly. I think that may be why I continued on in the beginning when the characters were not to my liking. =P

There is so much to keep you wanting to know more about this world. Lia's "gift", the ancient texts she stole, the mystery of why someone would want her dead. It's all wrapped up nicely, in the end, leaving you wanting to know more!

Overall, the romance wasn't nearly to my liking, and it seemed forced. The world building was good, but confusing at times. I think that some things could have been elaborated on a bit more. The story is strong, and I like the characters well enough. We'll see what happens in the next book. I would definitely recommend giving this one a shot. I had some trouble with it in the beginning, but I am glad that I stuck it out and gave it a chance. Everything falls together nicely in the end. This series has so much potential and I am excited to continue it.

Originally posted to my blog:

I must admit that I started and stopped The Kiss of Deception twice. Not because it was bad, but because it didn’t immediately resonate with me. In fairness, I was only reading a few pages, and while it’s true that books should try to grab you immediately, my mind wasn’t taking the bait. The thing is, the beginning is actually quite good, and completely memorable to me now. For whatever reason (I had a lot on my mind, I was too tired to be reading, etc.), it took a couple of times for it to stick.

And then it stuck. Hard.

The main reason I love this series so much is not the story that suddenly started pulling me in (though the story is fantastic). What got me was the author’s ability to TRICK me. And she got me good.

Really good.

Perhaps others will say “oh but I totally saw that coming” and perhaps they’d be correct. Time for me to sound like a bit of a pretentious ass: I don’t get tricked often. AT ALL.

Ever seen the television series Broadchurch? I have only watched the first season so far, but premise was that they would introduce a murder in episode one, and over the course of the season, clues and investigations would ensue. Now, I’m not going to spoil it for you in case you haven’t seen it (which you should because it’s very good), but I will say that I knew who had “done it” halfway through the first episode.

And I was right.

And it wasn’t obvious, especially not at that point, nor was it poorly done. I just have an instinct about these things, but I’m not always right every time. I may have even told this story before, so if I have, please forgive me. I drive my husband crazy with this “gift” I have, but I don’t spoil anything for him. I never say what I’m thinking unless he asks. Which is never.

It’s not that I want to spoil it for myself. I just can’t help it. So if an author can fool me, I’m hooked. Maybe others didn’t get tricked on this one, but the point is that I was, and I loved it. I LOVE IT when I can actually fall for a bit of a plot twist. It’s exhilarating for me, and props to those who have the ability to make me do so. It’s why my own books contain plot twists. I adore them when done well, and I love writing them.

Mary E. Pearson does it well. Her characters are so incredibly developed, and far from one-dimensional. One of my favorite fictional characters is in this series, but I won’t tell you who (and it’s not the main character). The regions and settings are nicely handled, and the dialogue is witty. Yes, it’s young adult fantasy, and yes it has a couple of cheesy moments as YA does (it’s cheesy if you are older like me), but comparatively this series is more mature than a lot of the YA genre. I wouldn’t recommend it if I couldn’t handle it.

The second book was fantastic as well, though without the benefit of the plot twist. There are other crafty little nuances that rear their heads in The Heart of Betrayal though. Those serve to keep the action moving and make it a great addition to the series.

Personally, I found The Beauty of Darkness (book three) to be a little less… interesting. It was still a good book, and maybe it’s because the first two were so well done that book three dropped in my rating scale by comparison.

Overall, the series is now one of my favorites, and Mary E. Pearson is one of the authors I specifically follow on as many online platforms as possible (the store, BookBub, her website, etc.). I’ll definitely continue reading her other books as well.

Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
Rating: 4/5 stars
Best For: 14 and up, 8th grade and up.
Worth a Check Out: Yes.
Buy It or Not: Yes, if you are a fantasy fan
Read Aloud: No.
Book Club Discussion Topics: Arranged marriages, good or bad? As a princess is your obligation to your heart or your kingdom? Was the story too predictable, or did you just enjoy the ride?

I'm not a high fantasy (like Book of Three) fan. Kiss of Deception had the perfect amount of magic with just a touch, fun story, likeable characters, relatable, and even a bit inspiring. This clean read, with just a touch of violence, was well done. I loved seeing Lia grow as a character in who she is and what she's capable of; the character development was well done. I also feel Pearson did a great job helping you truly feel for the characters and their struggles. I was happy and excited for Lia, but sad at times too. Overall, the writing and story well done.

This book had a few areas of disappointment. There were parts of the story that were completely predictable. When her brother showed up I knew exactly the issues that would come from that. However, there were a couple parts of the book that surprised me as well.

My only other qualm with Kiss of Deception is the fact that some of the action and intense parts of the story seemed rushed. Action is tough to write, but it's frustrating for a reader to have to go back and read a section over b/c the author rushed through.

Kiss of Deception was a great first book to a fun series, and I always love a good strong female character. I find reading about women doing cool things is inspiring to the teenagers as well as adults.

More book reviews at Alohamora Open a Book

“‘Is it asking too much to want to be loved? To look into someone’s eyes and see-‘ Her voice cracked, and there was more silence. ‘And see tenderness? To know that he truly wants to be with you and share his life with you?’”

Lia is a princess who is supposed to marry a prince in an arranged marriage to bring peace and compromise between two nations. She desperately wishes to marry for love though, so on the day of her wedding she flees with her best friend. What she does not know is that the very prince she was supposed to marry has followed her to the town where she is working at an Inn. He does not tell her who he is and they get to know each other as people, instead of as royalty. Neither of them are aware though that an assassin has also followed Lia with orders to assassinate her.

This book is fast paced, and clever. I was never bored. I had feelings for all of the characters including the assassin. I am so glad that I already own the next book so I do not have to wait to see what happens next. If you like fast paced books, with romance, intrigue, and fantasy this is a book I would highly recommend. I give it 4 stars.

Reading The Kiss of Deception I got completely sucked in. I couldn't put it down! But towards the end of the book, I started to get the feeling that there wasn't enough pages left for everything that needed to happen.

And I was right. The story didn't resolve anything. It felt like the author wrote one really long story and just needed a dramatic place to make the cut between book one and book two.

But it was still a really good book, and I am dying to find out what happens next! I have already ordered the next book.

The only thing that kept me from giving The Kiss of Deception 5 stars was the sudden ending with no conclusion. Other than that I loved the book. It is fast paced with plenty of action. Lots of plot twists and turns. Its amazing.

This book was also a first for me, in that I didn't know who was who. I don't get a lot of firsts anymore so it was really cool and creative. Most of the chapters are from the point of view of Lia, the runaway princess. She meets two characters named Kaden and Rafe. As the reader you know one is a prince and one is an assassin, but you don't know which is which. Every once in a while you get a chapter from Kaden or Rafe's point of view, and other times you get a chapter from the prince's or the assassin's point of view. The Kaden/Rafe chapters are about the characters interactions with Lia, and the prince/assassin chapters are about the characters internal thoughts, and interactions away from Lia. The reader is left guessing who is who. I kept flipping back and fourth trying to decide who I thought was which person.

It was a super fun, unique way to experience the story. About halfway through the book you do find out who is who. (The reader finds out when Lia finds out) After that all the chapters are Lia or Kaden/Rafe. Pearson did a wonderful job keeping all the interactions/thoughts just vague enough that she didn't give anything away until the big reveal.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult fantasy. It is a really great read.

Title: The Kiss of Deception

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Age Group: Teen/Young Adult

Genre: High Fantasy

Series: The Remnant Chronicles, book one

Star Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars

I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

Sigh. Where do I began with this book? I'm so sad, as I'm writing this review. But to be honest, I kind of expected this. I tried to read Pearson's debut series, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, and that didn't work for me either. I just think it's a little ironic, considering that I was eying this book like a kid in a candy store for my birthday last year. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't finish it. I got to a hundred seventy pages and couldn't do it anymore. It was so slow. And that, unfortunately, is only the beginning of this novel's shortcomings.

This book had everything I wanted in a high fantasy novel: a runaway princess, magic, deeply steeped mythology, hot boys with not-so-legal professions. Sigh. I was in love, and when I saw this on the shelf at my local library, I snatched it up immediately. One of the first books I'd loaned from my library in a very long time, in over a year as a matter of fact. But God. Again, so, so, so slow! It felt like it was dragging, and it just couldn't hold my attention.

I did love certain parts of it: the world-building was excellent, the end papers of the novel, which was a gorgeously sketched map, the idea of a princess in flight from an arranged, loveless marriage, made more out of necessity and politics than anything else. I also loved the writing, which was beautiful, even exquisite, and the food porn. If a book has food porn in it, chances are good I'm going to love it, but it just fell short.

And I haven't even started on the characters yet. Lia, the runaway princess, determined to make her own way despite her parents' political climbing, and Kaden, the assassin sent to kill Lia in the night, but--shocker!--he becomes fascinated by his quarry. And then there's Rafe, the handsome, mysterious, swoon-worthy prince, who chases Lia despite having never met her, jaded and sad and instantly in love with the gorgeous Lia, despite her only just meeting him. Sigh. I get that teenagers are teenagers, but if there simply must be a love triangle, why can't it be done well? Without a ton of flowery prose, daydreaming, and flip-flopping?! Ugh! The bottom line: I had high expectations for this novel, but having read it not even halfway through, it just was a huge disappointment and a waste of time. Next on deck: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab!

Even though I own this in hardcover, I decided to listen to the audiobook, because I felt I'd get through it faster that way. Probably not a good idea in hindsight, because of the one moment of narrative 'twist' that happens (and with an audiobook, you can't flip back several chapters in disbelief, trying to figure out how the author fooled you. I also was stressed during this time, which always colors my impression of books

Overall, this book was.....ok. Just ok. The world building was the highlight- the author makes each culture feel fully fleshed out, even though we have the bias of the story taking place within only one country. For me, the characters just weren't interesting enough to really be engaging, so I was more of a passive observer of this tale. There's the love triangle aspect (which had me cringing by its very nature, as well as the way it was quasi-resolved- if love triangles don't drive you nuts, it probably won't be an issue for you).

I wish this one had lived up the hype, but it wasn't poorly written or anything. Just lackluster, for me.

*****3.5 stars*****
I'm slightly conflicted on this book. I've been waiting forever to read this series and I figured what better way to start 2018 than by reading a well-awaited series?!

*Negatives*
I'm not sure if this is just me, but I didn't feel like much really happened in this book. Don't get me wrong, I was still super excited to pick it up each time, but I think it may have been more so in hopes of something actually happening rather than traveling to some other distant location. Literally. The majority of this book was Lia on either a horse or a donkey traveling to a new unknown place. It got slightly boring at some points. (see 'positives' for redemption on this).

*Positives*
On the other hand, I feel like this was a really good introduction to the setting, characters, and plot. In most fantasy series we get a lot of information just dumped on us and it can be quite difficult to keep up and keep everything organized in our brains; this book did not give that problem. It was the perfect amount of information of the histories and backstories of everything; enough to leave a lot a mystery in a good way.
-Setting-
The setting of this book is incredible. This world that Mary E. Pearson has created is so enchanting. Plus that map on the inside cover is absolutely stunning! She also has a wonderful writing style that helped to envision the surroundings and land that are mentioned in the book.
-Characters-
Oh. My. Gosh. We have such an amazing array of characters in this book. All of their personalities are fantastic and entertaining and all work together beautifully.
Lia is probably one of my favorite main characters I have ever encountered. She's got her own mind and does what she wants. She's got passion and she accomplishes what she sets her mind to. This girl is a true inspiration, talk about girl power! One of my favorite parts of the entire book was her watching as her brother was murdered, and her taking the time to bury every single body. Even to the point of her hands bleeding due to digging. She deserves every ounce of respect.

Kaden is troublesome for me. I'm not really sure how I feel about him. Initially, I believed he was the prince, and it definitely seems like it in the beginning. Obviously, I was wrong. He really ticked me off in this book and I'm not totally positive as to why, so I can't really explain that.

Rafe! Rafe! Rafe! Can you tell who I'm rooting for? Where can I get a Rafe? I'll take 10. In the beginning, I believed him to be the assassin, and I definitely didn't mind because who doesn't have a thing for the dark and brooding type? Which surprises me that with him being the prince, I'm still rooting for him! This man is mouthwatering. Now, there weren't many moments in the book where anything was overly romantic, but I'm hoping for some more lovey-dovey moments involving Rafe.

-Plot-
The plot of this was totally different from my typical reading. I've never read a book involving a runaway princess and an assassin and all of this good stuff. So originality is definitely there.

Overall, I'm extremely excited to continue this series! This would have been a 4-star book for me if I had found more to happen in it. But some parts fell sort of flat for me. I'm hoping that the rest of the series will redeem this because I had extremely high hopes for this series!

I actually enjoyed this book. I know many people were complaining saying not much really happened, and though looking back I'd have to say that is an accurate statement; nonetheless, I was still taken in. I guess that in itself is reason enough to give the book a good rating.

Lia is a princess who is about to get married to a prince she's never met in order to forge an alliance. The King is a decrepit old man so she assumes his son is also an old troll and wants nothing to do with him. She runs away with her handmaiden and hides in a little town pretending to be a barmaid. Two strangers meet outside the bar and walk in together looking for a drink and a place to stay. They end up having to sleep in the loft due to a lack of rooms available. Oh, one happens to be the prince (he's actually very young and very attractive and very upset that Lia had the guts to run and he didn't) who came after Lia and the other is the assassin who was sent to kill her. And the fun times go from there.

There were sweet, romantic moments. There were weird, unsure moments that I think were foreshadowing for future installments. And of course, there were fight scenes and death. All in all it wasn't half bad. My only objection....72 FREAKING CHAPTERS! Honestly, she could have combined the POVs into single chapters. There was no need to switch to a new chapter every time she changed POV. Especially considering a lot of the events occurred within the same hour...just skip down a third of the page and start a new POV. No need to make 72 chapters in your book. That's a wee bit excessive.

Otherwise, well done and I will be starting "The Heart of Betrayal" next. I've already put in my request for "The Beauty of Darkness." I can't wait to continue this journey.

I have owned The Kiss of Deception since last May. That's almost nine months that I could have already known this wonderful story. I could have known these wonderful characters and their wonderful world, but I didn't because I picked this one up, read a couple chapters, and put it back down. (This is the curse of being a mood reader.) Eventually, though, I did pick it up and I am SO glad I did!

Princess Lia (or just Lia) has been trapped by her parents in an arranged marriage with the prince of a neighboring kingdom. She isn't at all interested in this arrangement, so she takes things much further than other royals before her by running away from it all and starting a new life with her friend in another town. While I think Lia's decision to run away from her kingdom and start a new life may have (possibly) been the slightest bit impulsive, I did really love her as a character. I enjoyed watching her learn to navigate her new life as a commoner working as a tavern maid as opposed to her previous lavish existence. I found her to be sympathetic, even though she was coming from a position that most people couldn't identify with, and I loved the relationship between Lia and Pauline. My only real problem with Lia is that she continues to be an impulsive character (sometimes irrationally so) right up until the end.

There are two possible love interests in this story - one is an assassin and one is a prince. Both these men are fully aware of Lia's true identity, but deception abounds and she has no idea who they are. While she is creating her new life, the assassin and the prince are both have very conflicting feelings about Lia. This is a love triangle that works within the story. Both these characters are so very different that it's really easy to see how Lia could fall for each of them. Kaden and Rafe are both such excellent characters in their own ways. Personally, I loved both of them! I was really glad that the love triangle was not there throughout the entire book, though. Although her girlfriends are pushing her in both directions, Lia does eventually make up her mind (I haven't made my mind up yet, though).

The world of The Remnant Chronicles is spectacular!! I loved every single place they visited whether or not Lia was happy about her location. Not only has Mary E. Pearson created incredible landscapes, she's created unique mythology and even wildlife to accompany each place. I was so thankful for the map on the inside cover and found myself constantly referring to it. I felt like I could picture each place on the map that was described and that is really one of the most important things to me when I read fantasy!

And then there's the story itself. This one is so good! Unfortunately, I ruined what I suppose was going to be the big twist by snooping around the internet, but that didn't mess up the experience at all for me. Even though I knew what Lia didn't, I still found myself being shocked for her each time something new was revealed. There is so much unique mythology in The Kiss of Deception and little bits of it are sprinkled at the beginning of each chapter. It really makes this world feel genuine. But the very best part about this book was that it made me FEEL! There is a particular scene near the end that basically ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it and that truly doesn't happen much.

The Kiss of Deception is a truly fantastic book! The only issue I had with it was the beginning being a little slow for me. Once events really got moving, though, I really enjoyed it! The writing was immersive and I really even loved the multiple perspectives of the book, which I usually cannot get into. I definitely recommend this to fantasy fans and I cannot WAIT to read book two!

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

I had been holding onto this book for a good while before I finally managed to pick it up and get it read. So what made me finally get to the point that I was ready to pick it up and read it? Mostly it was because this was someone else's unicorn of an ARC and I wanted to get it to her (I had gotten it in a trade myself), but also it was because I had kept hearing about this book.

I kept hearing about it on Twitter. I kept seeing it make an appearance on Instagram.

It just kept popping up all over the place.

So, naturally, I had to pick it up and see for myself why this book kept being talked about and mentioned and photographed and all that jazz.

Like normal, I had no idea really what it was about. I just knew that people liked it a lot.

The book, it turns out, is about a princess who doesn't want to be forced into marriage by her father. So what does she do? She runs away right before her marriage. She doesn't go alone though. Her best friend (who also just happens to be a servant girl in her castle like home!) goes with her. They run to a port side town where they hope they will be able to go unnoticed by those around them and live the rest of their days all happy like and free from the pressures of what others want of them.

Too bad our princess was followed. Not by one, but by 2 men. One wants to do her harm, the other wants to take her back.

The fun part is...which one is which? The author doesn't tell us! We are left guessing and wondering throughout the majority of the book which guy is actually which!

So clever. So evil.

I mean, seriously, what if I choose the wrong guy? The pressure of it all! But it is pretty cool and I wasn't expecting to be in the middle of a giant guessing game of who is who, so mad props for that.

What I wanted more of though? I wanted more magic. The magic that is in this book felt more like it was only a hint of it. Just barely there. Not really touched or used and I wanted to see more. Lots more. I like magic. If the world has magic in it, I want to see it. I don't want it to be under done and disappointing...but maybe in book 2 we will get more of the magic?

I did appreciate that we were given a strong heroine that doesn't want to be pushed around by those around her. I hate when we have female characters that just do what everyone around them tells them to do or just sit in a corner freaking out because without the guidance of others they have no idea what they should do in any given situation. Do I use a fork or a spoon?!?!?! Someone please tell me!!! Ugh. Thankfully, The Kiss of Deception did not fall prey to that issue. That was nice and refreshing.

All in all, I liked The Kiss of Deception. However, to me, it did not reach the hype that was built up for it... But when can a book ever truly reach the hype? I was at least not horribly disappointed and still enjoyed it quite a bit, which also means the hype didn't ruin it for me either. That is always good.

Now to find time to get to book 2. That one is also sitting on myself waiting.

This review is based on an ARC I received by trading with another book blogger. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.

I have to say that this book, the first in the series was a bit of a disappointment. I enjoyed the first half of the book. Then the author throws in a twist. I can't decide if the twist is entirely too well done or not done well enough. Either way, it left me extremely confused, thinking the author or publisher had messed something up. I spent a good quarter of the rest of the book in great confusion until I went a read some reviews that helped me realize I wasn't as confused as I thought. It was just not a great transition done. I found it to be frustrating and wanted to quit reading. But I liked the first half enough, I decided to finish the last quarter of the book. It was a bit of a disappointment, but I decided to go on the second book. It took a bit for the second book to pick up, but then I was caught up in the story and blew through the rest of the series.

While the first book was lackluster for me, the rest of the series was really amazing. Interesting plot, good character developments. I felt like for the most part, the author related a more realistic view of the world (albeit, a different world) than most books of this genre. It wasn't just about the love story. It was about a lot more. I saw the ending to the second book coming from a mile away, but the third book threw me off a lot, but in a good way. The author certainly kept you on your toes, but did it much better than in the first book. If you can get passed the first book, I think the full series is well worth reading. However, I can definitely see how many would not be able to get passed it. I barely did. But I'm writing this for those who might be debating quitting like I did. It's worth the full read!

The Kiss of Deception is a phenomenal book. I don't really know why I never read this earlier. The book and it's pretty cover is very deceiving. I went into this story thinking it was going to be another fantasty-lite book with it's prophecies and arranged marriages and boy was this book so much more than that!

The story starts out light enough. A princess, Lia, is getting ready for her wedding day to a Prince she's never met all for the sake of an alliance with another kingdom. She's the First Daughter and First Daughters tend to have magical gifts. Lia never possessed anything she thought was the gift, besides being able to pick up foreign languages and some petty thieving on the side. Instead of being locked into a loveless marriage to some foreign dignitary, she runs away with her lady-in-waiting and best friend, Pauline. Pretty soon, it becomes evident that the jilted Prince and an assassin are after Lia while her and Pauline are settling into a small village working at a tavern and living a simple, but hardworking, life. Kaden and Rafe soon appear into the story and the two are obviously the Prince and the assassin, but soon find themselves falling in love with Lia.

There are alternating chapters told from Lia, Kaden, and Rafe's POV. It's quite interesting how Mary E. Pearson manages to weave the storylines together. The story slowly transforms into something romantic and then into something much darker than what we started out with. Personally, I love the journey Lia takes and how it feels like we're growing along with her. There's not necessarily a love triangle, but it works? Lia's affections towards one of the boys, Kaden and Rafe, is much more one-sided than a typical love triangle. I'm interested in seeing how this all plays out in the next book. The big twist is very obvious in hindsight, but The Kiss of Deception really makes you reevaluate everything you knew about books (the truth still isn't quite sinking in yet as I'm writing this).

There's talk of prophecies, magic, boasterous tavern songs, new languages, travelling, wars, royalty, and romance in this story. It's a beautiful fantasy book that contains all the expected elements and gives everything a nice big twist. I love that Lia is a strong-willed, fighting feminist Princess who does not take anything from anyone. In short, I love this book so very much and look forward to reading The Heart of Betrayal.

Another princess. Another love triangle. Another war. Another fantastic book!!!

This book starts off with a familiar phenomenon in fantasy. It has the princess who runs away because she doesn’t want to be in the arranged marriage that will unite her country with a neighboring one. At first I was a little hesitant with just how familiar this plotline was, but I quickly learned that Princess Lia is not someone I should underestimate. Nothing is familiar when it comes to her.

However, Lia wasn’t immediately the spunky, kind-hearted heroine I enjoyed reading about. Her plotline was so unoriginal that, while I thought it was a good fantasy, it wasn’t anything special until about three-fourths of the way in. That burial scene just slaughtered my heart and made me love Lia so much. The whole scene resonated with me and it sent a strong message about war: that war is pointless and it’s destructive.

Other than Lia, there are three other primary characters, two of which are the love interests, Rafe and Kaden. What can I say about them? They’re both completely surprising and I don’t know which one I’m leaning towards more. That plot twist threw me, even though I knew to be on the lookout for one. Anywho, I think I’m leaning towards Rafe, but Kaden isn’t too terribly far behind.

The other character is Lia’s handmaiden/friend Pauline. Her character was a tad predictable and her storyline is the same one that often appears within most YA fantasy best friend plotlines. It irked me, but it was interesting to read about, so I’m not too terribly torn up about it.

All in all, this book is a fantasy book you’ll need to read. Not only is it a good romance story with an entertaining plotline, but it also has important messages about the other side of war, something I believe every person needs to think about.

5/5 stars

*Note: I purchased this book for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed and parts that frustrated me. I really dislike a romance triangle. I don't like to fall in love with one character only to find that the protagonist falls in love with the other character. To that end, I looked at the end of the book. I thought I was "right" about the romance. But, as it turns out, the book ended in a cliff hanger--the other thing that I really, really dislike about a series. As I read a couple of reviews on the subsequent books, I have come to the conclusion that the love triangle won't be resolved until the 3rd and final book in the series. Ugh!

Now for the things that liked. The main character was a great character. I enjoyed watching her grow from being fairly self-focused to realizing she had other, more important responsibilities in life. The mythology created for the book was intriguing, but I couldn't focus too much on it since I was listening to it and not reading it. In spite of what I said earlier, I do like both of the guys in the love triangle. The narrators for the series were also really good; they used different narrators, both male and female, to read the sections written with a different point of view.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and will finish the series.

Lia, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan, is seventeen years old. She is Morrighan's princess and a key part of her father's plans to forge an alliance with the neighboring kingdom of Dalbrek. The only problem is that Lia has no intention of marrying to further her kingdom's political standing--certainly not to a prince she has never met.

When Lia flees on her wedding day she sets a series of disastrous events in motion that leave chaos and danger in her wake.

Her hopes to start a new life as a commoner alongside her faithful maid, Pauline, are threatened when two handsome strangers arrive at her new home. One is the prince Lia refused to marry, the other is an assassin sent to kill her.

Surrounded by secrets and lies, Lia's entire world could unravel when the truth is revealed in The Kiss of Deception (2014) by Mary E. Pearson.

The Kiss of Deception is the first book in Pearson's The Remnant Chronicles which continues with The Heart of Betrayal and The Beauty of Darkness.

The Kiss of Deception is a thoughtful blend of fantasy and suspense layered across a dystopian world. Tantalizing hints throughout the novel suggest that Morrighan shares a common past with the modern world, but no concrete answers are given leaving readers to draw their own conclusions.

Lia is an interesting heroine and narrates most of the novel. She is often naive and reckless but she is also kind and selfless. What originally appears as thoughtless privilege soon morphs into a strong moral compass and royal demeanor. Lia's growth throughout the novel is empowering and well handled but her character remains the most developed for most of the novel.

By all rights, The Kiss of Deception should be a fast-paced adventure beginning with Lia's flight on her wedding day. Lia's narrative is even interspersed with chapters from the Prince and the Assassin lending another level of mystery to the story. Unfortunately, these pieces take a bit too long to come together which makes the first half of the novel drag. Uneven pacing and predictable plot twists further weaken the story.

The Kiss of Deception introduces a rich world and a large cast of characters. Readers willing to forgive unanswered questions about world building and readers who don't mind characters who withhold key information will get the most out of this novel. Recommended for readers looking for a new high fantasy with a lot of romance, strong female characters, and meandering action.

Possible Pairings: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien, The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, And I Darken by Kiersten White, Blood Red Road by Moira Young

This started out to be a promising story, but it seemed to go nowhere. It begins with a princess running away form an arranged marriage to the prince of another land. She tries to make a new life for herself, incognito, in a another city. It seems that, in reality, everyone knows who she really is, and she is the only one unaware of that fact. The middle of the book becomes really tedious, with boring conversations and reflections, and annoying poetry thrown into the mix. The characters seem under developed and the prince and the "assassin" seem to have very similar personalities. The characters and situations just seem overly contrived and the conversations don't seem believable . I really pushed myself to finish this story, only to find in the end, that there really isn't an ending. I really enjoy a series, but there needs to be a some kind conclusion at the end of each book. This ending just leaves you hanging, hoping you will buy the next installment. I don't care enough about these characters to bother.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my tbr for so long and I have no idea why I suddenly felt like I just had to read it. But I'm super glad that I did.

This may not be as great as I hoped but honestly it was pretty damn good. There were some issues I had while reading. Although they were easy to overlook somehow I think they bother me the more I think about them.
One would be Lia's selfishness. I mean I get the whole "I want to marry someone I love" tirade but she's a princess. A PRINCESS. And the thing with being a princess and running a kingdom are the responsibilities you have to bear. She just doesn't seem to get the weight of that. For the first few chapters that bothered me A LOT. Lia just seemed to be too self-centered and so thoughtless of others. She's too impulsive and too reckless and sometimes that's a good thing but in Lia's case it just ends up with her making stupid decisions. The good thing about this though is that I forgot about the whole Lia being a selfish jerk after about one-half of the book. There was just something about Lia that makes you change your mind about her. When I got to know her better I saw that she could be kind, truly loyal and quite a badass heroine.
Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't have been too quick to judge. My bad.

The second thing is that I couldn't for the life of me believe that she wasn't discovered. Was she really that good at covering her tracks? Does no one even remotely recognize her? I don't know if this has been explained in the book and I just missed it somehow. But I don't know. I just wasn't sold.

Lastly, you know how much I hate insta-love. Now it wasn't exactly insta-love with Lia and Rafe. But more like "who is this guy? I just met him but I think I maybe kinda wanna kiss him but no I have to restrain myself". I needed more slow burn. I wanted them to really get to know each other and then fall in love. It felt to me like they went from "we're total strangers to we could be lovers" too fast. I don't feel a strong foundation for a romantic relationship. I'm TEAM RAFE all the way so this kind of bothers me because what if Lia suddenly decides she likes Kade better?!? NNOOOOOO!!
Kade is a well-written character. I don't hate him at all. I honestly love his charm and humor. It's just Kade + Lia = NO. PLEASE NO.

I love the world that Mary Pearson created. I was enthralled and intrigued. I just wish there was more you know? More twists. More action. More Rafe and Lia.

Overall a really good book. Not as great as I expected but definitely worth it.
Sssooo excited for the next installment!

#TeamRAFE

I just finished reading The Kiss of Deception and I am totally hooked. These books (the first two) were purely impulse buys! All I knew about this book was princess runs away from arranged marriage, an assassin and a prince go after her but you don’t know which is which. I had heard such great things and each book has 4 star average on Goodreads, the cover for the third book was released and I fell in love, and the author was going to be at Yallwest. So I just bought both of them because I thought why not and then before I even read them I had them signed to me personally. Sometimes a leap of faith regarding books works. I am so in love. I am currently participating in the TRC Read-along and I am having so much fun. I haven’t been keeping up with it because of all the review books I have that I need to read, but I am still joining in when I can. The Kiss of Deception is the first book in The Remnant Chronicles series. There are three books and the third one will be coming out in August! I CANNOT WAIT!

The Kiss of Deception follows Lia who is being forced into a marriage to some man she doesn’t know. She decides with her best friend Pauline, to turn her back on her kingdom and title and run away. Little does she know that an assassin has been sent to kill her and the prince she was supposed to marry are coming to find her. I LOVED this book.The characters, Lia especially was so relatable, aside from the whole princess thing. Although I’m still not convinced that i’m not secretly a princess. But I fell in love with her. She was funny and badass. And then the boys show up. What I absolutely loved and was blown away by was the fact that Mary completely tricked me into who was who. I didn’t even see it coming. I remember thinking, I thought we didn’t know who was who, and then I thought maybe it’s only Lia that doesn’t know. And then the scene with the reveal completely took me by surprise! I loved it. I loved that I didn’t actually know who was who.

Now the characters are something I love. Although i’m not a very big fan of Kaden. He just bothered me. I can’t really put my finger on it, maybe it was because I love Rafe more. I mean I LOVE Rafe. He and Lia were adorable and worked so well together. I felt a bigger connection to them then I did with Lia and Kaden. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series. If I wasn’t participating in this read along I would be jumping all over The Heart of Betrayal. Lia was a badass. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for her friends. Lia is determined not to have her fate decided for her and I admire her decision to run away from everything she’s ever known.

“If you were so foolish as to lay one of your lecherous fingers on me, I fear we’d both regret it. It would ruin the festivities for everyone here, because I’d slice away at the nearest thing to me, no matter how small.”
Pg. 247

Pauline was Lia’s best friend and she was absolutely loyal. I loved that she was absolutely willing to jump on a horse and run away with her friend, without question. She knew this was what Lia wanted and she accepted it. I love reading stories with great female friendships. It makes me fall even more in love with the book. Rafe, oh man what do we say about Rafe! Other than he was amazing. I loved him so much. I don’t want to say too much and give anything away, but I love the things he was willing to do for Lia. Kaden on the other hand bothered me. Maybe it was just because I thought I had him figured out, and was already rooting for a certain character, but I find him to be quite annoying and childish. But that’s just me because I know some people love him. In the end though I think all the characters are amazing and do amazing in this story. I can’t wait to get into them more in the second book. I do love that this series is told in multiple points of view which I am becoming very fond of. Especially with this series. It is done so well and we really get a good sense of each character. Not once was I confused as to who was speaking, nor did I have to go back and read who this chapter was focusing on. One thing that I didn’t notice was that when they do the chapter for the assassin or the prince, they don’t use their names. It didn’t even occur to me that it was happening, because I thought I had them figured out. So it wasn’t until the reveal that I went back and looked and realized what had happened. It was just so subtle and was a complete surprise. I loved it. This isn’t a series I had been paying much attention to, other than the covers, because they are beautiful, but I went in knowing very little and I definitely suggest reading these books that way. But even if you do know what’s going on, reading this will still be an awesome read!

That ending as well! OH MAN! That was such a great ending and I am so glad that I can binge read this series because if I had to wait a year to figure out what was going on I would totally flip out. It’s a great story, with great characters and a story that is full of surprises! I definitely recommend reading this one! Especially if you like assassin’s and princes and mystery.

I am going to be talking about the sequel and what I hope will happen next so if you don’t want spoilers please don’t read this!

What I hope for the sequel:

-More Rafe and Lia
-Lia becomes friends with the barbarians, and they trust her
-She learns more about herself and her kingdom
-answers: what are her powers? How powerful is she? What can she do with it?

What I hope doesn’t happen:

-Love triangle (please don't do this to me)
-Kaden gets over it
-People die

I couldn't finish it. The author wrote pretty well, and her descriptions were lovely. However, I couldn't understand what the dang story was really about. I've heard the second one is much better, but I wasn't able to get through this one enough to want to find out about the story in the second. I just couldn't get past the fact that all the MC cared about were two handsome and mysterious boys, who immediately fell in love with her. Yes, a love triangle. She favored one over the other (for some reason I couldn't understand), and spent all of her time worrying about and thinking about them. I mean, really. I could understand her desire to run away from an arranged marriage even at the expense of a tenuous alliance simply because it didn't seem like it would have mattered. I was halfway through the book and there was really nothing going on except her hot and cold relationship with one guy and the flirting with the other guy (to make Hot-and-Cold jealous, of course.) It hinted that there may have been something coming down the pike, but some of that should have happened by halfway.

Reviewed by Angela and posted at Under The Covers Book Blog

Ms. Pearson easily sucked me into her world of The Remnant Chronicles. There’s something poetic in how She told Lia’s story and the history of her long line of gifted ancestors. I believed every word she used to describe the characters, places and even the smell of the surroundings. I felt every pain, anger, and love. I was utterly compelled that I couldn’t put the book down. Sleep be damned.

Lia is not your typical princess. Yes, a bit of a cliche for her to be a runaway princess but she is so muchutc-top-pick more. She has a big heart and a courage of a lion. Believe me when I say that she’s not your typical “emo” teen. She ran away from a marriage she didn’t approve of and from a life of royalty she didn’t truly want. A commendable move. She hides out in a town pretending to be a simple barmaid in hopes for a normal life. Even finding true friendships. However, with her new found freedom she’s found her true self which ultimately the very person she didn’t want to become. This time, every move she makes will be by her choice. She will become a princess who cared for her people, and will fight for what she believes in. What started out an escape turned out to be a journey to self-clarity

In Liu of Lia’s disappearance, she is sought out by the Prince she was betrothed to and an Assassin with deadly intentions. Now these two fascinated me equally. Each has their faults but they were sweet and sexy in their own way. Their fascination and attraction to Lia was almost immediate and obviously, by getting to know her, their opinions of her changed. Note that there is no love triangle here, not really. There will be a play for her affection but it’s clear who Lia ends up with. Of course, the tables may change in the next installment of the series.

The romance had a slow and steady pace but heartfelt and very sweet. Definitely more than what I expected but every bit is welcomed. There’s no sex or graphic love scenes but innocent kisses. The genre, in my opinion, crosses between Fantasy and YA so, expect it as such.
So many other great things to mention about this book that will take another book to mention them all. I do want to mention what I loved most, besides the main characters of course. First, there were several intense and emotional scenes that had me at the edge of my seat. Second, the character development and world build up was clear cut that I had no issue understanding them. In fact, every character mentioned, I wanted to read more of. Last, the mentions and quotes from the holy texts were so fascinating. Ms. Pearson just released a novella/prequel called Morrighan, which I highly recommend reading immediately after reading this book. It goes into more details of this world’s history. All very fascinating.

Run-away Princess, Kingdoms at a brink of an upcoming war, A Prince and An Assassin at her trail.

In short, the synopsis is slightly cliché with a hint of love-triangle. Not something I would read, however, I’m a sucker for Fantasy stories involving badass princess on the run.

While picking up the book, I thought that is resembled quite a bit with Carson’s The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Fortunately, The Kiss of Deception has been everything I had hoped from the former book and I flew through its pages.

The book directly dives into POVs of our main three characters; The princess with a ‘gift’, The Prince, and The Assassin. Throughout the story, we get interludes of the Assassin’s and the Prince’s POV and their inner dilemma while the book continues on the development of the plot and the characters.

Kaden and Rafe, both, soon develop an interest in Princess Lia, however readers are kept in dark as to who is the assassin and who is the prince until past half of the book. The remaining half is where the story picks up and the bigger plot is revealed with an unraveling of a prophecy.

Mary Pearson excels at world building and still maintaining interest in the finer details of the differences in kingdoms, the languages spoken, and their cultures. The story was paced adequately, without being dragged and you start to care for all characters soon enough.

Overall I gave this a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Looking forward to reading the sequels.

Favorite Quote:
"We may all have our own story and destiny, and sometimes our seemingly bad fortune, but we're all part of a greater story too."

I guess to start, for a love triangle it didn't seem too love-triangle-ish. The heroine seemed to pick one boy and focus on him while the other was relatively ignored. I mean by the time he even had a chance to attempt to win her over, it was much too late.

There were three main characters. Lia, Kaden and Rafe. It rotated between their POV's but mostly concentrated on Lia. Our runaway princess. The boy's POV was more of a glimmer into what they were thinking. I thought Lia was a strong lead. I liked how she wasn't an airhead. Loyal and resourceful and not a pushover princess. Now I don't agree with all of her decisions, <spoiler>I think telling Pauline her scumbag boyfriend is dead instead telling her he's a scumbag will come back to bite her in the ass.</spoiler> but one can never expect to agree with everything our leading lady does. Otherwise she has nowhere to grow.

Kaden and Rafe. I won't lie that I certainly liked one over the other and once I knew which was the prince and which was the assassin, I'll be honest. I was surprised. I personally had it backwards. Though once it was revealed it made a lot of sense. I enjoyed that I was wrong though. It helped change my initial preconceptions of the characters and I was pleasantly surprised. Not too many books do that for me.

The wealth of additional characters were also well written. I loved Pauline and I'm sure we'll see even more characters in the sequel. Come on 2015, hurry up. (I know I post this on the store in 2016 when I have the sequel on my shelf)

The overall plot was nicely done. I like how there are many different strings that got woven in throughout the book. The initial runaway, learning about the gift, the books that she was translating, (I mean what book is complete without a prophecy) the Vendans, it really became a rich novel. I never felt bored, it had good pacing and once things really got moving I couldn't put it down. I'm so excited for the sequel. I can't wait to see which direction our lovely author will take Lia in.

I realize that this book has a few issues (mainly that nothing much happened except a lot of riding through forests and deserts) but I still really liked it. I enjoyed the wide range of characters and I enjoyed the setting, and I enjoyed the pace, for the most part. It was a quick read for me. I did not understand why the author felt the need to hide who was who (Rafe/Kaden vs. Assassin/Prince). I took a tentative guess, and my guess turned out to be wrong (which I suspect the author wanted) but regardless, it resulted in me not really trusting/investing my emotions in either one of them. Once I realized which one was the prince then I gradually started to like him but the story was 2/3 over by then. Lia has her issues, but she is a 19 year old princess and is bound to make some bad decisions. I don't think it's right to give fewer stars because a character in the story doesn't make the same decisions or choices one thinks they would make in the same situation. I saw growth in her by the end of the book and that's all I can ask for in a good story. I look forward to jumping into the second book in the series and hopefully getting some of my questions answered. My suspicion is that Griz is a spy or something similar who will end up helping Lia in the end. She's also got Eban on her side now I think..we'll see!

This book has drawn my attention for a while and for the most part, I found it really enjoyable. The world-building is good and the three central characters are well written. Lia is a very strong lead character who has no problem holding her own against bad guys, and Rafe and Kaden are mysterious and interesting with troublesome pasts. There were more than a few scenes that were emotionally charging and demanded attention, and the whole book was written beautifully. The only issues I had were that the twist, while it got me, was confusing at first. I literally had to re-read a couple pages to make sure I hadn't missed a clue. Then again, that might just be me having been thoroughly duped, which isn't a bad thing. The other problem I had was with the pacing. It was slow to start off with, but the last few chapters jolted forward and were kind of all over the place, though the very last chapter definitely has me wanting more of the story. All in all, I can't say this was a flawless story for me, but it definitely held my interest and will have me back for the sequel.

I started THE KISS OF DECEPTION immediately after I saw Jaime from Fic Fare's exciting updates on Instagram and Twitter! I was deep into a fantasy streak and was SO excited to get to this amazing first book in a new series.

THE KISS OF DECEPTION hits the ground running and I was already ready to fist pump for Lia after the first chapter. Basically the story is this: It's Lia's wedding day and she's less than thrilled about her arranged marriage. She's gone through all of the stages, every step of planning, and it's her last chance to back out before it's too late. It's now or never and although Lia has a bit of a feisty streak, she has always stood by her family and their decisions... Until they took this very big decision out of her hands. Immediately the book was thrilling, action-packed, and had me rooting for a heroine I had only just met! I started off the book with high hopes and promises of adventure. I was excited for the Unfortunately, I felt like the book hit a pretty quick slump for me.

I'm not exactly sure where the I expected the story to go, but I think I was hoping for more of a journey and a sort of epic adventure. From after the first couple chapters until about halfway through the book, the story felt very stagnant to me -- both in location as well as plot. There are some books I hope to not take the characters on epic journeys because I'm interested in their current situation but since THE KISS OF DECEPTION started off with so much action and excitement, that kind of set the tone for me and I wanted Lia to go exploring across the land that she hadn't really been allowed to explore before. I wanted to meet all kinds of new people. I wanted run-ins and chases and escapes! I guess that's not really fair of me to dictate what I wanted out of a book when I had no idea what it held in store for me, but I think it was that first chapter that really set up that expectation and had me yearning for more.

I understand that the plot can't be action-packed ALL the time, but things felt a little too happy-go-lucky for me for a large portion of the book and it wasn't helping me to pick it back up and jump back into the story. I didn't feel the suspense that kept pulling me in to read. I wanted so much more of things that were supposed to be mysterious! I feel like there weren't enough clues or I didn't have enough foundation for the world building to be interested in the mysterious aspects or even understand that something about that situation was off. I have been noticing lately that for my personal preferences in fantasy, I need a lot of world building in the beginning of a story in order to really connect and place myself in that world. I felt like there was some really nice set-up in the first chapter, but then world building and details slowly gave way to romance and the stories of secondary characters instead of focus on Lia and what her decision means to this entire world. I wanted to know more about why this marriage was so important, exactly what being a First Daughter meant, what these little interludes were all about... I just needed to be a bit more established and understand what this world was all about.

THE KISS OF DECEPTION follows three POVs -- Lia, the prince, and the assassin. I immediately loved the POV switch but down the line, it became kind of confusing differentiating between the two male POVs and... It set things up for a love triangle... which I really could have done without. I was excited at first to see how the two male characters would both get involved with Lia's life, but soon it became an all out battle for her affections and that became the main conflict in the plot for a while which I really wasn't satisfied with. It began to feel like too much of a macho man competition and at one point they actually do physically battle.

The action really started to pick up about halfway through and I started getting much more involved in the story! Everything that I had been hoping for from the beginning started falling into place and the world building kicked in once the characters began digging deeper into their own pasts as well as that of their cities. It wasn't until the story was winding down and I was 75% of the way through that I started really getting into it. The little twists were popping up everywhere and I loved the constant surprises and action! There was one big surprise that I really liked WHAT it was but I didn't like HOW it happened. I felt really confused on at first... like I actually had felt like I had read the entire book wrong. I don't want to get in why because that would ruin the entire surprise but I was incredibly confused and actually had to go back and search for previous information as well as reach out to other who had read the book. Definitely felt really stupid for a while so I'm not sure what that says about that particular twist. I feel like twists shouldn't be confusing...? Or maybe that's just reader error there. I really couldn't say, but I felt really disappointed that it shocked me to the state of confusion and not just surprised me.

I finished the book pretty quickly after that point and really enjoyed the remainder! Things became much clearer, characters got answers to their questions, and there was a really nice set up for the rest of the series. It's so hard to say how I really felt about this book because my feelings were just all over the place. I think I had hoped for a little bit more and I definitely felt like the black sheep since the first reviews I saw for it were all five-star-flails. *shrugs*

I know, I know, I know. I am always hating on love triangles in young adult books, however I really really REALLY enjoyed The Kiss of Deception, a lot. When I read the description I wasn’t blown away, but I decided to give it a try anyways. When I read the description once more, I face palmed myself. A Prince. An Assassin. One girl. Ok, so there’s going to be a love triangle, whatever. I wanted to read this book and I did, and I am not ashamed to say how much I loved it.

I really enjoyed the story, to me it was very unique in a sense. The book was written so well, everything sounded beautifully together and like Fair Coin, I read this book quickly because I could NOT put it down. The main character, Lia, was your typical YA girl, but I loved her. I loved her and the Prince and the Assassin and all the characters (but a few I have in mind cough Malich cough.) The only down side to this story was the love triangle. Sigh. The love triangle was all the book really resolved around, sure Lia ran away from the castle so she didn’t have to marry a guy she didn’t know, but the love triangle just had to matter more. AND COME ON REALLY LIA?! I guess I’ll just say why I was angry at Lia, but be warned SPOILERS MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!!

Deep breath.

Lia is in a love triangle, with, get this, the Prince she was supposed to marry :/ and the assassin. AND SHE LOVES the Prince… come. on. If she hadn’t ran away then nothing bad would have happened and everyone would be happy as can be! But she ran away :/ COME ON LIA REALLY? Seriously :/

spoilers over

I did love it though, the story, the magical feel of it. Mary E. Pearson is a very good writer. Everything she wrote was written in such detail I felt like I had transported to where Lia went, it was beautiful. I am looking foreword to the next book very much, 2015… why can’t you come SOONER?!?!

Oh yes, since I hadn’t said so yet, I think most people would enjoy this story. The Kiss of Deception was written in such a wonderful way, very original and the author truly has a great talent for writing. The whole story was very good, the only thing I disliked was the love triangle. Lia is a very strong main character and I enjoyed that :)

If you like young adult love stories, magic or cool fantasy worlds read this ^_^!!!

How come I have never heard of Mary E. Pearson and her Remnant Chronicles? Was I hiding under a rock? Honestly, I am so blown away by how good a writer she is and how amazingly fun this book is to read that I don't know why she hasn't been on all the bestseller's lists. Because in my humble opinion, this series is one of the best out there. Easily one of my top three all time favorite, buy this in several editions, gift and recommend to others, type of series!

It starts explosively: a first born daughter getting ready for her wedding, an arranged marriage that was concocted for political purposes. And then by some inner fire or teenage rebellion, she races off and ditches her intended at the altar. She hides herself in a seaside village, working as a waitress to earn her keep but nothing is as simple or idyllic as it seems,,,page after page, we see character after character all reacting and moving in unexpected ways. There's the least besotted bridegroom in the world, the assassin with the kind eyes, the soldier brother and the tavern spy. It is one surprise after another, and that's just half the story.

I am fascinated by Lia. I think she is the toughest, strongest teen heroine I have ever encountered in recent memory. She is no wilting flower or even one of those that start of as meek then discover their inner the store. Nope. From the first page, she is a firecracker with an enviable ability to inspire love and loyalty from all she meets. She has the staunchest heart and yet, in so many ways she is a teenager trapped in circumstances not of her making but even so, never cowered.

I can go on and on about how much I enjoy this book but this is really something that has to be read and experienced. Sometimes, I must admit I don't like reading series but with this one, I never want it to end. I can't wait to see how Ms. Pearson concludes it. This is a well deserved 5 star read.

4.5 stars - This story is a fantastic start to a wonderful fantasy world. The book started out strong but slowed by leaps and bounds in Terravin even though this is where one assassination attempt occurred and Lia meets Rafe and Kaden, her potential love interests. My biggest problem with Terravin was the natural flow of everyday life and the romantic relationship development. Some parts were rushed that should have been slowed down while other parts were drawn out that should have been rushed. But I pushed through and was glad I did because the book and plot really picked up when Lia headed back to Civica. From then on I was hooked. From a critical perspective the first half of the book felt like a different story than the second part. And maybe I would have had an easier time accepting that the first half and second half of the books felt so different from each other if they had been labeled "part 1" and "part 2". But regardless, when I reached the end I immediately began reading book 2. As a fan I loved the gentle magic that's building and I loved having the protagonist have powers she has to grow in to. I'm excited to see what happens in The Heart of Betrayal."

I went into this book totally blind. I had seen it on Instagram a few times, but I had no idea what it was about or what to expect. I love when I blind read turns out great. I was instantly sucked into Lia's story and had a hard time putting the book down. The storyline kept me engaged, and I really connected with the characters. And that plot twist! It caught me so off guard, and it's a rarity that I don't see a plot twist a mile away. At first I was so convinced that I read it wrong, and then I went back and spot read chapters trying to see how I had gotten it so backwards. The best part was, no where could I find anything that contradicted the twist. Pearson spin in details and left enough gaps that I filled in with my own assumptions. I hate when a crazy twist is contradicted by earlier text, making the twist unbelievable.

I felt really connected to the characters as well. I've been on a bit of a MC disconnection streak, so it felt good to finally read another book where I like the main character and cared what happened to her. Not just Lia, but Pauline, Berdi, Gwyneth, Rafe, and Kaden. They all felt real and distinct to me, and even the bad guys I found myself grudgingly caring about.

This book was an unexpected surprise to me: I wasn't expecting to love it so much. And now I'm impatiently waiting to get my hands on The Heart of Betrayal (if anyone has an ARC they are willing to share I totally wouldn't object)!

While reading this it was obvious to tell you either hated it or loved it. Can we guess which one I was? That's right, I was the latter. All in all it just wasn't the right book for me.
In all honesty this book seemed more like a filler to me than anything. Which is strange because it was the series starter! It just seemed like it was pretty long for it to really have nothing happening. And then things finally did start getting interesting it was at the end. I didn't like having to wade through 10.5 hours of boring to get to the good parts.
Also, everyone was talking about how this book was so good and somewhere in their reviews were always the words "OMG THAT CLIFFHANGER" or some sort of thing like that. Let me tell you... That cliff hanger was not that bad. I knew she was going to end up finding out who he was. I just didn't realize it'd be so soon.
Last but not least, there was the biggest reason I was disappointed... The love triangle. Regardless of what anyone says, I say there was one. Later on she obviously picks who she wants to be with, but there was still kissing of the other party and I just didn't care for it. And last but not least, I've heard this book had an amazing love story. I'm still looking for it. I could not have been reading the same book as everyone else. Not even close. Because I did NOT get that same feeling.
In short, this book was a little harder to get in to. (I tried once before on the HC and gave up on it) I'm glad to say I gave it another shot, but I can't say right now if I will try the next one. Maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book! It was incredibly well written and a lot of fun to read. It’s also going to be difficult to review without spoilers, but I will give it my best shot.

Lia is a princess who is betrothed to marry a prince she has never met. But Lia is not the obedient little flower that her father and the leaders of her kingdom wish she was so she runs away right before her wedding and plans to disappear forever.

She heads to this lovely little town with her best friend Pauline and becomes a bar maiden. You would think that the transition from princess to bar maid would be hard for her, but Lia thrives off of her new found freedom and loves her simple life.

Enter Kaden and Rafe, two handsome mysterious men who will complicate Lia’s peaceful new existence and give her and adventure that she will never forget. One of these men is the prince that Lia was supposed to marry and the other is an assassin who is supposed to murder her and insure that a wedding between her and the prince never takes place.
We don’t find out who is the prince and who is the assassin until 60% into the book, but I figured it out almost immediately. I’m not bragging, but I really did figure it out, and I wish I hadn’t. Most of the fun of this book involves wondering who is who, but I made my decisions as soon as Lia met Kaden and Rafe, and then I found out I was right so I missed out on all the fun. I blame all of those classic mystery movies and TV shows that I’ve watched my whole life. lol

There is a minor debate about whether this book contains a love triangle. I have read some reviews that say it does and other reviews that claim it is obvious who Lia loves. She definitely picks one guy, and although she is attracted to the other leading man, she isn’t in love with him. However, I think she will become more confused about how she feels about him in the next book.

I think it would be safer not to use names when discussing the male leads, and tell you what I think about the assassin and the prince. Right now, I definitely like the prince more than the assassin!
I’m not sure what there is to like about the assassin as a romantic lead. He is a great character with plenty of dimensions and layers, and I like him. I just don't like him with Lia. When Lia finds out who he is, he spends a lot of time making excuses for why he kills people, but I never bought what he was selling. He was charming, handsome, and clearly in love with her, but he loved his country more, and I felt like he could be too harsh and unfeeling at times. I’m just getting tired of the leading man who thinks kindness is weakness. The prince treats Lia well so that’s who I like. But I will admit, I have more to say about the assassin, and I could see how he might win Lia's heart in the end. It is no secret that I dislike love triangles, but I respect them when they are well done and make sense. So far, this love triangle is off to a great start.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I don’t think I did myself any favors by reading so many positive reviews before I read the book because my expectations were high when it came to the mystery. I expected this great unsolvable mystery and lots of twist and turns, but I didn’t get that. There was never a moment when I was shocked by a big reveal. But, how much this book made me feel surprised me. I teared up towards the end, and I connected with Lia as a woman. She just wants to be loved and have the freedom to love in return, but because she was born as a princess, that is not an option. She suffers some great losses, and has to endure them without even getting a moment to herself to grieve. Her strength and resilience was impressive, and I am rooting for her to get the happy ever after she deserves.

I also understand what drives both the prince and the assassin. In fact, all three of them have a lot in common. They have all lost a lot, and are being forced to do things because of a position they did not choose. They are three very complex and well-written characters, and I look forward to watching them grow in the next book.

This book is for readers who like to take their time and immerse themselves in a good book. This was a sweeping tale of love, loss, personal, growth, and--of course--deception!

Because of violence and language, I would recommend this book for ages 14 and up.

The Kiss of Deception came on my radar around the same time it came out, unfortunately I didn't get around to reading it until recently. Now that I've read it I keep wondering why I didn't drop everything and read it when I first found it. I loved this story, the characters, and the way it was pulled off. Mary Pearson captured my imagination and curiosity from the very start and kept it through the whole book.

Lia is the First Daughter of her country, a princess who is being married off to a prince she's never met from a country that's been at odds with her own for longer than she's been alive. Instead of resigning herself to a life she doesn't want Lia takes her destiny into her own hands and flees on her wedding day. She makes her way to a small fishing village where she runs into two mysterious men who take a surprising interest in her. What she doesn't know is that one of them is an assassin sent to kill her while the other is the very prince she ran from on her wedding day. As Lia falls in love and learns more about her country and the strange Gift she may or may not have she also comes to realize that her destiny is something she may not be able to escape.

There were a few things about The Kiss of Deception that I really liked. The first was how the characters were handled. This book is full to the brim with unreliable narrators and I loved it. Each chapter alternates narrators from Lia, to the Prince, and to the Assassin. From the way Mary Pearson wrote it I found myself unclear of who exactly the Prince was versus who the Assassin was. Neither was a narrator that I could really trust, and when their names were revealed I fell further into delighted confusion. By the end of the book I was sure I'd figured out who was the Prince and who was the Assassin, but it took a lot of me guessing. I liked this because it allowed me to fall in love with Lia's love instead of allowing my biased preference ruin the read.

The second thing I liked about this book was how Lia was aware of how her actions affected the two men in her life. She knew when she'd gone too far with flirting and actively worked to ensure she was with who she wanted to be with, making her 'love triangle' choice very easily and avoiding the bulk of the drama. I loved this, and I hope it continues into the next book.

I have to say, I really liked the entire cast of characters in this book. From the minor characters to the main ones they all felt full and alive. I also really enjoyed the story. I liked the mystery of The Gift and I enjoyed seeing Lia bloom into a character who cared about more than herself. The plotting was well done, for at least the first half of the book. Unfortunately after the 'big reveal' of who the Prince was and who the Assassin was I felt like the pace began to drag a little bit. I listened to this on audio and at the end of every section I thought the book would be wrapping up soon, but it just kept going. I'm not saying the last chunk of the book was bad, it was very well written, it just dragged on and on to me. It could have easily made an interesting first few chapters in the sequel.

I listened to this on audio, and I'd be remiss if I forgot to comment on the quality of the audio book, because it's amazing. Each character is read by a different narrator and every one of them does an amazing job. I mean a really good job. I'd recommend listening to this book even if you've already read it, just for the different vocalizations of the characters voices.

The Kiss of Deception is a fantasy story that will pull readers on an amazing adventure through the life of one brave princess who finds herself the only one who can change a world gone wrong.

Lia is the first daughter of her family, a role that within her world imbeds her with certain gifts, and has been promised in marriage to a neighboring kingdom's prince. Having never met said prince and annoyed by the fact that her brothers can marry for love, Lia and her best friend/maid Pauline run off for Pauline's native home, Terravin.

After obtaining a room and jobs with Pauline's old family friend, Berdi, Lia comes into her own. Lia isn't a snobby princess or one demanding to be waited on, but a young woman determined to earn her keep and willing to get her hands dirty. All she wants is freedom and the opportunity to make her own choices and that's what she has found in Terravin.

Enter the Assassin, sent to kill Lia, and the Prince, intrigued by the woman who opted to runaway rather than marry him. After tracking Lia down, and being impressed by her skill at hiding her tracks, both men happen upon one another at the same time. Neither knows who the other is or why they're there, but they believe each others false stories as easily as Lia - though as things progress they do grow more and more suspicious of one another.

I'm not going to touch too much more on Rafe and Kaden because I don't want to drop any hints as to which guy is which. I will say that Mary does an excellent job of keeping us guessing as to who these men truly are. If you're worried about there being a love triangle (like I did), don't be! At some points you feel like it's heading that way, but it's not. Lia's feelings for the one guy are more along the lines of "Yeah, he's attractive, but . . ."

The first half of the book is a bit slow and took me a bit to read, but once the Assassin reveals himself Oh. My. God. I couldn't stop reading! I must have read the second half in a matter of hours - and the last few chapters under my covers because it was super late and even my book light was keeping my husband awake.

And the ending! I can't tell you how many times I reread that last chapter and how many times I've read it since. It's so perfect. Even with the cliff hanger (but since The Heart of Betrayal it's okay because you can immediately pick it up and continue), I wasn't mad. Normally cliff hangers drive me to the brink of instantly, but something about this one is so beautiful and so wonderful that I didn't care. This is definitely a book you do not to miss out on; as soon as I finished I ordered The Heart of Betrayal and preordered The Beauty of Darkness.

I had started this book a while ago and never really got around to finishing it. I certainly don’t know why - considering it was a great read. I imagine that life just got in the way and I began reading other books that needed my attention. I regret not originally finishing it in the first place. Plus, Kristen kept freaking out to me the ending of the sequel, The Heart of Betrayal, so I knew I had to read the first book!

I admit that one of its few flaws was that it was a little slow-going for me in the very beginning of the book. But then the pacing became crazy well-done and I was pretty happy with it with a few bumps in the reading that I thought were also slow-going. Regardless, it still had me trying to get to the last page as soon as I could, which I imagine is what every book wants us to do so that we can cry over the anguish of probably waiting a year for the next week. Luckily for me, I have THoB, but once I read that, OH HOW THE WRETCHED WAITING GAME WILL BEGIN.

The guessing game with the assassin and prince was amazingly well done. That was one of the brilliant elements of the book for and I’m sure it was for many people. I kept going back and forth on who I thought was who, but somehow, Pearson was so astutely aware of how she was writing her characters and their scenes that she did it seamlessly. By the time I learned who was who, I kept saying that I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND, I KNEW IT. I also had a firm suspicion of who was going to end up with Lia by the end of the book (I mean, honestly, is it really a spoiler to tell you that she ends up with ONE of the gentlemen? She totally does) but that was wrong as well because of how damn well the narrative was written. I was happy when it was revealed because it suddenly had me cheering for the other one. I kept constantly asking Kristen who her favorite was - Kaden or Rafe and of course, she kept going back and forth as well.

Lia is the most underrated form of kickass that I have come across. There are those heroines that are out-right kickass - women like Katniss or Adelina from The Young Elites. Not that there is anything wrong at all with those kinds of characters. I love those characters and think they’re fabulous. I just think that in genre that is saturated with them, someone like Lia is a breath of fresh air. She came across as someone who knew her values and knew who she was, but always had hesitations and doubts. It isn’t to say that other heroines don’t have these attributes, but there was something about Lia that particularly resonated with me. She reminded me of Héloïse d'Argenteuil who wasn’t afraid to discredit marriage lead a life governed by her convictions. Lia escaped a life that she didn’t want to have and settled for a life where she thought she could have her freedom. She spoke her mind and knew the things she had to do - what she had to do that was right. There’s a scene in the book that really touches me - the burial scene. I’m sure that it certainly affected other readers. It was such a powerful scene. And to see her in a sense of inner suffering and emotional breakdown, god, it was so raw and I loved reading that scene. I know that there is obviously something great that is going to happen with her, something that has to deal with the legends, but for the time being, I like her being an someone still confused and in the dark, but finding the way out for herself. Also, I think the whole idea behind the kavah is sort of kickass in itself.

I am just so impressed with Pearson’s writing. I appreciate that it is a fantastical world, but has those little historical elements. Princes, barbarians, barmaids, oh my. I commend Pearson for not only keeping up with the world building and those sort of elements, but also touching upon the certain points of violence - especially between men and women. There are a few moments involving one of the barbarians, Malich, that makes me grit my teeth and scowl because it’s something that’s expected and something that adds to the realism of the text (even though I wish it didn’t). I kept waiting for the page where he fully crossed a line that would have made the assassin slit his throat.

I’ve never read Pearson’s other series that I know she’s known for and I’m glad that this is the first thing I’ve read by her. I’ve become a big fan of hers and I just can’t wait what else she has in store for her characters. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL BECAUSE I KNOW I’LL BE WAITING NOW!

~3.5 stars~ The synopsis on this one had me sold. While I found the story to be enjoyable for the most part, nothing about it really stood out as a one of a kind/memorable read. It had a similar feel to numerous other books I've read in the past. So, here is my breakdown:

Pros:
* I like that the heroine was independent and strong willed
* Each character had so much depth

Cons:
* I'm not a fan of love triangles and this read had a lot of that - 2 men swooning over the same girl throughout the entire story
* This was supposed to be a YA Fantasy genre but it never really had a "fantasy" feel to it, only young adult
* There were a lot of times where very little seemed to happen - for instance, when traveling from one region to the next, they camped, they rode, they camped, they rode, day after day, it made for some slow spells in this book.
* The ending left much to be desired - while I wouldn't call it a brutal cliffhanger, it wasn't one of those reads that leaves you feeling satisfied upon completion
* Way over-priced at its current listing price of $9.99

Overall, the writing was good, and this series does have a lot of potential. I would like to say that I will continue this series, but I seriously doubt that will happen. Book one was released in July 2014, but book 2 won't be available until July 2015. A year between book releases is just absurd to me personally. This book was pretty good, but not good enough for me to even remember what all played out a year later.

I liked this book as just a good story. If I thought of it as a romance then I would have been a bit disappointed because that part felt flat to me. Both love interests "fell in love" with her and visa versa incredibly quickly and for seemingly no reasons that I could see and she didn't initially fall for who I wanted her to fall for. But as just a good story I thought it was pretty interesting. I will definitely read the next two installments at some point but I don't feel the need to rush out right now and get them. One other thing I want to say, without giving anything away, is that the author plays a trick on you! It is so well done that you won't realize that you have been tricked until 2/3rds of the way through the book. It makes me want to reread it just to see how she possibly pulled it off! Really cool.

*The first half of this book focuses a lot on set up and character introduction. It’s pretty romance heavy with a love triangle, so if that’s not your thing, this book may not be worth investing time in!

*Despite the heavy romantic plot line, the world building was interesting, unique, and full of mystery. I’m excited to see where exploring the world’s mythology and history will come into play in the next two novels!

*I really enjoyed the characters, even the two competing love interests, which made the love triangle more bearable. Sadly, it doesn’t look like said love triangle was fully resolved in book one, which is a drawback.

*The writing is really beautiful, both descriptive and poetic, but not bogged down with unnecessary details or too much flowery prose.

*This book has it’s drawbacks, but I enjoyed it a lot and am hopeful the next two books will have more action/adventure/world-exploring in it.

I wanted to read The Kiss of Deception even before I realized that I loved The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which is also written by Mary E. Pearson. It's been a while since I've read that book so I was hoping that her writing would live up to what expectations I could muster from my vague memories of really enjoying that read (and prompting me to crave rereading it and finishing the trilogy). Unfortunately, while The Kiss of Deception was extremely well-written, I didn't care for the try-hard love triangle in it that overtook most of the plot.

From page one, I was hooked. Lia is her kingdom's First Daughter--a princess valuable in marriage because she's supposed to have "the gift". This gift is ambiguous, for the most part, and seems to be some well to tell the future. I'm not sure if it's only her future or the kingdom's. In either case, Lia doesn't have this gift but she's being married off to a neighboring kingdom anyway to solidify an alliance between the two. But she decides that she wants to control her own future. This is what made me love Lia. She's so strong, and stubborn, but over all of that she'd sacrifice all of her hopes and dreams for a chance that the people she loves will be safe and happy. Some of her decisions appear to be selfish but they're anything but that.

Enter the love triangle and things got tricky for me. It's obvious who she's going to interact with and the bad boy/perfect prince angle going in this tumultuous group of relationships. There's a twist in here, though, that I didn't catch onto and confused me so much before I realized what had happened. And it was brilliant, honestly. I'd recommend someone pick up the book for that alone--and obviously, I won't say anything about what it was, for fear of spoiling people.

Still, after that, the book seemed very different from then on. Lia is still developing as a characters, as young woman and princess, and I was interested to see where she'd end up at the conclusion of the novel. I did like the place where it ended and I know book two is already out now so I wouldn't need to wait ages to read it, but . . . I'm not certain that I'll bother picking it up. While there were pieces of this book that I adored, the love triangle and the amount of time spent concentrating on it was annoying enough to make me think that I'll just assume where the story might end from here. If I see great reviews . . I might be convinced otherwise.

I do think that this is a fantasy novel that a lot of people will love. The world-building and Lia's character are fantastic and I'm assuming more people will love, well, the love in this one.

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…breath, Vivian, breath…AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t tell you how excellent this book is!!! I love it SOOO much!!!! (Jumping around my room, screaming, dancing…) Oh gash, The Kiss of Deception is perfect!!! Who say that I hate love triangle? Please, take all of them back!!! I finish within a day. I just devoured it as soon as possible, and I stuck on my chair and never moved a single movement. Since the moment I sat on my desk, I couldn’t leave the book. Whenever I went, the book followed. It’s so great!!! I can’t even calm down while I am typing this review!!! Just go and read it!!! Who cares about the “love triangle” part? It has the best romance I’ve ever seen!!! (Breath~ Calm down, Vivian…calm down.) WOW…
Oh my god, I love this story! Can someone please deliver The Heart of Betrayal and give me the ARC of The Beautiful Darkness? I need them NOW!!! (Screaming!!!) I love Lia, Rafe and Kaden, and I love how the story was told. To be honest, I’ve already saw a lot reviews of the second books, and with spoilers, no shame guys, no shame. I love spoilers!!! Yeah!!! When I was reading this book, I was like “oh! They’re definitely going to be together!” or “Yes, I know that’ll happen!!!” I love how the book tells the story by giving you songs and testaments, so when you read them, you’ll predict what will happen in the future. And when you guess them right…that feels so great. And from the first moment you see the title, you must understand…that this book is full of deception. No exaggeration, the deception can start from names to career, from title to state. Of course, the reader will know the truth from the beginning, so you won’t have to be nervous about all the mystery. But wait, that doesn’t mean the book is boring, of course not! Otherwise I won’t be frenzied with this book. I regret so much I didn’t pick it up early!!! It had stayed in my to-buy list for ages. Well…and somehow feel relief as well, because I don’t know if I can wait for the sequel to come out for a year!!! (I am now trying every possible way to persuade my mom buying the second book for me!!! I just need that! Oh…it kills me from waiting this book!!!)
I love how the Mary E. Pearson narrated the story by mostly Lia, but also added some prince and assassin’s part. I hate lots of POV, it somehow ruin the story if you can’t detect the difference of characters. But when it comes to The Kiss of Deception, you will never feel boring for the Prince and Assassin’s part, they just added something extra for the book!!! They aren’t much, but enough for you to enjoy them. I love it so much! And the descriptions are great! You can feel the detail and the plot open in front of you. I saw not only words when I read this book, but an entire new world, a world I wish to have an adventure with Lia. I hope that someday this book can be adapted to movie!!! And I secretly hope that I can be Lia…wait? (Hash hash…don’t tell. But in fact…I have hair as black as her, a spirit as strong as her…and really, we’re so similar.)

Lia
If one can’t be trust in love, one can’t be trust in anything. Some things can’t be forgiven.
Who say we need to get spoil princesses in novels? We get one extraordinary, wonderful, perfect princess in this book! To seek for love, she escaped from her loveless wedding, which was only something political, something…unbearable. I even wonder, did her parents love her at all? Or just loved her because of “First Daughter of Morrighan”? I love Lia, hum…needless to say, she is definitely a strong heroine. I think that become the stereotype of YA novels, don’t you think? But the truth is…who will want to read a worthless protagonist? The reason I love her so much is that I can find similarity with her. From the words she said, her reaction, and her taste are so similar to me! Some things can’t be forgiven. Really, I can never forgive someone who betrays her/his love. In my opinion, someone can be forgiven of lying, can be tolerated without a sweet tongue…but they can never be forgiven once they two-timing. She cared for her friends and brothers, and she had a kind heart. That’s more important than anything else, don’t you think? Although Lia is strong, she isn’t a bad-ass character in this book…yet. I think so, not until the next book. She just wanted to have a simple, normal life. No privilege, no politic, no responsibility. She wanted to be loved, just that simple. Unfortunately…or fortunately, some guys came to find her. She felt a strong connection with the two strangers from the beginning, and the longer she stayed with them, the more she felt. And a voice kept talking behind her, and sometime, it saved her life. I think many things are still confuse Lia, the book, the voice, the young stranger, the assassin… Yet through the book, things were getting clear. I believe that we’ll get more in the second book. And the plot just getting excellent!

Rafe
I will find you…
In the farthest corner…
I will find you…
I hereby announce—I have a new boyfriend!!! Ah!!! I love him so much!! His is absolutely an adorable character!! I totally ship Rafe and Lia!!! And…In the farthest corner… I will find you… it’s actually a little spoiler, really. But those are the best words to present him! Or perhaps you’ll like “Tread carefully, Orrin. You speak of your future queen.” Oh! Don’t worry, Orrin is just a nobody in this book, sort of. Not really important. But…ah!!! I kept laughing and giggling when I read those words! WOW, definitely wow. All right, time to tell you Rafe’s actual identity, he is a farmer. Do you believe? Lia falls in love with a farmer…whose identity is a deception. Rafe is actually the Prince of Dalbreck. The “papa prince,” according to Lia. He set out his journey to find Lia, and the only reason was that he was angry…because he was jilted. No!!! Well…I think that’s a bit of reason, but what’s more, he was interested in her. Lia had done something that he wouldn’t dare to do—flee…although he really wanted to.
His original plan was to find Princess Lia, and then…no more. But what he didn’t expect is that Lia really enjoyed her life in Terravin, which was totally unlike a royalty. She was different from the court, and she followed her own ways. That’s what makes him in love with her. However, Rafe couldn’t just jump in front of her and say “I’m the Prince of Dalbreck, and I love you! Let’s go back and fulfill the marriage!” Surly Lia will despise him for that. So…his secret remained silent. But he was kind of confusing at first…although since I was the reader, I can read his POV and understood why he did all those things. As for Lia, she knew there were something between them, but his attitude drew her mad. So, there was an interesting part between them in the book and…ahhh!!!! Really, I just love Rafe so much!!! I hope he’ll have a better future with Lia in the book. (Swoon~) (And perhaps some hot scene?)

Kaden
Osa’r e enand vopilito Gaudrella. Shias wei hal…le diamma camman ashea mika e kisav.
Have no ideas what I am writing? That’s all right, just read the book!!! Something in this review must remain mystery… While Rafe is the Prince, Kaden, on the other hand, is the assassin. He is the most skillful, cold-hearted assassin in his group. But wait…cold hearted? How come he fell in love with Lia? That’s Lia’s charm, see? Our every protagonist has the ability to attract everyone, EVERYONE. Compare to Rafe…Kaden is a bit more…hum…like a stone? I don’t know, he just isn’t as charming as Rafe, and that definitely have nothing to do with their state. I have no day dream for Prince Charming, just Rafe is simply such a great character that you can’t help but fall in love with him. Of course I like Kaden, he is also…well…interesting, attractive perhaps? But you can’t help blame him for putting Venda first. (Wait…why does he remind me of Chaol? No!!! Chaol is supposed to list with Rafe!!! I think that’s because they’re both loyal to the country?) Back to Kaden, he was under the task to assassinate Lia…and by whom…? I think not by her father…at least that’s what I can be sure of. He was tortured between loyalty and love…and…sorry Kaden, but I don’t think you stand a chance to be with Lia. Why is that? Because from the start, we can see Lia has a strong connection with Rafe! How can she deny it? Besides…Venda always comes first, not Lia. So you can’t promise that if Lia’s existence threatens Venda’s survival, Kaden wouldn’t kill her, no matter how much he loves her. So…understand? Although Lia feels something for him, but not…not how she feels for Rafe. Sorry, Kaden…but I sincerely hope that we can find out more of him in Heart of Betrayal…which is said to be full of betrayal…a lot.

I love this book, and I can’t wait for the others!!! I think it must be one of the best books I’ve read recently. (Better than The Lunar Chronicles!! Well…a bit. Running away…) I was full of expression while I read this book…even I felt like a totally fangirl while I read this book. But I just can’t stop myself!!! The book is excellent!!! So, no matter you’re afraid of love triangle, afraid of horrible romance…don’t worry, this book mixes all of those terrifying stuff wonderfully. You’ll want to read it over and over again…sorry guys, I’m going to re-read it. NOW!
This is post originally on my blog
Vivian's Book Pavilion
[...]

I have never read a novel by Mary E. Pearson before, but after reading this one I want to go out and buy all of her previous works! This book was everything I wanted and more. While it was not perfect, I couldn't have asked for a more unique series to get me out of my reading slump.

Princess Lia is a First Daughter. As a First Daughter she is expected to have the gift of sight, though she hasn't showed any signs of such a gift. This gift is especially important because her parents are marrying her off to another kingdom with the promise that her gift of sight will be able to benefit both countries united. However, Lia hates pretending she is something that she truly is not and she's never met the prince she is to be married to, so she runs away right before her wedding with the help of one of her servants and friends.

Lia is a very unique character. In the beginning, she's not that easy to get behind. She seems like any other spoiled princess not wanting to take part in her princess duties so she runs away in rebellion. However, the readers quickly realize that she really is unlike all of the other princesses and she truly does prefer the hard work that a peasant has to do to the politicking that a princess must endure. Because of this it takes time to warm up to Lia, so it's hard to get behind her in the beginning of the story. You just want to shake her at times when she claims to want to blend in, but she doesn't change her name or treat soldiers any differently. Her character growth is literally insane and by the end of the book I had nothing but respect and admiration for this rogue princess. I am rooting for her like no other.

The love interest in this book is also someone to root for. When Lia begins life as a serving girl at a bed and breakfast, two haunting strangers come into her life: Rafe and Kaden. One is an assassin sent to kill her by her enemies to ensure that her country will remain at war and the other is the jilted prince she was meant to marry. She doesn't know about either of their true identities, nor are they aware of each other's true agendas, so this makes for a whole lot of confusion and stolen time. The coolest aspect of this concept is that as readers, we are unsure who is who as well. We're eventually told who is the assassin and who is the prince and the book is turned upside down all over again when everything we thought was true may have been wrong...(and this twist is freaking awesome!) This book obviously has the makings of a love triangle since both boys catch feelings for Lia against their better judgments, but Lia very clearly only likes one of them and, boy, am I happy. This ship is going far, let me tell you. I want it to sail the ocean and dock at the very end because this is a ship a girl can easily get behind.

The world-building in this book is gorgeous, but it also leaves me questioning the book's genre. No doubt, there are fantasy aspects to this book, but at times I felt like this was a post-apocalyptic fantasy set hundreds of years into the future when our modern world is in such ruin that this new world sprung up. The reason I say this is because I felt like several aspects of this world were remnants of our world today. On top of that fact, the names of some things had me curious. Bridge of Golgata...Bridge of Gold Gate...Golden Gate Bridge, you know? This is something that I'd love to talk to people about when they read this book!

My one issue with this book is the fact that I'm slightly confused in regards to the whole sight thing. I'm lead to believe that this just may be me as a reader. However, this girl's mother has the sight and she can see the future, so is that what the sight entails? Why does it appear in some and not others? Why did Lia's mother not even want her to have the sight? Why, when Lia was at the camps, did she learn something new? What are all these different sight things?! Really, that's my only confusion in the book that leads me to a ton of questions and they all have to do with the aspect of Lia that made her believe she was a sham of a princess. I'm sure that we will get answers in later books, but the anxious reader in me wants them now.

In the end, this book was awesome. Really, it blew my mind on several different occasions. While it was not perfect, I see my two main issues getting corrected in book two. This series is not only compelling, but it leaves you literally begging for more. With an awesome heroine, a kickass love interest, and plot twists galore, I can't ever see this one disappointing anyone.

I have read all of Mary E. Pearson’s books so far and was extremely thrilled to get to read this one. She has written yet another fabulous novel. I found myself to be utterly captivated by Pearson’s newest novel The Kiss of Deception. What will principally lure in readers when it comes to The Kiss of Deception is not merely the extensive world or the thrilling romance, but moreover the clever method in which the tale is articulated.

The characters and the realm that Pearson creates are intricate. More outstandingly, readers will yearn to learn more about them all. Fiery and clever, opinionated and independent, rebellious and unwavering with a tad of haughtiness, main character Lia is not about to allow herself be pushed into an arranged union. Lia is overall a charmingly strong character who is required to mature fairly a tad in this novel—faced with situations and consequences due to her bolting, dealing with misfortune, becoming further self-aware, learning about what it truly means to be a first descendant, and identifying her own fallacies and mistakes.

Overall, it is a talented and enthralling addition to YA fantasy. The Kiss of Deception is an intense tale about a girl attempting to live her life the way she desires, only to then grasp that fate has different ideas in store for her. You have got it all in The Kiss of Deception; grand journeys, adventure, electrifying pursuits, assassins, passion, magic, and royals. An extremely innovative tale marks The Kiss of Deception as a longed-for addition to my great fantasy assemblage. The heart-shattering end assures abundant escapades for the sequel!

An Advanced Readers Copy of the book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson * 3 Stars*

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My Review:

I'm a little confused about how to rate this book. I think the writing per se is good, as it is the character's development. But the slow pace and the story running in circles made me think twice before writing a review.
The main character is a princess, Lia. She runs away on her wedding day because she doesn't want to marry a prince to make peace between Nations (selfish much? ). On the other hand, she does have the right to marry for love, right? I don't know. For someone who claims to love her brothers so much, I thought she would sacrifice herself for the sake of their security, if not for the Nation. So, she runs with her loyal maiden Pauline, who left all behind without thinking twice, including the love of her life and find a place really quick without having any problems on the way. Then she gets a job, she is a waitress now, even without ever carrying a plate on her life and she doesn't stop talking about how is to he a waitress. There, she will meet very soon, two guys: one is the prince and the other is the assassin. Both fall in love with her too fast. The assassin doesn't kill her, because he is in-love and keep stalling. The prince doesn't say who he is either. She likes one of them, and it's clear to us who it is, but at the same time she still cares for the other, but not enough to lead him on but she also kissed him. So, I'm confused, because this happens after she find out who he really is and what he has done. Her powers are developing very slowly, which didn't bother me at all. What bother me is how slow the book is, it goes on forever and nothing really happens. At some point, they spent so long traveling that gets boring. The best part is how it's written, because you don't know who is the prince and who is the assassin, so you keep trying to guess. Honestly, I didn’t find that hard to guess who it was, I guessed right, maybe I would be happier if I guessed wrong, so I could say that something really surprised me there. And to make the confusion even worse, I like the very end. This is me trying to get the right rate for a book that I liked and at the same time didn’t.

I love the cover of this book. It is absolutely gorgeous. How can such a book be resisted? It can’t. So I put in a purchase request at the library and they decided to buy it! I was so excited when I received the phone call that the book was in for me.

Lia escapes from the palace on her wedding day with a servant named Pauline and something she stole from the Royal Scholar. She and Pauline flee to the town of Terravin where they immerse themselves in normal daily life.

Then two strangers arrive. One is the prince of Dalbreck Lia was to marry and the other is an assassin from Venda sent to kill her. But Lia has no idea who they really are.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is told in the first person switching between Lia and the two young men. This is great because it allows you to really get into the mind of each of the main characters.

The middle was slightly unexpected while the ending was wholly not what I thought would happen. It is nice to read books where I don’t totally call the ending before I even get there.

I love the character of Lia. She is a strong young lady who knows her own mind. She isn’t afraid to run away from everything she has ever known in order to avoid marrying an unknown man for the sake of an international treaty. It takes strength to dedicate yourself to actual work when you’ve spent your life living in luxury.

I really would love to say more about the book but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I loved this book and cannot wait to lay my hands on a copy of The Heart of Betrayal. So, yeah, go read this book!

This review first appeared at Orandi et Legendi (http://catholicamanda.com).

"The Kiss of Deception" is a compelling fantasy adventure that begins when Princess Arabella (Lia) of the House of Morrighan flees her wedding to the Prince of Dalbreck, escaping her father's trackers and starting a new life in Terravin, a small community near the sea. Working as a bar maid Lia becomes entranced with two enigmatic strangers unaware that one is the Prince she abandoned at the altar and the other an assassin from Venda whose mission is to kill her.

Mary E. Pearson begins this compelling tale in the Kingdom of Morrighan where Lia's father the King is determined to cement a crucial alliance with the Kingdom of Dalbreck to avert a war with the Kingdom of Venda. In defiance against a duty that has no room for love Lia rebels especially when the Prince refuses her request to "let her inspect him" before the wedding. She flees with her maid Pauline leaving a tenuous political situation behind.

This well-developed and gripping plot heats up when marauders begin wreaking havoc in the countryside and tragedy strikes. Settling into a simple lifestyle Lia not only begins falling in love with Raff a mysterious unemployed farmhand, trusts Kaden the seemingly honest and trustworthy trader, but makes a momentous decision that sweeps her up in a storm of dangerous and unexpected events. With every challenge that Lia faces as Raff hunts for her across miles of wasteland, excitement and suspense mount as deception and lies are revealed.

Amid the turmoil there are underlying strands of subplots including a prophecy hidden in the pages of two ancient books that Lia stole from the Scholar as well as her "gift" a power that's only begun to emerge and will impact her future. Even the note that spurred Raff to seek his runaway bride keeps coming into play especially after she's captured and he's driven to make a daring rescue plan. The action never stops in this riveting page-turner as events climax in an exciting cliff-hanger that begs for a sequel.

Included among the main characters that add power and passion to this captivating drama is seventeen year old Lia the fearless, impulsive and quick-tempered Princess of Morrighan who sets events in motion when she flees her wedding. Defying tradition and wanting love in a marriage, she finds contentment in a simple life where she's not only hardworking but shows resilience and bravery. After falling in love with Raff she never expects that he's actually Prince Jaxon of Dalbreck, a skilled warrior who's determined to find the runaway bride whose note peaked his curiosity and amusement. Contemplative, shrewd and confident, love blossoms when Raff least expects it after losing his heart to the feisty maiden. Similarly Kaden, the brooding Vendan assassin who's haunted by a cruel past has been ordered to kill Lia. He masks his lethal intent behind kindness and consideration, never expecting that he'll be attracted to her. His steadfast loyalty to his country and duty will be tested as he discovers the depth of his feelings for a royal he thought he'd despise.

With bold characters and a wealth of description Mary E. Pearson brings the fantasy world to life in " The Kiss of Deception". This is an intriguing story that I couldn't put down until the end. I recommend it to those who like the fantasy genre and look forward to the next chapter in Lia's adventure.

I adore high fantasy. It's one of those genres that I'll never tire of, but where I also have high standards. That means, clearly, The Kiss of Deception appealed to me. There are a couple of elements that felt less than satisfactory to me, but generally The Kiss of Deception is a highly entertaining and promising fantasy.

There's a lot to be said for this book. The writing is, without a doubt, gorgeous. Time and time again I found myself stopping just to reread a phrase or to sit and think about the wording. It was simply lovely and a joy to read, just on the level of sentence construction. I also found myself really liking Lia, especially in the latter parts of the book. Running away from her duty was something I could understand, but never really admired her for. I see the bravery in going against the expectations, breaking out, but I see more bravery in facing what scares you and fulfilling duty. It didn't make me dislike her at the beginning at all, because it's an understandable reaction. However, her strength in taking on work she's never done and dedication to learning make me like her more as time went on. When later events spurred her into bigger action, I really grew to admire her. She's strong, dedicated, and willing to do anything for those she loves. That growth is just great.

Really, the biggest detraction is the love triangle. It's there, and it looks like it's not going away in the next book, but at the same time, I found myself pretty darn invested. Pearson keeps you from knowing who the prince and assassin are, making their introductions from Lia's point of view, so we get descriptions and names, but not their purposes. I was so sure I knew who each was, but was wrong--and while being wrong is frustrating, I was deeply happy as well.

The only other problem I had was that a lot of the mythology of the world was kind of foggy. The story fragments at the beginning of each chapter were compelling and the background we're given is really interesting, but I never found a full picture. It's compelling and gets better as the story goes on, but the focus on the relationships didn't allow for as much growth of the storyline. Hopefully this will be expanded in the sequel.

In all, The Kiss of Deception is a promising start to the series. The characters and story are compelling and the writing is beautiful. None of my problems really hindered my enjoyment. It's a pretty darn long book, but the moment I finished I was wishing for more--and that says a lot.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Lia awakens and greets the new day. She realizes that today she stands on the threshold as she prepares to leave the life she has known by entering into an arranged marriage. Lia endures the traditional marking ceremony, but then right before the wedding, she does the unthinkable and flees. Accompanying her is her maid and close friend, Pauline. Far across the kingdom, Pauline and Lia settle into a small fishing village. Lia starts working as a bar maid, and she loves every minute of her new life. She even dares to flirt with two handsome strangers in the tavern, not knowing that one is an assassin while the other is her betrothed. Deception and treachery swirl around the unknowing Lia. Will she be forced to return home and marry?

What I Liked:
*I was surprised at how quickly I was sucked into this fantasy world. Ms. Pearson does an excellent job with her world building, and her story telling is solid and entertaining. She even goes so far as to write songs and stories from a civilization long ago that are sprinkled throughout the book.
*At the heart of the story is Princess Jezelia. She is a first daughter supposedly blessed with magical powers, but unfortunately for Lia, her powers have not manifested. The story starts on the morning of Lia's wedding day. She is angry that she is being forced into an arranged marriage while everyone else she knows is allowed to marry according to their heart. At the last moment, Lia flees and heads to a new life. Once settled in a remote fishing village, Lia thrives in her new life. She works as a tavern maid and she throws herself into it wholeheartedly. Lia is a character who is complex, likable and frustrating. On one hand, I admired her courage and stubbornness, and I liked that she was willing to jump into her new life with no complaints. A princess working as a maid and loving it, who would have thought? On the other hand, she is outspoken to the point where it gets her into trouble time and time again. She is headstrong, immature and impetuous, and sometimes she behaves like a spoiled brat. However, as the story progresses, she grows and changes and becomes more endearing as she realizes the effects of her actions and endeavors to do the right thing. I ended up enjoying this tough Princess, and I admired her courage.
*The Prince or Rafe is a surprise as well. Left embarrassed at the altar, he decides to track down the wayward princess, unsure as to what he will do when he finds her. You think he has no backbone because he allowed his father to betroth him to a girl he has never met or seen on the promise that if he marries her he can take a mistress... say what? However, he actually isn't spineless. Instead of growing up a pretty boy he serves in his father's army. He refuses to receive special treatment and he trains hard and takes his knocks. When he tracks down Lia, he introduces himself as a farm boy. I liked that he was tough and unspoiled, and that he continued to surprise me at every turn.
*There is a lot going on this story. You have Princess Lia running from her marriage, the fallout, impending war in the kingdom, secrets and deception, strange prophecies and powers from the mysterious ancients, treachery, kidnapping and more. I liked all the story arcs and found that despite some of the flaws, I was entertained by the story. If you like a good fantasy and you can stomach a love triangle, this is a good book to pick up.
And The Not So Much:
*The biggest disappointment was the romance. A love triangle develops, though it isn't completely formed. Lia doesn't fully develop romantic feelings for the second suitor, but there are hints of an attraction. The romance comes out of nowhere. I felt like it was thrown in there for the sake of having a romance. I would have liked this book so much better if the romance was either better developed or left out. I thought it was doing great while the couple formed a friendship, and then all of sudden Lia has romantic feelings. They didn't seem genuine. The love triangle rears its ugly head as there are two suitors vying for Lia's heart. I never felt like the second suitor was more than a friend, and then he does something that you would think would shun Lia, but then she actually kisses him after all his bad deeds. Are you kidding me? The other problem is that the romance is based on deception as Lia doesn't realize that Rafe is really her betrothed. How is she going to feel when she finds out the truth?
*Kaden the reluctant assassin is a character that I didn't like at all. First, he was supposed to kill Lia, that is his first strike, but instead of doing so, he spends weeks in the village watching her and falling in love with her. While some might find this romantic, I didn't like it all. Either be an assassin or get out of town.
*I felt like the last portion of the book dragged and I lost interest. I kept expecting some type of big development. Then it got interesting again when Lia and her travel companions encounter a traveling caravan of gypsy women. There is an older women there brimming with secrets and knowledge and I was hoping for her to take Lia under her wing and counsel her about her magical abilities. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen to the extent I would have liked. I wanted to know so much more about these magical abilities.
*The book ends with an annoying cliffhanger, just when I was expecting big revelations and answers. It was frustrating and irritating. I am so done with cliffhangers these days.

The Kiss of Deception is an entertaining fantasy novel with all the elements you love in a good fantasy. It has solid world building, interesting characters and an engaging story line. The drawbacks are an annoying love triangle, weak romance and a frustrating cliffhanger. Still I liked this one enough that I will likely continue the series.
Favorite Quotations:
"I wondered what it would be like to have someone who knew me so well, someone who would look right into my soul, someone whose very touch sent all other thoughts from my mind. I tried to imagine someone who hungered for the same things I did and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and not because it fulfilled a loveless agreement on paper."
"It's half-assed! Sven shouted as I slid my foot into the stirrup. "I know," I said. "That's why I'm counting on you to figure out the other half."
"Sometimes we're all pushed to do things we thought we could never do."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

An epic love story! This is one of those timeless stories that will never get old, no matter how many times you read it. I LOVED IT! This is my favorite read of 2014 so far. The Kiss of Deception is one of those reads that has it all. Mary E. Pearson's writing pulled me into her story effortlessly, made me fall in love with her characters easily and hungrily left me wanting so much more when I finished the book.

I love it when I find myself helplessly lost within the pages of a book. You know the book. The one you plan on sitting down to read just a few pages of, and find that those pages turn into chapters and then before you know it time has flown by you, while you find yourself happily entranced within the world of the book you can't stop reading. That was me with this book. I LOVED IT! Like, loved, loved, LOVED it! The Kiss of Deception is one of those fabulously written books. The story, the characters, the world building and the all the emotions that come from this book, became real. Everything about this book was so well crafted and created. The pacing of the story made it easy to follow along, and get addicted to. I'm telling you, there is no putting this book down once you start it.

Mary E. Pearson has created a masterpiece of a YA story. I loved it when an author creates characters that feel real. It was so easy for me to understand each of the characters, and their actions/motives. Or more like I loved the time I spent getting to know Pearson's characters. I have to say by far my favorite characters were Lia and Rafe.

Lia is one of those strong characters who defies what her duty is. She is the type of character who takes matters into her own hands, and creates the destiny she wants vs what is excepted of her, and what she's told to do. I love her for that. Believe me, in the kingdom this Princess grew up in, it's no easy feat to do what she does. I'm not going to mention all she does for the sake of spoilers and ruining the story. From the moment I met Lia, to the decision she makes in the end, Lia is a character who's valiant and fiercely protective of the things she values most. She's a character who grows and learns more about who she is, and she stays true to that. She's someone that I admire for her strength, her courage, and her ability to defy the odds in following her own path, and most importantly her heart. I admired her bravery.

Oh Rafe. I don't even know what to say about him, other than he is so well written. He, like Lia makes decisions and choices that go against the Kingdom rules, but it's for good measure. He too is someone who makes decisions based on following his heart, and oh trust me, you'll love him for it! He is, well that's just say Mr. Darcy or any other of my favorite fictional characters can move on over, because Rafe has staked a claim in my favorite fictional boy category.

Lia and Rafe aside, I really liked that each of the characters in this book, both good and bad, felt three dimensional. They each had a purpose for being in the story, and I, as many of you know, love that. Pearson's writing is so vivid, and descriptive. The emotions within the story were easy to feel. The world within the story was so easy to imagine. Oh and that whole part about trying to figure out who's the Prince and who the Assassin is, good luck on figuring that out until the end. That was genius and one of my favorite things about this book. Oh that ending. I WANT MORE! WHY DID THE BOOK HAVE TO END!?!

I could go on and one about this book, but I'll summarize why you should pick up this book. In summary- If you're looking for a book about a girl who takes her destiny into her own hands, and wants to marry someone who loves her and she loves him, vs marrying out of duty for kingdom, then pick this book up. If you're looking for a book that does NOT have a love triangle, then pick up this book. If you're looking for a book that has two exciting male characters, pick up this book. If you're looking for a book that sweeps you off your feet, has you anxiously awaiting it's sequel, and makes you want to go back and re-read it again, pick up this book. In short, I LOVED THIS BOOK and HIGHLY recommend you pick it up. And yes, this book is going on my all time favorites shelf!

This book gets more than a 5 star rating from me!

Originally reviewed at http://www.shaelit.com/2014/07/review-the-kiss-of-deception-by-mary-pearson/

THIS BOOK HAS A COOL PROTAGONIST, T/F?

True. Lia is pretty awesome. As the synopsis says, her whole mess starts when Lia is essentially bartered off to a rival kingdom as a bride for its prince and she decides that she won’t stand for it. 1. She’s worried that the rival kingdom will learn that she doesn’t have the gift of foresight that she’s supposed to have, and 2. she’s not about to be traded off like a cow to some weakling prince she’s never met. He had his daddy court his bride for him, for heaven’s sake! So off she runs with her maid Pauline to live a peasant’s life on the coast.

I think Lia’s neat. She learned enough about hunting and tracking from her brothers that she’s able to evade the royal trackers while they edge their way toward their new life, and once they get there, she throws herself into her new responsibilities as a tavern wench without complaint. She has a sharp tongue, a quick wit, a kind heart, and a willingness to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Like I said, I like her. I will say that she was missing the tiniest bit of something that could push her from cool to awesome, though. I’m hoping the next book fleshes out her character more and gives us more time with her and less time mooning over the boys.

THIS BOOK IS A FANTASY, T/F?

Talse. A bit true, a bit false. In feel and in structure, Lia’s world is a fantasy world. It has the odd names, the mythology, the magic, the different people groups, SWORDS. It’s a fantasy. And that’s great. But I have suspicions about Lia’s world that I haven’t yet gotten officially confirmed. Just based on the history we have learned about Lia’s people, I strongly suspect that, in fact, she lives in the distant future, a sort of post-apocalyptic earth many years after a great calamity. Whether or not that interests you is something I can’t say, but my imagination went wild, which always makes for an engaging reading experience.

THIS BOOK HAS AMAZING WORLD-BUILDING, T/F?

TRUE. Like I said, I was so engaged, thanks to the little clues I kept piecing together. But Ms. Pearson also did a great job weaving together a cohesive, breathing world, complete with intricate traditions and rituals and beliefs. I love it when an author pays attention to ins and outs of what a character might think of as everyday life while still presenting it casually. After all, if you’re inside my head and have never experience Christmas before, the traditions will be completely new to you, but both vital and commonplace to me. Seeing these special events and beliefs as they unfold through the eyes of the characters makes the world feel realistic and alive while avoiding a lecture on the entire history of the Christmas tree.

The same goes for the history of the continent. I loved being able to gather pieces of the different people groups in and around Lia’s kingdom and getting the sense that there’s so much more out there lurking, just waiting for us to discover. It’s like the difference between walking through a movie set and an actual town. The world doesn’t end beyond the immediate facade.

THIS BOOK IS A KICK-BUTT ACTION-ADVENTURE, T/F?

Mmmm, false-ish. There is action, and there is adventure, especially near the end, but this is not an action/adventure book. While there are tense moments, if you’re looking for tons of sword fights, explosions, and/or sneakytimes, best readjust your expectations. Still, the moments that are tense ARE VERY TENSE.

THIS BOOK IS A ROMANCE, T/F?

True. A lot of the story’s tension (the non-stabby kind) revolves around Lia, Rafe, and Kaden. Lia meets Rafe and Kaden at the tavern, not suspecting that one is the prince (her betrothed) and the other is an assassin sent to kill her. We know, but we don’t know which is which. (Dun dun DUNN.) However, both boys are handsome and fit and seem to be falling for the spunky barmaid, so this book does involve a fair amount of swooning and lusty gazes.

THIS BOOK HAS A LOVE TRIANGLE, T/F?

In my opinion, false. A lot of people tend to classify anything with multiple potential love interests as a love triangle. However, it seemed clear pretty early on whom Lia was interested in. So while there’s a wee bit of sexual tension with the other guy (and a LOT of reader tension since we don’t know whether she picked the assassin or the prince), it’s not a “true” love triangle, per se.

THIS BOOK HAS A TWIST, T/F?

True! Although, to be fair, I pegged the big twist from the beginning, so it wasn’t a twist for me. But other people seemed to be really surprised. And I found some of the smaller twists regarding Venda and her history to be interesting.

THIS BOOK HAS A CLIFFHANGER, T/F?

True. NEXT BOOK NAAAOWWW, PLEASE.

Points Added For: Lia, world-building, Lia and Pauline’s friendship, Lia’s brothers, the boys, that the kingdoms are named after women, the history, the secondary characters (especially one in particular who is like a freaking NATASHA ROMANOFF).

Points Subtracted For: I wish the romance had slowed down some (declarations of love can wait for another book, yo), I really wanted the boys to become friends and see more of that, I got a bit sick of all the drooling physical descriptions of the boys.

Good For Fans Of: Genre-bending, world-building, romance, capable females, strong sibling relationships

Notes For Parents: Making out, sex (off-page), language, death.

Note: I received a review copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"The Kiss of Deception" is the story of Lia, a princess who has been betrothed for an alliance. The morning of her wedding, Lia runs away to a small township where she works as a barmaid. Both an assassin from a rival kingdom and the prince she was supposed to marry seek her own and fall in love with her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Although advertised as fantasy, it is more of a YA romance complete with the requisite insta-love triangle. This is a formula that works, and I loved the way it was written here. It has some elements of fantasy, which really begin to increase towards the end of the book (when it really starts to get more exciting). By the end of the book, you see Lia grow from spoiled princess to princess pretending to be barmaid to woman shrouded in unfortunate circumstances, beginning to learn about the world and her place in it.

Although very predictable, I loved the romance and enjoyed Lia's journey. This is a must for fans of Sarah J. Maas and a lovely summer read!

Fantasy books are supposed to have slow starts. I say it time and time again and I’m used to it. But this book was a little too slow for me with not nearly enough action in the rest of the book to make up for it. There are too many scenes of the characters just milling about, getting to know each other, yes, but in commonplace ways that are too boring for a fantasy novel to truly wow me. I am intrigued in this world of Pearson’s and I highly praise her for coming up with her own unique languages. That added some bonus points to this book. It just sucks when there’s not one particular time I can pinpoint as capturing my attention. I enjoyed listening to the book from beginning to end, but in more of an indifferent way than anything else.

Lia wasn’t a bad protagonist. I admired her need to do what she wanted and not be forced into something she didn’t want to do. She may have taken a coward’s way out and set off a ripple effect, but she’s young and that’s to be expected. Also, it’s not often you see a princess willing, and happy, to become a common barmaid. She’s also loyal to her friends and those she truly cares for and I appreciated her love for her brother.

Rafe was a decent character. He wasn’t all that awesome, but if I had to choose, I’d choose him. I liked watching his relationship with Lia develop and when things take a turn for the worse for Lia, he steps up. I will also say he wasn’t who I thought he was at all, which doesn’t happen often, and I liked that Pearson was able to surprise me like that.

As for Kaden, I honestly did not like him at all and I don’t see how this is a love triangle like others have led me to believe. I can’t exactly say why without giving away who is who, but he just rubbed me the wrong way and even though there are feelings there, I don’t see it as love. His relationship with Lia just wasn’t as deep or as strong as hers and Rafe’s. Where as some might find some redeeming qualities in him and his feelings towards Lia, I didn’t see them as strong enough or worthy enough to warrant her having any real emotions towards him. Also, I was expecting more background and insight into his character and maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t get that in this book.

Despite my obvious qualms with the book, I enjoyed it as a whole. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. So with that said, I am looking forward to reading, or rather, listening to Heart of Betrayal and maybe things will progress further and quicker, given that it’s the second book in the series. I need more moments between Rafe and Lia and I need to see what, if anything, is appealing about Kaden.

Princess Lia is set to marry a prince she doesn’t know, let alone love, all for the sake of an alliance between kingdoms. Not standing for such an off-putting and absurd idea, Lia flees with her maid and best friend to another town where no one will recognize her.
Just when they settle down and begin to start their life anew, two inquisitive outsiders enter the town and they seem to be everywhere Lia is. Lia is oblivious to the fact that one of these men was meant to be her future husband and the other has been sent to murder her. All she sees are two strong, attractive men attempting to win her attention.

Why would someone want to kill Princess Lia? Well without giving anything away, she is said to have the power of sight. Gossip of her having it and not having it has been spread, but no one knows the truth. Lia has no power that she’s aware of, but perhaps she simply doesn’t realize it’s there. She also doesn’t know how that power can affect other villages and kingdoms. Staying alive and out of the hands of the enemies proves to be difficult when she can’t be sure of who is an ally and who is the enemy.

********
Princess Lia was such a strong female character. Not many YA books manage to conjure up a heroine who can easily stand on her own without a male counterpart. Lia certainly can. She’s tenacious, independent, and though of royalty, truly cares for others no matter their position in society. Another thing that I liked was how strategic and intelligent she was. She never gave up despite how terrible the situation became. She was fearless against anything and anyone.

The prince and the mysterious assassin were both great complementary characters to our leading lady. They both held a good amount of intrigue that may or may not leave you surprised towards the end of the book. I had trouble deciding which one I liked more while reading, and I liked not knowing who was who so no biases were present. The prince is not at all what I had expected. He’s the kind of prince that people can actually like and want to lead them. The assassin still holds many secrets and the complexity of his character continues to bring up questions about his past.

The romance aspect of this story, while written and developed well throughout the book, I felt like it overshadowed the story a bit too much. Though not necessarily a love triangle, Lia spent too much time focusing on who she preferred between the two. I would’ve liked to have seen more of the ancients or perhaps the struggle between the kingdoms. Hopefully that will be pulled more to the forefront in the next book.

Mary E. Pearson’s writing is just spectacular and invigorating from start to finish. The descriptive scenes captures the reader in a way that makes them feel as if they are in that world experiencing the story for themselves. Royalty, assassins, rivaling kingdoms, and twists and turns that will keep you hooked and on your toes. I can’t wait to get my hands on book two!

I really liked this book! It was full of friendship, romance, and deception. The world building was well done, with a society steeped in tradition so thick it could suffocate a person. Lia certainly feels suffocated when her wedding day arrives and she is supposed to marry a prince she has never met in order to create an alliance between their countries. Desperate and foolish, she flees before the wedding and naively thinks there will be no other repercussions other than her father's anger. But her actions bring far larger consequences than the half-hearted bounty her father places on her head.

The story is equal parts romance and adventure, with Lia falling for a mysterious stranger that shows up with his equally handsome friend. It's a love triangle, and it's insta-love. I'm not find of love triangles, but insta-love has never bothered me. I like stories where an attraction is immediate, while a relationship builds slowly after.

It wasn't a perfect book. Some dots didn't connect, and some things weren't as strong as I would have liked. I didn't believe that Lia actually cared for Kaden as much as she later claims to. Some parts of the book were a little slow and the ending is left wide open, which was kind of frustrating. There wasn't much of a climax, and absolutely no resolution, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Cover: I love this cover. It drew me in right away and made me want to read the book. Beautifully done.

Source: I received a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content: Some language (no f-words), violence, some innuendo, kissing, and a short attempted rape that gets intercepted.

This was an absolutely fantastic read! After being bullied into buying it, and then reading it, by my sister (thank you!), I found myself unable to stop. I easily breezed through the 500 pages and hated myself for it later because I wanted it to last longer.

Lia is such a great protagonist. Strong, independent, clever and has a good head on her shoulders. She knows what she wants and she goes after it. She decidedly flees her arranged marriage in defiance, escaping from the unknown prince she was to marry, her family and her entire kingdom. She leaves hoping for a new life somewhere else, with her lady's maid, confidante and best friend Pauline, not taking into consideration the consequences of her actions.

The prince, curiosity piqued, chases after her. While at the same time, an assassin is sent to kill the princess. The princess being a First Daughter is known to have certain gifts, Lia however, believes she has none and therefore should not be subjected to being treated as one.

Developing a new identity for herself in a small village/town, she begins working in a tavern with Pauline and her aunt. There she meets two men, Rafe and Kaden, who she assumes are traveling together. We, the readers, know that one of them is the prince and one of them is the assassin, but we don't know which is which. We get different narrations from The Prince, The Assassin, Rafe, Kaden and Lia.

Now, I just want to take this moment to say I CALLED IT! From the get go, I called it. I knew who's who and kept my fingers crossed hoping I was right! I will admit to being a little thrown off at times, but I stuck to my gut and I was right.

I loved the development of the characters, how we start off seeing one side and end up seeing whole new sides to them. The twists and turns and surprises. The way the relationships evolved between Lia and everyone else was brilliant. Seeing her change and grow and open up to her surroundings was refreshing. I knew that her little "holiday" at the village must come to an end, but I had hoped it would last much longer because I was enjoying her interactions with Rafe and Kaden and their little love triangle.

Spoilers ahead:

All good things must come to an end though, and ultimately, once she is faced with her brother who is now a broken, crazed man due to his pregnant wife's death, we finally hit a climax. Lia decides it is time to go home and face her responsibilities, but before she could we find out who is who and she is taken by the assassin who is now torn between his loyalty to his people and his feelings towards her. From there onwards, a lot more is happening in terms of action. The story suddenly takes a swift turn into something darker and a lot more serious. Lia's journey amongst her abductors is eye-opening to her and to us, the readers. Her strength is showcased and I couldn't help but respect her for the way she handled everything. The one part where she witnesses her brother's death and refuses to leave until she buried him and all his men was the most heart-wrenching thing I have ever read. The description of her hands, her fingers, her fingernails as she dug each grave. Her resilience, her strength, her grief, was unbearable for me. I could feel my throat close up with the urge to sob uncontrollably at her loss and her helplessness. While the men who abducted her (assassin included) stood there watching her dig the graves...that even they couldn't stand watching her pain anymore. What an amazing, wonderful scene. Mary E. Pearson won me over then and there with her writing and her skill and her ability to make you feel with every part of your being.

A great book, I cannot wait to read the next installment.

My Thoughts: Why did I wait so long to read this one? I loved it!

We are introduced to Princess Lia. She longs for a normal life, one where she doesn’t have to marry some old prince. Lia is promised to a prince to make things better but in her mind she doesn’t want to do it. She wants to live her own life, and make her own decisions regarding love.

So, what does she do? She flees along with one of her friends; girl who works in her home. Man, I could write a book on this one.

She ends up in a small little village and starts working waiting on tables. She also meets two men. One is an assassin sent to kill her and the other is the very Prince she was supposed to marry. Of course, she doesn’t know either of these details. And as readers, we don’t know which is which! It switches between points of view and we get to know one as Kaden and one as Rafe. But for a long time there is no way to know which one is the Prince and which one is the Assassin. Talk about drama.

I had a hard time choosing because I liked both guys. Each one had their own interest in Lia and I liked getting to know both.

Of course things don’t go right for Lia and she is forced to flee again. This time she gets kidnapped and has to deal with the salvages!

This one had so many interesting plot points. I loved that the setting did change and we learn more about Lia and both men. I loved how much action there was. But, there was also sadness for Lia’s family. Gee Whiz that made me want to cry.

The Kiss Of Deception was such a marvelous read. I’m glad I finally read it. I didn’t realize just how much I was going to enjoy it!

Overall: Loved the characters and the plot! I highly recommend this one! If you haven’t read it yet, please do it right now!!!

Cover: Like it but it wasn't enough to draw me in and that's probably why it took me a while to get to it. Its alright.

What I’d Give It: 5/5 Cupcakes
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Taken From Princess Bookie

A work of fantasy, The Kiss of Deception is a captivating, yet relaxing, read. On the day she is to marry the Prince of Dalbreck, Lia decides to flee and look for real love somewhere else. Soon, however, what seems to be a life changing adventure turns into a nightmare.

Although the plot of this book is fairly straightforward and ordinary, it is so well written, it is hard to put it down. The magic of this story lies in the characters as well as in the brilliant world building.

I absolutely love Princess Lia as a main female character. She is gutsy, loyal and really tough if you take into account that she is a princess. In spite of all that happens to her, she never quite loses her ability to dream and believe in love.

The jilted prince and the assassin, who follow her to the seaside town of Terravin, are both well crafted characters. However, the reader doesn't find out who is who until very late in the book.

The end is unexpected but extremely satisfying. Romance lovers will most definitely devour this book. Fortunately, the romance is carefully balanced out by action and a fascinating deal of the mystical. Talking about the mystical, during the book we are given glimpses of ancient writings as well as parts of prophecies that definitely add an extra mystical thrill to the book.

For an exciting read that will certainly take you away to a different world, I recommend The Kiss of Deception as a very worthwhile read. (Ellen Fritz)

The Kiss of Deception is about a seventeen year old princess of Morrighan, Lia, who wants the freedom to make her own choices, like her brothers and well, pretty much everyone else. She dislikes rules that do not make sense to her, and chooses the ones she will abide by. In particular, she wants to live the way she wants to. She wants to fall in love and marry that person, not marry someone who was chosen for her - freedoms she does not have as the First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

First Daughters in her lineage have gifts given by the gods. The gifts are realized differently in each person, but involve some kind of premonition and foreknowledge. Lia's powers/gifts should have manifested in her already. She may not have the gift.

Lia has a reputation of being outspoken and not knowing her place. That doesn't win her allies in her father's cabinet - neither does her temper. She doesn't have the patience or the temperament to blindly follow and not ask questions and fails miserably in her political world where women are mostly silent. She longs for the freedom she had when she was little to follow her brothers and learn to wield a sword, ... Before she entered her teens, she was separated from playing with her brothers and their friends, and pretty much locked away in her room.

To calm her fears about her upcoming wedding, she sends the prince she is to marry a secret note, saying that she wishes to inspect him before the wedding. He ignores the note in a "Who does she think she is" sort of way. He wonders who this princess thinks she is to have the audacity to make such a request. He is bound by duty to marry her and she is bound by duty to marry him, right? Princes and princesses have arranged marriages to procure alliances with other kingdoms.

On their wedding day, Lia flees with her handmaiden. She thinks the Chancellor is hiding something and finds ancient documents hidden in his desk. The Chancellor strongly dislikes Lia, so to piss him off, she steals the ancient texts and takes them with her.

She knows she will be followed, so Lia and her handmaiden leave false trails using skills her brothers taught her in the woods. They flee to a distant village and settle in with common folk. Determined to make a new life for herself, Lia works to pay her own way.

She is intrigued by two mysterious and unique strangers who arrive together in the tavern. One of the men is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her, but she does not know that. Both men are curious about her and compete to get to know her.

When Lia realizes she can't stay in the village any longer, she plans to leave again. She finds out her father put a bounty for her return and knows an assassin has been hired to kill her. If they find her, the people she has come to care about will be in danger. Fleeing again is her only option. Has she put her trust in the right people? Will her friends be safe? Will her actions cause a war? Will she get away in time? And what secrets do the ancient texts hold? They are in a language she has never seen before. Why does the Chancellor want them back so badly? What is their importance? What has he been hiding?

Oh, Kiss of Deception, you are a very sly book indeed! I was not particularly enjoying you by the time I had hit 100 pages, which worried me and made me sad. But then, that happened, and you grabbed my attention till the very end. I now need the second book, so I suppose you did a good job of reeling me in, though it took a while.

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’ll know that Kiss of Deception fits my book interests perfectly. It’s a young adult fantasy (!) featuring a princess who takes her destiny into her own hands (!) and two men, a prince (!) and an assassin (!) who happen to want to track her down. Sounds like a pretty good read, doesn’t it?

Early on into the novel, I was pretty skeptical about everything – the characters, their relationships, and even the story. Lia was pretty smart, and I liked that she wasn’t afraid to work hard in order to escape her past. However, for all her cleverness, there were situations she wound up in that could have potentially revealed her identity and assumptions she made about her escape that nearly cost her everything.

Then, there’s the prince and the assassin, both men who pretty much have the qualities you’d expect of their roles, but both extremely fascinated with Lia (in an “I think I might like you more than I should” way). I’m sorry to admit it, but I may have rolled my eyes a time or two at their mutual interest in Lia.

For a while, it felt like nothing much was going to happen. Everything seemed suspended in time, where Lia got away and made a new life for herself, pursued by two men who wanted her attention. While I enjoyed the town of Terravin and its occupants (well, mostly just Pauline, Berdi & Gwyneth), it started to feel like the plot wouldn’t be going anywhere. As a reader expecting things to happen, this just didn’t sit well with me.

But then, something did happen, around 2/3 into the book! It honestly completely caught me off guard, and I had to take a moment to come out of my shock. But my interest was immediately piqued, and I pretty much read the rest of the novel from then to the end nonstop. Things, the things I’d been wishing for, started happening, and the pace definitely picked up.

By the time the end came, I liked Lia a whole lot more! She really demonstrated her strength and courage in this latter portion of the novel, and easily won me over to her side. I also really liked the arc the plot was taking, even though that ending made me yell my head off at how much of a cliffhanger it was (in a nice way, really)!

The one thing that really stayed solidly interesting from start to finish? The world-building, specifically the culture. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the traditions and rituals and religion referred to at first, but I’ll admit that it worked for me right away. It felt foundational to what the world in Kiss of Deception was, and I definitely appreciated that.

Honestly, Kiss of Deception was a book that totally crept up on me! I had reservations initially, especially during the 2/3 that read a little bit slower. But once the pace picked up, and the adventure kicked in, it was easy to get hooked on this story. While I do wish that it had happened sooner, I’m still pleased that I wound up at least liking Kiss of Deception by the end. (And I obviously need book two now!)

THE KISS OF DECEPTION. More like the author, Mary E. Pearson, is the master of deception!

Lia doesn’t want to be a princess anymore. She’s tired of being shoved into a mold she doesn’t fit and being forced to marry a prince she has never seen to forge a political alliance is the final straw. So she runs. She leaves her royal life behind for a simple life where she can be who she wants and choose who to marry. Lia’s new life isn’t without trouble as there are dangerous people looking for her and she’s not aware the intriguing men she’s come to know are not who they say they are. One is the prince she left at the altar and the other is an assassin sent to kill her. As she tries to adjust to her new life as best as she can, secrets begin to unravel and the ancient documents she stole from her kingdom may be more important than she realized. Nothing is as simple as she hoped they could be and she’s in grave danger. The kingdoms are on the brink of war, and fleeing her marriage may have tipped the scales.

The best word to describe Lia is rebellious. Her whole life, she has tried to fight the role she was born into and just when it seems as though she lost the fight and is being married into a kingdom her family can not even trust, she displays the biggest act of rebellion yet. Fleeing on her wedding day was the ultimate betrayal to her family and the largest insult to the family she was to marry into. But she doesn’t care. She is a person who deserves to have a life of her own and she refuses to believe that her duty as a princess is a burden she must carry.

I really felt for Lia and admired her strength to take control of her life. You would think that when she flees to make a simple life serving at an inn the story would be boring, but when the handsome and mysterious Rafe and Kaden enter the picture it’s anything but boring. The suspense, deception and intrigue had me reading nonstop and avoiding all responsibility until I had finished. I love being thrown into a new world with traditions, customs and people so different from real life that you get lost. And I was totally lost in this story.

Deception. This word is sooooo important. I can’t explain further, but trust me. I was thrown.

I’m hooked and I need to find out what Lia will do with the secrets she has discovered. The ending wasn’t so much a cliffhanger, but a resolution that there would be so much more and I can’t wait to find out.

✳✳ Complimentary copy provided by the author/publisher for an honest review.

✳✳ Reviewed on I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews by Tickled Pink for Book Ink

This book had been sitting next to my bed in a massive “to be read” pile since last September. I didn’t realize it then, but the fact that I didn’t read this book immediately upon receiving it is a complete fail on my part! Like, total and utter life failure! What I should have done is drop everything and read the book in its entirety. I should have made better life choices and devoured it before I did anything else. But, here it is almost the middle of March, a full SIX months since I got the book, and I’m FINALLY here to profess my obsession and adoration for The Kiss of Deception.

The Kiss of Deception had my heart from the very first chapter. I was immediately drawn to Lia’s character and the future that she was desperately trying to avoid. I adored her right from the start; she had passion, motivation and was willing to do what it to took to find her own way. Bottom line, Lia’s got buckets of what we bookworms like to call agency! She acted for herself and didn’t allow anyone to determine her self-worth or, more importantly, what her future held. On the other hand, it quickly became quite clear that Lia wasn’t completely aware of the ramifications of her decisions, so she’s left trying to figure out what her next moves are. This girl may be brave and forthright, but she still had a lot to experience and discover. Which, ultimately, is what this book is all about.

Pearson added a layer of mystery to this story, that made me question everything and what each character’s motives are. The Kiss of Deception is told in alternating POVs between Lia, and the two male lead characters, Rafe and Kaden who she meets just as she’s starting her new life. They brought a new sense of concern and urgency to Lia’s world, and shook things up quite a bit. We also get chapters that are told from the POV of the Assassin that is sent to kill Lia, as well as the Prince’s who has been burned by Lia’s actions. It’s not known which one is Rafe and which one is Kaden until you get almost to the end, and it makes the book that much more compelling. I will say that my initial guess as to who was the prince and who was the assassin was correct, but I definitely changed my mind a bunch of times as the book progressed. I really liked being kept in the dark about who was who, and the back and forth of the identities kept me totally invested in the story line. It would have been such a different story if Rafe and Kaden ended up being the other characters identity, and that’s what kept me intrigued. I was so anxious to see how that plot point was going to resolve itself.

One of my favorite aspects of any good fantasy novel is the world-building, and the world that Peterson built for us in The Kiss of Deception is one of my very favorites. From the rich and lush world of Lia’s home kingdom of Morrighan and the quaint seaside community of Terravin, to the vast desert wasteland of Cam Lanteux and the terrifying Kingdom of Venda. There was so much to “see” in this book and every land was just as beautiful as the next in its own unique way. One of the words that kept coming to mind as I read this book was cinematic. I could just picture this vast and beautiful world, and wanted to explore even more of it. Pearson masterfully created a world that made my imagination soar and I just want to hug her for it.

Actually, I just want to tackle hug Mary for giving me a new series to obsess over! I just finished The Heart of Betrayal, which is this book’s sequel, and it was absolutely amazing. I’ll be posting the review for that one closer to its publication date this July, but it’s safe to say there will be just as much fangirling in that one too.

If you haven’t read The Kiss of Deception yet, don’t be like me, pick it up now and start reading! Fans of Throne of Glass and The Girl of Fire and Thorns will really love this one, but honestly, anyone who is a fan of great fantasy novels will absolutely devour this book!

Princess Lia's to marry a prince from a neighboring country, to bond an Alliance between the two kingdoms. Kingdoms that are threatened to be overrun by the Barbarians. The night before their wedding, she flees with her handmaiden, Pauline, to a small town by the sea where she becomes a barmaid. All she thinks she wants is a simple life, but fate would have it otherwise.Two men are after her. One is her betrothed prince who she spurned and who she's never met and the other's an assassin. What she finds is a budding romance with a man whom she believes is a farm hand.

I certainly enjoyed this story about this strong, intelligent and tender-hearted girl, who comes to find her gift, grows and matures into a true Princess in a world where countries are at war, and assassins run amok. The pacing was pretty slow in the beginning but it picks up and I enjoyed how Lia's character develops,as she comes to have feelings for both these two strangers who have come into her life and is trying to find who she is and is there someone out there who can love her. I enjoyed the way the story is told in the first person by each of the main characters. I couldn't put the book down and look forward to reading the next book in the series

Jack Murphy

I put off reading this book for ages for two reasons, 1) <strong>hype</strong> and b) its Fantasy. If there is one thing to know about me, is that Fantasy and I just don't always get along. That isn't to say I don't like, or even love the genre; I do. But we have a weird relationship, one that I am frequently taking a break from.

Yet, when I saw it available on Audible I decided to take the plunge. And I am so glad I did.

This book is brilliant. It has every element that I love and look forward to when heading into a Fantasy novel. Strong heroine. Beautifully crafted world building; with writing so descriptive I can picture myself right along side the main characters(s). A history was isn't dumped and a love interest(s) worth swooning over. Even my boys' listened to the book and they would often beg me to go back or explain in detail what they missed.

Told mainly from Lia's POV, we follow her as she flees to a remote village on her wedding day. She is remarkably crafty in her last-minute escape, and her planning into it made me admire her more. I loved her strength, her witty and snarky attitude. Although fleeing could potentially put her kingdom at war - and one might think this a selfish act - I admire her brazen act and her dreams for <strong>more</strong>. She is far from a weak, prissy princess and it was so refreshing to have a bold yet likable character that goes after what she wants.

The love interest(s) twist was quite interesting and entertaining. We have The Prince - the one Lia was slated to marry - who admires Lia's bravery for leaving yet wants answers. And then we have the assassin - who is sent from his own kingdom of Venda (I THINK that is how you spell it, I don't even know) sent to kill Lia to stop an alliance between the surrounding kingdoms.

Aaaaand, then you have Kaden and Rafe. But who is who!?

Quite honestly, I figured it out pretty quick - but that didn't mean I wasn't questioning this until the reveal. (The kids were shocked, haha) Both Kaden and Rafe are very complex characters, who both genuinely care for Lia. I don't find this to be a "typical" love triangle. It has the feel of one, because you don't know who is who. And while Lia is attracted to both and <span style="color: #33cccc;"><strong>cares for both</strong></span>, she only loves <strong><span style="color: #33cccc;">ONE</span></strong>. I can't say anymore than that though!

Setting aside the romance aspect of the novel, there is so much more going on. Between all the perilous journeys, there are secrets that Lia is in the wake of uncovering about herself, her kingdom and those that are closet to her father. I loved the chapter headings with the stories and "history" too.

The Narrator

It's slightly confusing that only Emily Rankin is listed as the narrator. Not only is there a male that does the voice of The Prince, assassin, Kaden and Rafe, there is also an older woman who narrates the small parts before the beginning of each chapter. And I just want to KNOW who these people were! Anyway - Emily was perfect for the role of Lia. I loved her voice, and i think she did an amazing job. I often find myself searching for audio's narrated by the ones I love and Emily is definitely on my list to search!

And the ending. PURE PERFECTION. Meaning, only slightly cliff-hanger. ;)

My Peeve </span></h5>

I feel like there was a bunch of random stuff thrown in, as a way to give us clues to the bigger picture.. Yet, there were never talked about again. Like, a tiger for example. What the freak was that? There is more, but this is driving me insane. Anyway - I am 99.99% certain that anything left unresolved will be handled in book 2.

Overall

I loved this book to pieces! It's a such a beautiful book, truly. I can't wait for book 2.

This is review I didn’t think I’d be writing. I honestly was setting myself up for a hugely negative review. I was feeling a bit cynical given that lately I haven’t read anything I really enjoyed. I was also wondering why people were loving this book so much. The Kiss of Deception is definitely one of those books you need to stick with until the end.

Lets just jump into what I didn’t like. That’s about the first half of the book. It was kind of long and drawn out. The love triangle was making me rage on so many levels. The characters weren’t really drawing me in or making me really care about what happened to them. It was just dry. Now I’m seeing that it was all to set up for the second half of the book. The second half was full of action. It’s really when I started to love each and every one of the characters. Suddenly everyone had so much more depth.

I really feel like the second half of the book is when Lia really came into her own. I honestly thought she was a whiny princess up until then. Half way through she becomes the kick ass princess I was really hoping for. She wasn’t the girl who had all the boys falling at her feet to help her every where she turned anymore.

The book kind of just ended right as it was really getting good. I’m not the fondest of the cliff hanger abrupt drop off kind of endings. But it did do it’s job in making me really want to read the next book in the series. I’m really happy that the book did a turn around for me. I was getting tired of reading books I didn’t like.

*this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Historical, Fantasy, Young Adult

Princess Lia lives a life in a society steeped in tradition and one that follows a preordained course. She is a First Daughter and expected to have the revered gift of sight. Though she doesn’t have it and she knows her parents have perpetrated a sham especially when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom. Also to a prince she has never met.

The morning of her wedding Lia flees to a distant village. She finds a new life and becomes hopeful when two handsome and mysterious strangers arrive. What she doesn’t know is that one is the jilted prince and the other is an assassin sent to kill her. Lia is on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets even as deception abounds and she finds herself falling in love.

This is story that draws readers in with the mystery that is woven through the romance. It will keep readers turning the pages to find out what will happen next. The story comes to life for the reader with the vivid picture that is painted with every word that is read. The reader will find themselves getting lost in Lia’s world and wondering how things will work out. This is the first book in a series so while some of the questions are answered it does leave a cliff hanger at the end and the overall plot is not resolved in this book. So while there are still many questions that need to be answered it is still a great story that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

A few friends of mine raved (the hills are alive with the sound of... how fantastic this is) and rave about this book. Now I've become somewhat cynical when this happens. I've been burned before (by these same friends) and I tend to be cautious. So, I truly had no expectations when I started reading.

OMG! This is one of the best books I've ever read. I connected with the characters right away and the story moved quickly. The more I read, the more I loved it. When it finally ended, I cried a little. Yes, I was that moved.

Go, read this book. Right now, if possible. lol!

My Rating: 5++ stars

Um, I kind of loved this book....that's all. End of review..... No?

Basically, this book is everything it promises, the Kiss Of Deception is the perfect name and I just really really love it, okay? And I don't know how to review it!

A Synopsis: This book follows Princess Lia who, as a first daughter of the king, is being forced to marry a prince to solidify a alliance between their kingdoms, at the last moment Lia decides to run away forging a new life in a more peaceful town. The prince however is not happy with this and takes it upon himself to track her down, not to mention the assassin sent from a faraway land to kill her, The deception? You don't know who's the prince and who's the assassin!

Obviously this is going to be a really lame review on my part, I hate writing reviews of books I loved, so let's just get it over with!

A Few Of My Favorite Things:

Lia: I loved Lia, she's such a strong and awesome main character, she'd badass and headstrong and in no way a weak character, really she's my favorite kind of main character to have in fantasy novels. She's compassionate and kickass and not selfish in the least(well maybe a tiny), which are all things I find awesome in main characters. A lot of the time the awesome badass and headstrong female character can turn into a slight wimp as soon as she falls in love, but that never really happens with Lia, which I greatly appreciate.

The deception(love interests): First of all it's the best kind of love triangle, one that makes sense. Secondly, it's beautiful torture! It's not as confusing as it might seem really I confused myself because I knew which one out of the prince and assassin I wanted to be the one she was falling for and so I kept trying to convince myself it was that one and basically just trying to figure it out and that's when it gets confusing. I really loved how the author did it though, you get to know both Kaden and Rafe without knowing who is who and even when you find out she still does an amazing job of developing their characters and their relationships with Lia. Most the time I didn't even know who I shipped her with, which was kind of awesome!

The world/plot/story/everything else: I thought the world was awesome, I could have used a few more explanations of everything and there really wasn't a ton of action but I never felt like I was getting weighted down with an info dump or bored, despite the lack of action. I loved the world and the mystery of the "gift' that first daughters have, I would have liked a little more explanation, but it didn't bother me that much. What really struck me in this book was the characters and the relationships they were they best part and so well done.

Overall: I'm really really anxious for the next one because I want to know more about the world and I need more Lia and Kaden and Rafe and just everything! I think this is a great fantasy read especially for people who love a good romance with their fantasy!

Positives: strong female lead and a gorgeous cover
Negatives: love triangle and a PROPHECY

Princess Arabella, who prefers to be called by Lia (the shortening of Jezelia, one of her middle names, and this is Important to the plot), is about to be married to a prince she has never met. The book opens with the complicated creation of a wedding kavah, a kind of temporary tattoo, on her back. It is an intricate depiction of her kingdom, Morrighan, joined with Dalbreck, the kingdom of her intended. It will be splendidly displayed by the low-cut back of her wedding dress at the ceremony.

But Lia and her attendant Pauline have made other plans. They escape by horseback to Pauline’s childhood home of Terravin, where they take employment as serving wenches in the inn. Lia shows spunk, handling the crude comments of the soldiers who enjoy the inn’s brew. Then Rafe and Kaden, two handsome young strangers, arrive. One of the older servers guesses they are a fisherman and a trader. But unknown to Lia and her friends, they are the prince she left at the altar and an assassin sent to kill her.

I enjoyed The Kiss of Deception. It is well written and the plot is easy to follow. The world building is solid and the alien words not too cumbersome. The main character is strong and determined. The two handsome strangers have some depth. But there are some pretty unbelievable plot twists, and the characters do some stupid things. I found the fight and make up scene between Lia and the young man she is most attracted to a bit cringe worthy.

The author keeps secret which young man is the prince and which is the assassin, and that annoyed me. I am certain I would have enjoyed the book more if I’d known earlier. I finally went online to find out (ironically, by reading the description of the second book in the series) long before the author revealed the secret.

The Kiss of Deception cannot stand alone. It is definitely a first book, and I liked it enough that I will read the second book. If you enjoy YA fantasy with strong female characters and don’t mind love triangles, I recommend The Kiss of Deception.

This writer has considerable talent as a storyteller. I found the start to be a little slow, but once Lia and Pauline were in Terravin it was off to the races. I was hesitant to read another lovers triangle story, but it wasn't quite like that at all for poor Lia who was always only smitten with one man.
I was taken in by the scene, kept reading because of the characters, and finished at 3 a.m. because of Pearson's masterfully woven tale.
I have a hard time reading books that don't draw me in emotionally but there was no chance of that through "The Kiss of Deception".
My only request to the writer would be to be a bit clearer about this "gift." Sometimes it seemed as though maybe this "gift" was speaking to her but she wasn't sure she had it, even though she clearly did. Then it was like, boom, she has the gift, but it was no different from the way it was written before (italicizes words, like she were merely thinking it). It was all a bit confusing. Also, I was a bit confused as to which man was whom from their characteristicsand and actions when we first meet Rafe and Kaden. Rafe acted more a brute and ready to kill her (like an assassin would) while Kaden was patient and afterthought at times (like I would have expected from a prince). I thought Lia was going into the arms of one man when it was the other. Just kind of confusing meeting the men as Assassin and Prince first and then switching up the names without real definition of which man was which.
Overall I would read this book again and I WILLA be reading book 2 when it is released. ;-)

I'm torn on how I feel about this book. I loved parts and hated parts. It took me longer than normal to finish, but I still did. It was boring at times and others I was sucked in.

I liked being able to see the story within the Princess, the Prince, and the Assassins POV. During the first half of the book you are not sure who is the Prince and who is the Assassin.
I will say I have heard so many people talk about the plot twist, and I was expecting more than what it really was.

I also do not feel this was much of a love triangle. It is pretty clear the Princess had eyes for Rafe.

Overall, it was ok. The writing was beautiful but there was not much action. It dragged on a little too much but I want to know what happens. I will be teaching for book 2 soon.

So this book has an awesome plot that could potentially be one of the best books ever before you start reading it. It is a story about Lia who runs away on her wedding day and is chased by a prince and an assassin. We have no idea who's who just like Lia and clues are spread throughout the story. I sort of like this idea but I want you to know that it's not really a love triangle because Lia is more interested in one person than the other but both assassin and prince are in love with her.
I got a little bit frustrated with the not knowing who was who part of this story and cheated by peeking. I really like Kaden I think he is one of the most interesting characters for this story, he actually might be one of the only reasons I am thinking I am going to continue reading the series.
The last two hundred pages I feel like are where Mary E. Pearson like put the pedal to the medal and really gave us what we were wanting the entire book because it was action pact, character development, plot development, characters die, and it just really made me want to continue.
I think my actual rating would be like 3.7 because what I said above. I also think this first book could have potentially been two books but then again I don't know if I would have continued reading (actually if she paused where I think she should have paused I would have totally picked up the second book). We are also left on a cliffhanger so that's another reason why I will continue reading.

I've decided to start branching out a little bit on the genres that I've been reading. When I read the synopsis of The Kiss of Deception I thought it sounded interesting even though it wasn't in my normal genre. I'm glad I read it because I really enjoyed it.

One of the things that I like were the chapters that were from the perspective of The Prince and The Assassin or the Chapters based on the names they gave. From the beginning I pegged each of the guys are either The Prince or The Assassin and each time they had a chapter there was something written that made me think “oh crap I’m wrong” and then the next chapter “Yep! I’m right boo yeah!” I totally loved that feeling it was great to be going back and forth even if I just wanted to know who was who because the suspense was killing me.

I liked Lia’s character she’s different from most princesses and willing to get her hands dirty. I loved her interactions with her friends and the two boys. The courtship between Lia and each of the boys was interesting it was fun, sweet and sometimes romantic. It’s these scenes that make me wonder why I don’t read more contemporaries.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to learning more about Lia, each of the boys, and the history behind the world that has been created.

I loved this book! Lia is the perfect protagonist. She's strong, spunky, and independent. In addition, Pearson does a fantastic job keeping the reader guessing almost right to the end as to the identity of the prince. We have no idea who the assassin might be and who the prince is, even though we are reading both their thoughts. This is done absolutely masterfully. It is there to create tension and hook the reader, and, boy, was I hooked.

The novel ends on a cliffhanger but guess what - there is a sequel (thank goodness). Buy this one, you won't be disappointed!

“If one can't be trusted in love, one can't be trusted in anything. Some things can't be forgiven.”

I didn’t know what to expect the first time I picked up The Kiss of Deception. I hadn’t read the synopsis or any of the reviews. All I knew about the book was it was supposedly fantasy and Goodreads had recommended It. I dove in headfirst.

It wasn’t until I was half way through the novel that I noticed the shtick. You see, this book is based around a love triangle. The reader is supposed spend the first half of the novel trying to figure out which of Lia’s admirers is the assassin and which is the jilted prince. Since I hadn’t read the reviews, I didn’t notice the game. My brain just filled in the holes and kept on going. So, when I got to the big reveal I dropped the book, confused. I immediately went to Goodreads trying to figure out why the suitors had suddenly swapped identities. I must have misread something, right? Wrong. I played the game without even knowing it, and I lost. I had never been so caught off guard by a twist. The shock of the twist is what propelled me through the rest of the book.

Now I have read the book a second time, and I am sorry to say that it doesn’t have the same impact the second time around. It’s all about the shtick, the question, the game. Since I already knew the answer, I was left with a fantasy-lite romance, where very little happens until the big reveal. One the true identities of Rafe and Kaden come to light the pace picks up a little, but not much. I was really hoping for more action and less mooning over boys.

It was nice to see that, while Lia was moony over her prince and her assassin, she does get quite a bit of character development. The more you read from her perspective, the more you feel like she is becoming who she is supposed to be. Between learning to use her gift and deciphering ancient texts, Lia becomes someone I would want to know. She’s not just running away from a marriage anymore, she’s running toward knowledge and answers.

Kaden also gets a fair bit of character development, though most of it occurs in the second half of the book after we have danced around his true identity for about two hundred pages. No, don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil it and tell you if he is the swoon worthy prince or the swarthy assassin. You’ll have to read to find out. What I can tell you is that he comes into his own as this book progresses, which may be because it is easier to develop a character once their defining traits are public knowledge. Unfortunately, Rafe did not get the same amount of development.

My suggestion is that you read this book knowing that the game exists. Play it, and have fun. Gobble up the interesting fantasy-lite setting that Pearson has written. Then put this book aside and don’t pick it back up. Move forward to Heart of Betrayal where the shtick has been forgotten and the characters can truly shine.

I know many people are raving about this book right now. And I feel bad that I haven't gotten to this until now. But, if you haven't read this book yet? YOU SHOULD READ IT!

So what makes this book so amazing? The story line? not really although it's fun. The romance? no but it's a plus. The adventure? nuh huh. It's the WRITING! I was reading this simply enjoying the story not seeing anything that really stood out to me when little over half way through the book WHAM the author does something I did NOT see! I thought I had it figured out and I was a bit disappointed in certain aspects because I was rooting for someone I thought was someone else but then.... I remember I was in bed reading and I bolted upright and out loud said, "what?! wait.....what?! no. way! THAT'S TOTALLY BRILLIANT!" I even had to go back through the first half of the story and skim to where when I had gotten it all wrong!

Princess Lia is about to marry a man she has never met and instead of a loveless marriage to someone she hasn't even seen, Lia decides to run away. To finally take control of her life that has never been her. Where she was raised for the very day. A day that would join two kingdoms and help her father achieve his goal. Lia fees and literally decides to strip herself of anything and everything that made her royal including becoming a serving girl for a town she thought far enough away where nobody would notice or possibly find her.

The problem? The slighted prince is intrigued by a princess whom he himself has never met, but who would run away and then be able to hide herself well enough that it was a challenge to find. His intention? Just to see her. No intention of speaking to her or anything. Yet, when he does find her, he doesn't make himself known and keeps who he is from her.

The other problem? There is an assassin. An assassin who has never failed at what he does best. An assassin who has hardened himself against anything and everyone who would hurt him or his country. And for the sake of his country he was called to assassinate Princess Lia in order to stop this wedding from ever happening. Yet when she runs, she makes it a bit of a challenge to find her and when he does she is the very least of what he expected and find himself for the first time in a place he never expected to be. In love and in doubt.

Overall I loved the story because it was clean, fun, romantic, and NOT what I expected. Well done Mary, well done.

Sexual Content: mild (some kissing)
Language: mild
Violence: moderate (some descriptions of murder and battles)
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

This is the first audio book that I have ever listened to. There were things I liked about the audio experience and things I did not like and the fact that it was audio did influence what I thought about the book some. I liked the portability of the audio on my phone and the fact that I could listen to it while driving and while walking. I think I walked a bit farther than I would have because I wanted to listen to more of the story. However, I mixed up a couple of the characters and I did not quite understand a few things because I was listening to the book rather than reading it. The story is a YA paranormal fantasy/romance with a 17 year old girl in a love triangle. Ugh. Thanks a lot Stephanie Myers. I am so tired of the 17 year old girl with two guys in love with her genre. However, the story was good in spite of that. Princess Lia runs away from an arranged marriage, becomes a barmaid in an inn, happily and meets to men who fall in love with her, one having been sent to kill her for political purposes and the other the prince she tried to avoid marrying, but she had never met him so she had no idea who he was. There is action, intrigue and adventure and romance in this first book in the series. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next book.

“Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born.”

“We all have our different skills. You’re patient to a fault, which sometimes doesn’t work to your advantage. I, on the other hand, have the patience of a wet cat. Only on rare occasions does that come in handy.”

It seems that I am in a mood to write reviews that are long overdue. I read The Kiss of Deception in April. I KNOW, I’M SORRY. But no matter how late this is, I still wanted to make a review on it.

WORLD

As this is a fantasy novel, I feel like a section on the world is always necessary. In this world, there are different kingdoms. Lia, our main character, is the princess of the kingdom of Morrighan. The other important kingdoms in this world are Dalbreck, whose prince Lia was supposed to marry -not a spoiler- and Venda. I have to admit that I don’t recall much from the world of this book. I remember the kingdoms, but details like their climate I can attribute to my reading of The Heart of Betrayal, the second book. I always want a lot of world-building in fantasy novels, but there wasn’t a lot of focus on that in this book.

What I do remember is the town Lia flees to. Her description of it sounds absolutely beautiful, and if it were real, I’d surely want to travel to it. And the Cam Lanteux -am I spelling that right? That I remember as well! Maybe I’m wrong and there was a lot of world-building in this novel, but I just forgot. Sorry. Anyway, that’s the only downside to this book, in my opinion.

PLOT

I loved the story line of this book. So it all centers around Lia, who flees on her -arranged- wedding day with her friend/maid, Pauline. The main thing that intrigues the readers is the mystery. As Lia flees, two people follow her: the prince she was supposed to marry and the assassin sent to kill her. Now as a reader, you meet the two men, but you don’t know who is who. They each give themselves a name, and while they do have POV chapters, Mary Pearson wrote it so you don’t actually know which of the two guys is the prince/assassin. It was so much fun! I have to say that I guessed right though! I was right!

I do love that this is a multiple POV story. I always like each character to have his own point-of-view chapters because that way, it’s so much easier to get to know them and relate! Even though you don’t know who they are. By the way, I’m a Kaden person. I definitely enjoyed his character much more than I did Rafe.

It’s so much fun to see everything unravel from that one decision Lia made. I feel like this is one of those books of which you shouldn’t know more than what I’ve already said about her fleeing and the two people following her. Because it’s just so enjoyable to see it all unfold. This story captivated me, and I pretty much read it in one sitting!

CHARACTERS

I’ll be talking mostly about Lia here, because I want you to discover the male characters yourself. That way, you won’t be biased by what I’ve said!

So, Lia. I’ll just start by saying that I really like her as a main character. Often, when you have a princess as a main character, she can turn out to be a bit of a brat -you know, used to everyone doing everything for her. Lia is far from that! When she flees, she knows she’ll have to make money somehow. So she gets a job, and works hard. I like that in people, and thus in my characters. In life, no one is going to do it for you, you have to earn it yourself! I feel like she took more care of Pauline than the other way around. She is brave, and honest – can you tell I really liked her? Another positive thing about her is that she doesn’t take dumb risks. You could say that fleeing her wedding was a dumb and rash risk, but actually she planned it out perfectly.

Obviously, this book has many more characters that I love -yes, you Kaden. But telling you about them would somehow lessen the appeal of the book. So if you haven’t read it, go do so and discover the great characters Mary Pearson has created!

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really liked this book! I was afraid the hype would be too much for me and that I’d be disappointed, but luckily that didn’t happen. I do have to say that because I was expecting to be disappointed, I didn’t have high expectations when I started. I did guess who the assassin and the prince were, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment. This was an enjoyable and quick read, seeing as I was so intrigued I just couldn’t put it down. I would recommend this book if you like fantasy and YA, but like I said, it’s better to go into it with lowered expectations -like I did. That way, the hype won’t ruin it for you!

This one is great. Borrowed the audiobook.

One of the nice features is the fact that a different voice actor was used for each of the love interests, the assassin and the prince. It definitely helped keep them straight in the audiobook.

I did get a little confused in places about whom Lia was interacting with. Particularly at first trying to figure out who was Kaden and who was Rafe based on Lia's interactions with them and then their own chapters.

Recommended for sure! Fans of fantasy fiction and romance will likely enjoy this.

I received a copy of this book via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect the outcome of my opinion in any way.

Before I read The Kiss of Deception, I didn’t realize the author was Mary Pearson, who also wrote The Adoration of Jenna Fox. I didn’t know much about the book when I requested it on Netgalley, just that I loved the cover and it was fantasy. It sounded like something I could definitely enjoy. After I downloaded it, I began to hear all the lovely reviews come in about just how awesome it was. And of course I thought, good instincts Jess. And then EVERYONE started talking about it and finally I was like I have to have to read this book.

And I ended up winning a copy — the day it showed up I started reading it (about 6 pm). By 1 am I had finished the entire thing. It was that good.

Now, I have to say first of all that this book was very well written and planned out. There’s a lot of detail and the world was painted with words really well. I could see what it was supposed to look like and that really helped shape the story for me. Also, there was a map! As you may know, I feel very strongly about fantasy books having a well-drawn map for me to see what is going on. And I even won the map in poster size, so I could stare at it as our characters traveled across this land.

I loved Lia. She was strong and brave — deciding to take her own fate in her hands. She was sworn to another country’s prince and of course doesn’t want to marry someone she hasn’t met. While some would say her move is selfish, I think it was brave. Her whole life she was treated like a bargaining chip and she would rather live as a peasant than be married off and sent to a foreign land. Her lovely hand maiden Pauline decides to leave everything to follow the princess. To me, Pauline was even more brave, because she left her entire life and safety to protect Lia without even questioning it. The background characters the entire way through were rich and complex and I really appreciated that.

The book is basically two parts — the first part is the weaker of the two, but I was still compelled to read. However, the second part was just magical. I couldn’t stop reading it and I loved every moment.

There is an annoying part of the book that was actually quite brilliant on the part of the author. When Lia runs, she is followed by two people: an assassin sent from a foreign land to kill her and the prince she was supposed to marry. The assassin expects his job to be quick and the prince just wants to see this girl who had the courage to do what he had not. Of course, they both find her despite the great lengths she went to to shirk anyone following her and end up in the pub she works for at the same time. Rafe and Kaden then become named Rafe and Kaden while Lia is our narrator. However, they remain named The Assassin and The Prince when they are the narrator. And so, we are tossed and tumbled about wondering which boy is which. Of course, both boys end up falling for her. While she likes both, there is clearly one she is attracted to more. And it isn’t until the second half of the book that we find out which is which. I will say that even though it is two boys, it isn’t much of a love triangle (thank goodness!) However, the tension was definitely there.

And this my friends is MADDENING. Seriously, I was making myself crazy trying to figure it out. It’s really what drove me through the first part of the book, because I had to know. I HAD to. And then once I did, things completely changed and the book shifted into something new and the compulsion to keep reading came from it just being an awesome story.

There is also a bit of magic with this book. As the first daughter, Lia has powers that have just begun to wake up. With the help of a character she meets in the second half, she begins to wake up that power and put it to good use. It was almost as if we can see the magical aspects of the book coming. There is a lot of lore and ancient text that we will probably see as the series comes to fruition. The pieces Pearson gave us were enough to hook me.

With a beautiful cover and even more beautiful words, this book had me. Add to it a rich story and a wonderful set up for the next book and I’m totally on board this new fantasy series. Now it just needs to be 2015 so I can find out what happens next!

This review was originally featured on Such a Novel Idea.

In a world where first-born daughters are said to possess a gift of magic, Princess Lia defies her father, the King, and flees an arranged marriage to live her own life as she wishes. However, she doesn’t know exactly the price that choice will cost her or how it will prompt others to make their own drastic choices in retaliation, including the prince she fled from and the assassin sent to kill her.

Cue flailing here. This book drew me in from the first few chapters. For those who are new to Mary E. Pearson’s writing, you are in for a total treat. I read THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX and fell in love with every futuristic and nuanced detail. And I really had no idea what I was getting into with THE KISS OF DECEPTION. I knew that I was a fan but had no idea what to expect. I was blown away. Her versatility shows in her ability to switch genres and master them. I was so wrapped up in this fantasy that I had completely forgotten about the futuristic thriller I had read years before. It was as if this author spent years building this world and had only written fantasy.

Due to that, I was so impressed with the world building in this novel. In between chapters told from various point-of-views are the writings from a historical text in Lia’s world. We’re not clued into the significance until the last quarter of the book but it brings foreboding and forewarning in the quick glimpses we are given. The languages that Mary E. Pearson created and the kingdoms she build to make up this world are so elaborate and detailed that I had to stare at a map for a while to sort everything out. And it wasn’t as if all of this extra knowledge was cumbersome. I just wanted to marvel at it.

I spent most of the time reading this novel wishing I could curl up and finish it in one sitting. For those who have seen it, you know that looks a bit impossible. It’s huge! However, at almost five hundred pages, it didn’t feel that way at all. And there was something about Lia’s point-of-view, as well as the point-of-views of the two other characters, that needed to be spoken aloud. I can only imagine what the audio-book will be like. I felt like this was an ancient and fabled tale, one that had could have been passed down from generations. It was so convincing in its created myth and beautiful in it’s pacing, that I could have done with letting it lull me to sleep. That isn’t to say that it was boring. It was just so soothing in parts and as I read about Terravin, an idyllic coastal town, I imagined the words rocking me to sleep as one of the boats moored around the harbor would.

On more than one occasion I thought I would miss my train stop because I needed to flip to the next page. It’s just that the wording was so evocative and the tone so gentle at times that I felt like the characters were sitting around me and whispering their stories. Yes, it was that good.

And speaking of the characters, I loved them all. Lia’s interactions with Rafe and Kaden were perfect. At first, I was weary of a possible love triangle but soon learned to dismiss any preconceived notions and just let the story unravel. Of course, there was an added bonus in that Mary Pearson didn’t reveal which boy, Rafe or Kaden, was the assassin and which was the prince. And even though I tried to figure it out, I was glad that I didn’t. While the twist wasn’t the be-all and end-all of the novel, it definitely added to the enjoyment of it. And when the reveal took place, I was thoroughly surprised.

This also wasn’t a novel of sidekicks. Pauline, Lia’s best friend and lady-in-waiting was no slouch. I really loved her kindness and strength. She was a great companion but also a fantastic character. Mary Pearson gave Pauline her own chapter later on in the novel and it was so fitting that I wish we had more of the girl’s point-of-view. Hopefully, we can look forward to more of that in the next novel?

The only bad thing about this book was that it had to end. For those of you who are looking for a story that you won’t be able to put down, I urge you to pick this up. It’s fast-paced and intense and perfect for just about any time or place. Whether you need a cozy nighttime story or something to peruse by the beach, THE KISS OF DECEPTION is a must-read for every lover of adventure, romance and well-told stories.

Reviewed by Brianna Robinson.

The Kiss of Deception is the newest novel by Mary E. Pearson and the first in her Remnant Chronicles series. It's the story of Princess Lia, who feels trapped by her upcoming arranged marriage and opts to run away and try to create a life for herself as a barmaid in a small town on the other side of the kingdom.

Little does she know that she has, in fact, been followed to the village and both the Prince that she was supposed to marry and an assassin sent to kill her are now living within steps of her new home.

The novel is written from different perspectives - that of Princess Lia, the Prince and the Assassin. It's not until late in the book that Pearson reveals which boy is which.

I loved the way that this book was laid out and the story itself. It was unique and truly a breath of fresh air in an otherwise saturated YA market. The author kept me guessing until the very end. I would think Ihad it figured out and then BAM! A twist!

I can't wait for the next book in this series. In fact, it's one of those books that makes me want to go and find everything else the author has written and gives those a try, too.

http://radiantlit.com/2014/04/ya-review-the-kiss-of-deception/

*I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This review and numerous others can be found on my website, That Artsy Reader Girl.*

People. I do not know what to do! I have no idea how to review this book, because I really, really loved it. There were a few slow moments, but I became so enthralled and excited about it as the story went on. By the end, I was just dying to get my hands on the second book!

1. This book grabbed me from the first sentence, which does not happen. Ever. “Today was the day a thousand dreams would die, and a single dream would be born.” How great is that? Don’t you want to read more?

2. The Kiss of Deception has a really complex plot that I totally was not expecting. It was a pleasant surprise, because this book is LONG and we need that complexity to keep us going.

3. I think my absolute favorite part of the story is Pearson’s ability to weave things together in a way that keeps you guessing and/or questioning everything you think you know. When two men show up in Lia’s new hometown, she has no idea that one of the men is the prince she was supposed to marry and the other one is the assassin who was sent by her father to kill her. And the best part? The reader is not entirely sure which man is which either! And as Lia begins to feel things for one of the men, the reader agonizes over whether she fell for the prince or the assassin. It does not get better than this.

4. I love it when an author can blow my mind. She DID. I mean, I might have screamed.

5. Lia is a wonderfully spunky character. I love that she fled an arranged marriage, and I love that she cared more about finding the right man and falling in love than marrying the wrong one for wealth, recognition, and prosperity. She knew betraying her father would have extreme consequences, but she did it anyway. She’s also amazing at standing up for herself. I wish I could tell people off like she can!

6. The assassin and the prince, even though we do not always know which is which, have very unique and separate personalities. I found this to be incredibly important because these men HAD to not blend in to one person, or Pearson’s story would not have worked. Pearson did a wonderful job painting a mysterious pair of characters.

7. There’s a hint of a love triangle, but mainly because you don’t know which man is which. Again, this was done so well! I loved the mystery of trying to figure out which man she fell for!

8. In addition to the main story of Lia’s fleeing her kingdom, two men vying for her attention, and tons of deception… there’s side stories of Lia figuring herself out, kingdom politics, treks across barren lands, gypsies, adventure, and supporting characters you’ll fall for. AND it all takes place in a world you can’t wait to learn more about. It’s the total package.

9. I love the writing. It’s beautiful and funny and I loved immersing myself in it.

You know an author has done a wonderful job with their book when it takes me over FOUR MONTHS to write a review. I was so spellbound and captivated by The Kiss of Deception that I was seriously rendered speechless. I’ve already decided that I need to go read Pearson’s Jenna Fox trilogy, not to mention I’ll be moving mountains and slaying dragons to get my hands on The Heart of Betrayal, which comes out next year!

This review was originally posted on Avid Reviews: www.avidfantasyreviews.wordpress.com

Despite the eclectic mix of fantasy elements in this novel, I found it to be a relatively average YA fantasy. The Kiss of Deception is the first novel in the new series from Pearson called the Remnant Chronicles. It is a perfect story for readers that are new to the fantasy genre, and a great crossover novel for readers that have previously only read books in the young adult genre, but for long time fans of fantasy the novel may seem full of clichés and the major plot points stilted. It is still an entertaining story, but I did not find myself in love with the plot or any of the characters.

The Kiss of Deception follows the story of seventeen-year-old Princes Lia. She is the oldest daughter to the King of Morrighan, a kingdom that sticks strongly to its traditions and tales of the world as it once was. When Lia finds herself engaged to a man she has never met in order to secure a political alliance, she and her best friend arrange to flee on her wedding day. This act has serious implications for her country, and soon her father’s bounty hunters, her own betrothed, and even an assassin from a neighboring nation are sent to find her. Lia tries to find a simple life among the common folk in a small village, but her past is bound to catch up with her soon, and when it does she may find herself facing an assassin with a contract on her life, unlocking perilous secrets, and possibly even falling in love.

One of the best qualities of this novel is Lia’s growth as a character throughout the story. She changes from a spoiled unlikable protagonist who would rather have her own country go to war than get married to a man sight unseen, to a young woman who begins to learn from her own mistakes and truly starts the journey to adulthood. Though I did not particularly like Lia as a character, I admired Pearson’s ability to write a character that altered and grew throughout the story.

This novel also contains an interesting twist on the love triangle (which is a commonly clichéd feature), so if you happen to like a fantasy with a plot that has a heavy romance element, this book will definitely intrigue you. Unfortunately, I do not enjoy a book as much when the romance element starts to overwhelm the plot of a story, but I still enjoyed some of the other elements of this story’s plot. I was particularly engaged by the mystery of Lia’s world and its history, and I will most likely read the next novel in the series in hope that Pearson will add more world building and magic components.

It is probably obvious to you by now that I have very mixed feelings about this novel, but many of my problems with the story are personal preference issues. However, there were some structural issues with the plot that made the story seem poorly written, and hopefully Pearson will absolve these problems in future novels. The biggest issue I had was the fact that the majority of the plot’s events seemed placed out of convenience for the writer rather than the sake of the story. My favorite novels are those where the journey is just as exciting and revealing as the destination, but in this book most of the events seemed too convenient. Things seem to happen to Lia and the other point of view characters too easily, and with little explanation to how or why the characters had ended up in a certain situation. I also would have liked to see a little more complexity in the plot, especially at the novel’s beginning.

Overall, I thought that this was a decent YA fantasy, but I would definitely recommend it to readers that are new to the fantasy genre or that do not mind a story that is filled with common fantasy tropes. There were some intriguing original elements in the novel that would be especially entertaining to readers that enjoy books in the YA genre, but I would not recommend this story to anyone looking for a challenging or genre defying read.

My rating: 6/10.

I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

When you're a princess and life hands you lemons, you GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE. Princess Lia decides to take her life in her own hands and flees from an arranged marriage to the prince of a neighboring kingdom. What she doesn't know is that the jilted prince and an assassin have followed her.

Plot: The Kiss of Deception is, naturally, about deception which is all in good fun. I spent the majority of the book guessing which male character was the assassin and which was the prince (and I'll admit-I guessed wrong). As the first in a series, Pearson's concern is to establish the world, characters and to introduce the series' overall conflict. The first half of the novel was slow and seemed to drag on quite a bit; thankfully, the novel picked up speed once identities were revealed (and people started dying).

Characters: The main character, Princess Lia, is a very strong female lead. I liked her, I liked her a lot. She was caring and she was strong. Actually, I liked all of the characters except the two male leads. The Assassin and The Prince were such cookie cutter characters that I couldn't even picture what they looked like. Within pages of meeting Princess Lia, both characters fall madly in love with her, and she in turn fell madly in love with one of the mystery men after a handful of conversations. YAWN. I found one of the male character's a lot more interesting than the other because he was more prevalent in the novel and so the reader was able to learn more about him as a character and not just a love-struck man.

Setting: In High Fantasy novels, the one thing that you absolutely cannot mess up is the world building. At first I wasn't really impressed by Pearson's world because the story took place mostly in one setting. It was only when the characters ventured out that I was able to learn more about the world and its history. There are random bits of text from the culture's holy scripture but I couldn't connect any of those readings with what I knew about the characters and world so they seemed a bit pointless to me.

Short n Sweet With all the hype of this novel, I knew I had to get my hands on this book. I found the world to be interesting and the female characters to be strong and really likable. The book fell short in my expectations with it's let's-fall-in-love-within-the-first-fifty-pages, but redeemed itself in the last half of the novel when the focus wasn't love, but shed more light on politics and secrets. I would read the sequel, but mostly out of curiosity.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: A brilliant novel. I was hooked from the get-go. The whole time the back of my mind was comparing this book to Star Wars for some unknown reason and that is always a compliment.

Having said that, the book was very different than Star Wars. But it did have a girl who was a princess with two boys. One who's a rogue and one who's a nice prince. So yeah, Star Wars came to mind ASAP.

I loved the characters, loved the plot, and loved the writing style. The ending surprised me and now I really want to reread this novel. This is one that I'm going to go buy so I can have it permanently on my shelf.

I was surprised by the ending. It completely caught me off guard. I didn't even realize I'd been played and deceived until the very end.

This is one of those novels that I'm going to recommend to everybody and never shut up about.

There is enough action, suspense, romance, and intrigue to interest any reader. Fans of fantasy need to buy this one.

So why 5 stars? This book was pure awesome. I adored it and am dying to read the sequel.

Warnings/Side-notes: None. It's perfectly clean for readers of all ages.

The Wrap-up: An incredible book that kept me turning the pages. It's easy to see why this book was one of the most popular books of 2014.

Love,

Danica Page

When a princess runs away from home to escape an arranged marriage, she just wants to find a quiet place to live the rest of her life like a commoner. Her escape becomes the catalyst for a series of events that put the entire kingdom at risk, and she decides with great reluctance to try to help by reasserting her position. But her decision may have come too late, and she will have to deal with the consequences. Author Mary E. Pearson gives young adult readers this premise in the slow to start but ultimately satisfying novel The Kiss of Deception.

Lia resents the fact that she carries the burden of tradition. Despite having three brothers, Lia bears the title of First Daughter and must marry a man of her parents’ choosing to cement good relations between her father’s kingdom and the neighboring realm. She has lived her entire life with the knowledge that this will happen one day, and yet when the time comes Lia knows she just can’t go through with it. On her wedding day she engineers an escape with her confidante and lady-in-waiting, Pauline.

The girls head for Terravin, a town from Pauline’s childhood that holds fond memories for her. Once they arrive Lia insists that no one know of her true station, and the two become servers in an inn. The innkeeper takes them under her wing and allows them to stay in a cottage nearby. In time Lia and Pauline settle into a simple life as two friends with a fresh start.

But Lia doesn’t get the chance to enjoy a quiet life for long. Two mysterious young men arrive at the inn. Both of them have secrets, but neither of them seems eager to share those secrets. Since escaping a marriage of state, Lia has spent a lot of time thinking about what it would mean to marry for love. As the two young men begin competing for her attention, Lia wonders whether she could fall in love with one of them.

She also finds out that someone has sent an assassin her way. Lia ignores the information at first, but soon other events occur that convince her otherwise. She wants to forget her role as princess and First Daughter, but incidents drag her into the conflict between her father’s kingdom and the kingdom of the man she would have married. Life no longer seems so simple.

Author Mary E. Pearson begins The Kiss of Deception with a slow pace. The story takes time to gather speed, but once it does she will have readers strapped in and eager for the next turn. Her greatest accomplishment comes in a neat literary trick that she employs partway through the book. Readers will get to that point and want to start the book over right away to read it with greater understanding of what has occurred in the story thus far.

Pearson gives readers all of the good, old-fashioned elements of a fairy tale while transforming them into something relevant to today’s world. This first book in the Remnant Chronicles will receive a sequel next year, and given the fantastic end to The Kiss of Deception readers will do well to look for the next book. I highly recommend The Kiss of Deception to all readers of YA fiction.

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher.

Words fail me for The Kiss of Deception. They have failed me for two months now even though my comprehensive-enough-to-get-a-review-written notes on this novel have been sitting in my review draft waiting for me. How do you talk about a fantasy novel like this one that seems so seamlessly, easily crafted that it simply is wonderful and that’s all you want to say about it? Well, here’s my attempt to say more and convince readers to pick up this book: This Kiss of Deception is the start of a rousing new trilogy rife with dramatic irony and romance you don’t want to miss.

The book is a thick one, true, but it flies by despite the slow pace. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? It’s not once you get started. It’s all very absorbing stuff because you want to find out more about Lia’s world (one in which women don’t live a crapshoot life! Yay!) and who the two mysterious, handsome strangers in the jacket copy are. Most unexpectedly, we get their points of view as well as Lia’s, creating a delicious sense of dramatic irony. What’s better than being in the heads of all three of these people when their knowledge of the others’ true identities is limited? Not much! Lia doesn’t know who either of the men really are for a significant part of the novel and both men know who she is, but neither is aware of who the other is. Just beautiful.

We actually get a fourth voice too, but that fourth voice rarely comes up. Each character gets solid, thorough characterization through their chapters and how other characters see them. Not once did I confuse one character’s chapter for another’s, showing me this novel is strong enough to conquer the voice differentiation issue that plagues many novels with multiple first-person POV characters. It also helps that the majority of the story belongs to Lia. After years of letting others write her story for her, she makes the decision to escape and finally write her own, which makes her domination of the story fitting. Both men get just enough time to show us their point of view and get across what they need to without taking away from Lia’s story.

There are only a few areas of the book where there are failings. It requires a little more suspension of disbelief than immediately necessary sometimes; considering Lia’s faithful servant Pauline goes missing at the same time Lia does, it’s a miracle no one thinks to send someone to search the area Pauline came from–which is exactly where Pauline and Lia are hiding out. While Lia has great chemistry with both of the men who are suddenly entangled in her life, the novel fails to sell me on either ship, especially since one of them basically falls in insta-love with her.

The Kiss of Deception ends on a very sad cliffhanger–and I mean sad like HOW COULD YOU LEAVE IT OFF HERE, YOU JERK?, not SOB SOB SOB EVERYONE IS DYING sad. The journey to that point is long and taken up by a significant actual journey, but by the time they got there, I knew I definitely wanted to see what the second book of the trilogy wanted to offer me, which means waiting a very long year to see what comes next. This should be among your next reads if YA fantasy novels focused on the romance are what you’re looking for because whoo, is there romance going on here with delicious sides of dramatic irony!

I enjoyed this book very much. You have Lia (also known as Princess Arabella...she didn't seem to care for that formal name although I think it's gorgeous myself but hey, each to their own right?) She's a First Daughter betrothed to the Prince of Dalbreck - sight unseen, naturally. She finds this arrangement very distasteful (and, let's be honest, what 17 year old wouldn't find an arranged marriage distasteful?) and so, with her lady-in-waiting, Pauline, Lia runs away on the day her marriage is to take place to Terravin, a place where she can become who she wants and experience all that life has to offer one who is not bound by royal expectations. Ah, bliss!

Then there's the prince. The jilted groom. Her running away has apparently piqued his interest so he sets off to find her, to see what kind of girl would throw duty to the wind and, if he's honest, do what he himself was too scared to do. So he figures he'll find her, watch her for a bit, figure out what motivates her and all that jazz and that's that.

Then, there is the assassin. Duty and loyalty is what he is all about. He sets off to find her and slit her throat because the Komizar demands it of him. No problem. She's only 17, sheltered at that. And there is, of course, his disdain towards "royals". So, should be a piece of cake. Right?

HA! That's what they think.

I loved Lia. She had an inner strength, compassion and a naivete that I found endearing and even refreshing, to a point. She loved her friends fiercely. We see this in how she protects sweet Pauline. She loved her older brothers dearly. She was torn with her feelings towards her parents. Sounds like a teenager doesn't it? However, in this novel, we see Lia grow. Grow from the young, rebellious teen to the beginnings of a young woman ready to face what lies before her head on - whether she likes it or not.

Then, there are the boys. I've often said love finds you when you're not looking - nor wanting - it. How true this is. Because as the prince and assassin watch and interact with Lia (hiding who they are, of course), they begin to fall in love with her. Yes, there's something of a triangle. But this triangle, to me, felt kinda different. So, unless you just absolutely hate any hint of a love triangle in any way, shape, or form, I do hope you give this one a chance.

I smiled, laughed and even teared up at times. I love it when a book draws me in so much that I feel what the character is feeling. I even started to feel compassion towards certain characters that I didn't in the beginning (even if I did grumble about it somewhat). As to the fantasy aspect, there is talk of magic, spirits and, of course, "the gift" but if you are a fantasy reader who prefers the sword and sorcery type (or elves, dwarves, wizards and the like), you'll not find it in here. But talk of gods and Ancients? That's in here. Who knows, magic may play a more prominent part in the future but as for this first one, it's mostly just talked about (other than "the gift"). I anxiously await book 2 in this series!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

This book was fantastic in every way possible! It definitely blew my mind away, with crazy twists and turns, action and adventure around every corner. This book will go down as one of the best in 2014.

Lia is a princess, but she doesn't want to be. When her parents force her into an arranged marriage with a prince she’s never met before, Lia decides that it’s in her best interest to run away. With her best friend Pauline, she escapes to a nearby town. Yet it’s not that easy for a wanted princess to escape, she soon finds herself in the presence of an assassin who’s on a mission to kill her, and the heartbroken prince she’s never met before. As Lia starts her new life, she has to watch out not only for her safety but also for the two strange boys who are head-over-heels in love with her.

Lia’s character is one of the most lovable characters I have ever encountered. Not only is she outspoken (meaning she doesn't take crap from anyone) but she’s also caring, determined and hardworking. I honestly wish that she was a real person so that I could become best friends with her. Even though Lia is a princess, she would rather be a normal girl and earn her keep rather than be given everything. She’s not snobby like most princesses are, she’s the complete opposite. Even though she can be a little naïve at times, she’s still very intellectual when it comes to survival. Her character is honestly perfect, and I wouldn't change a thing about her.

I’m guessing that when you read the synopsis for this book, you immediately thought something like “Oh no, not another love-triangle!” Well don’t worry, because even though it seems like this book has one, it does not!

Our two main boys, Kaden and Rafe are hot as hell. Both these boys are muscular, handsome and not to mention smart and skilled in battle. As these two fight over Lia’s attention, they also help protect her from some of the danger she gets herself into. In the beginning I couldn't decide who I liked more. I love the idea of assassins and find them very interesting, but the idea of a prince running away from his kingdom just to find out about the girl who wouldn't marry him seemed really sweet and cute. In the end I picked a favorite, but let me tell you it was hard, because they are both such good characters.

When it comes to world-building, this book does not lack in it at all. All of the settings were described in such detail that I honestly could picture every moment in my head like a movie. This book definitely has one of the best worlds I have ever read about, and I definitely wish I could live in it.
Overall, this book is absolutely amazing! I feel like anyone who reads this book can easily fall in love with it because it has so many great aspects to it. I wish I read this book much sooner, and I will be recommending it to everyone I meet.

Happy Reading,
-Aneta

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A breathtaking new series that will leave you speechless. This is hands down the best book I have read this year, and one of my all-time favorite high fantasy books ever.

Opening Sentence: Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born.

The Review:

Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan is about to marry a man she has never met. Her whole life she knew that she would never be able to marry for love, but now that the day has finally come for her to give up all of her dreams of a happily-ever-after, she decides that maybe she deserves more. So instead of marrying the prince from a neighboring kingdom she runs away. She flees to a distant village with only her maidservant and together they start a new life.

Not long after arriving in her new home, two mysterious strangers arrive that catch Lia’s interest. Finally, Lia has a chance at true happiness and there is a possibility she may find it with one of these strangers, but little does she know that neither of the men are there by chance. One is the Prince she promised to marry and left at the altar, and the other is an assassin from a neighboring kingdom sent to kill her!

Lia is a very passionate person that was extremely easy to love. Her smart mouth and snarky attitude made me instantly connect with her. She is basically starting her life over, so you get to experience so many firsts with her throughout the story which helped me grow to like her even more. Obviously she doesn’t like to be told what to do and there are times when she is stubborn beyond belief, but she is also a very caring and loyal person. She was a heroine I could admire, but at the same time she is not perfect. Her flaws make her easier to relate to, and her strengths make her easy to respect. I can’t wait to get back inside her head and see where her story goes!

There are obviously two amazing guys in the story, so yes, there is a love triangle, but it is done perfectly. Each boy has strengths and weaknesses that made it really hard not to cheer for both of them. The other great thing is that for a large portion of the story you don’t know for sure which one is the prince and which one is the assassin!

First off we have, Raff, a dark haired hottie with piercing blue eyes. He is a very confidant person and at times he was a little moody. But as the story progressed he became a very approachable and loveable character. He has an extremely hot and cold relationship with Lia. She is a surprise to him in so many ways and it made it hard for him to resist her. They have amazing chemistry and are very compatible. I loved Raff pretty much instantly and I think that as of right now I am cheering for him, but there is still a long way to go so it may change because I really love the other guy as well.

Kaden is the opposite of Raff, he has blond hair and brown eyes. Also, he is very reserved and at times comes across as shy. He has impeccable manners and can be very charming when he wants to be. I felt that his relationship with Lia developed much more slowly but it was still very intense. He always treats Lia with respect and does everything in his power to try and protect her which I found very endearing. So as you can see both of these guys are amazing and while at the moment one has captured my heart a little more than the other, it could very easily change!

The Kiss of Deception left me speechless! Everything about this book was beyond amazing. It is by far the best book I have read this year and quite possibility one of the best I have ever read! It was full of adventure, romance, emotion, and suspense. I’m not going to lie, when I saw the cover reveal for this book months ago, I fell madly in love with it and then I read the blurb. I pretty much pre-ordered the book right away and I am so glad I did because the story is just as beautiful as its cover! One of my favorite things about it was that there were some awesome plot twists that took me completely by surprise. I read a lot of books, so it is really rare for an author to surprise me but I always love it when they do. Another thing I loved about this book was the entire cast of secondary characters. While I adored all three of the main characters, I am just as interested in finding out more about all the other people in Lia’s life. I think they are going to play a much bigger role in the books to come which I am very excited about. The writing was phenomenal and while at times it was a little slower paced, it really worked with the story. I honestly couldn’t put this book down and ended up finishing it far too soon. I’m not going to lie, the ending was complete torture, but instead of leaving me frustrated like most cliffhangers do it just made me that much more excited to read the next book. Everything about this amazing story blew me away and it will forever be one of my favorites. I would highly recommend this to anyone that loves high fantasy or is just looking for an exceptional young adult read!

Notable Scene:

I turned and met his gaze, feeling the danger of it, the heat, but not willing to look away. I waited for him to speak. He took another step closer, the space between us closing to a mere few feet. He lifted his hand toward me, and I took a shaky step back but saw he was only holding my cap. “You dropped this.”

He held it out, steady, waiting for me to take it, bits of crushed leaves still clinging to its gauzy lace.

“Thank you,” I whispered, and reached out to take it from him, my fingertips rushing his, but he held it tight. His skin seared against the cool of mine. I looked into his eyes, questioning his grip, and for the first time I saw a chink in his armor, his usual steely expression softened by a crease between his brows, a moment of indecision washing over his face, and then an ever so slight rise in his chest—a deeper breath, as if I’d caught him off guard.

“I have it,” I said. “You can let go.”

He released his grip, bid me a hasty good night, then abruptly turned and disappeared down the path.

FTC Advisory: Henry Holt and Co./Macmillan provided me with a copy of The Kiss of Deception. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

Forced into an arranged marriage was not Lia's idea of "happily ever after". She may be a princess, but she wants to experience the joy of falling in love and have the opportunity to make her own decisions.

In a moment of planned desperation, Lia and her servant, Pauline, flee hours before the wedding. Lia is not a typical princess, she finds joy in working in a tavern, picking blackberries, and many other mundane tasks. She loves to be seen as a common person.

Two men are on her trail. One is an assassin who wants to kill her, the other is the Prince she ran away from marrying. Neither was prepared for the reality of Lia. She captured both of them in a short period of time, making them temporarily forget the reason's that they were searching for her.

I couldn't help but like Lia and Pauline. They are great friends who do not let class distinctions get in their way of love and respect for each other. They are the kind of best friend that everyone wants. They help each other through some of their worst hours.

The Prince and the assassin appear at the same time. They are introduced as Kaden and Rafe. I was a little frustrated that the true identity of each was not revealed in the first half of the book. I had an opinion of which one I thought was the Prince, but Mary E. Pearson kept offering information of the characters that had me doubting my decision. (I was right by the way!) It was hard to not know which one was trying to kill her.

The plot gets exciting in the last quarter of the book. The assassin is revealed and the hunt begins. I am being vague for a reason, because I don't want to spoil anything in the book. There is "hunting" throughout the book. Mostly, it is a hunting for the truth. Lia is trying to find out the truth about herself and her talents. The reader is "hunting" to figure out the mystery surrounding Lia.

I like this book. It is intriguing and fast paced. Most of the characters are likable, some of the assassins are not nice. (Go figure.) The book ends on a cliffhanger. I will be reading the sequel. There really isn't another option, I need to find out what happens to the Prince, the assassin, and the Princess.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

*Actual rating 4.5 stars

I don't read a lot of books like this, but I am so glad that I read this one!! While not perfect, I still really loved it. I really enjoyed that Princess Lia was not willing to just give in and be a prize for a random prince. She wanted to make her own choices in her life not end up in a loveless marriage to a man she has never met. There is a bit of a love triangle, but it wasn't nauseating to me like most are. I also loved the friendship aspect of it. This is told from three POV's. The Princess, The Prince (Rafe), and The Assassin (Kaden). Sometimes, the same thing ends up repeated, just from a different POV, but it didn't bother me too much. One thing that I noticed (which I don't know if it was on purpose or will be corrected in the finished copy if it's not) was that at the beginning of the chapters, sometimes it would say The Prince and others it would say Rafe. Since they are the same person, I was a bit thrown off by that. It did that with The Assassin/Kaden as well. Not a huge thing I know, but something I noticed.

Lia is a very strong headed woman. She wants to be in control of her own life and will do what she has to in order to have that happen. Only after she flees, she realizes that it may have been a mistake and she has put her loved ones in danger. She loves her freedom in the village she is residing in. She doesn't act like a princess and in fact embraces being a barmaid and cooking and cleaning. She is there with her closest friend, and makes a lot of other friends. Two most notable are the hunter and the farmer, who are really the assassin who has been sent to kill her, and the prince who she was arranged to marry. She does act very childish at times, but she has her toughness to her too. And she is stubborn. For the most part, I really liked her.

Since I mentioned a love triangle, I should give a little input on it. Keep in mind that Lia doesn't know who either of the men really are, and they are both very admiring of her. The men don't know who the other really is either. The Prince went in search for her with every intention of not speaking to her, but upon first meeting, he starts to fall for her. She is nothing like he expected. The Assassin also begins to fall for her, which doesn't bode well for the fact he is supposed to kill her. Lia is smitten with Rafe, aka Prince. She is most definitely falling for him, but that doesn't stop her from being very friendly with Kaden. She has her moments when she wants to give in to the urges, but really, I didn't ever think she would choose Kaden over Rafe at any point.

There was a lot going on in this book from her escape, to all the entertainment in the village, to fleeing back home to fix things, to trying to escape capture. There was no shortage on adventure. I think that there was too much focus on the romance, and a lot of it was silly, but overall this story was really great. It is a rather large book, but I finished it in two days of reading because I needed to know what would happen. There is a cliffhanger for an ending, so if that's not something you enjoy, I would wait until the next one comes out before reading this. Despite the issues that I had, I was fully invested in this book and it still rocked! The little oddities and things that did bother me a little didn't take away from the story as a whole for me. If this is a genre that you enjoy, I highly recommend it.

*An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review. I did not receive any compensation.

When I first saw the cover to The Kiss of Deception with the girl in the dress and the title of the series being The Remnant Chronicles, I thought YA paranormal romance with zombies - WRONG. Maybe I should have read the synopsis before deciding not to read it. Thank goodness Kayla sent me her ARC without knowing my silly judging a book by its cover prejudices, because I loved it. I did like the ARC plainer cover better with the series name being the Morrighan Chornicles. By the way, there is romance, but it is part post-apocalyptic, part adventure fantasy, and has a little bit of magic thrown in.

I really enjoyed Pearson's set up of the multiple points of views. We get a point of view from Lia, the prince and the assassin, but we also get points of views entitled Rafe and Kadan. It was fantastic that we don't know for a good portion of the book whether Rafe or Kadan is the prince or the assassin. And, my guess was wrong on that one, so maybe I'm not such a jaded reader that has seen all the plot devices after all.

I also enjoyed the setting in The Kiss of Deception. It's not clear, but I think that this is set several hundred years in the future after our civilization has crumbled. I think that the three countries are split among the Western United States, the Eastern United States and either the North Western United States or Canada. I wish that there had been a bit more magic in the story, and more of the discovering of the countries' secrets. We don't really get into the secret discovering until well into the last quarter of the book. Also, while there are whispers that the First Daughters have the gift, we don't really see what this means. Lia does not believe that she has the gift and also that her mother lost hers at one point. I hope that this is more fully explained and explored in the next two books of the trilogy.

I liked Lia a lot as a heroine even though she definitely had her weaknesses. She was selfish for one. She knows that she is the key to uniting two kingdoms who did not trust each other and who were probably going to be at war sooner or later with a third kingdom and neither of the kingdoms could stand against the third kingdom alone. She still chose to run away, because she didn't want to be forced into a marriage with a man she had never met, who she presumed was an old man and who refused to meet her before the wedding. So, she's selfish, but I doubt I would have liked the situation any better than she did. She's also a little foolish and has a temper which causes her to basically poke at bears when she shouldn't.

When she runs, her best friend decides to go with her, and these two make quite the good kick-ass heroines. Lia was not about to take anything from anyone, including soldiers messing with her friends. She was a good friend and kind. Lia also showed that while she may have been raised as a royal, she was willing to do regular work like being a waitress at an inn and didn't assume that she would get special treatment because she was a princess. Later, whenever the story turns adventure across the desert/wasteland, she also shows that she's clever and brave.

There is a little bit of a love triangle between Lia and the prince and the assassin, which is quite interesting as we have to guess at who is the prince and the assassin for a lot of the book. It wasn't as annoying a love triangle as I've seen, but the romance does make this less high fantasy than it could have been. Which really is my only gripe.

So The Kiss of Deception was not the book I thought it was going to be, but it was so much more. It reminded me a lot of The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, so if you liked that style of fantasy, you should pick this one too.

To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review originally appeared on Bibliophilia, Please at: http://www.bibliophiliaplease.com/2014/07/review-kiss-of-deception-by-mary-e_31.html.

Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia of the House of Morrighan is to be given in marriage to the Prince of the Kingdom of Dalbreck. Duty and tradition demand the Princess relinquish control over her life, to help forge an alliance between the two kingdoms, but Princess Lia, as she prefers to be called, has other plans. The day of the wedding, she flees with her maid, Pauline, and the two of them make it to the small town of Terravin where they begin a new life. Lia thinks she has outrun and fooled everyone, but when two strangers arrive in town, her life gets even more complicated. Unbeknownst to the Princess, one of them has been sent to kill her and the other is the jilted Prince. When both begin to show a keen interest in her, Lia will discover that no matter how far she runs, she cannot outrun who she really is.

Mary E. Pearson’s The Kiss of Deception contains a variety of strong female characters, each with their own strengths and differing levels of maturity. Lia is pleasantly defiant and stubborn. I found myself gasping at her audacity one moment and applauding it the next. From the very beginning of the book you get the distict impression that Lia’s journey will eventually lead her back to her first duty as Princess of Morrighan. What I found a bit lacking was the evolution of this fact while Lia was in hiding in Terravin. Here the emphasis of the story is not on Lia realizing her larger role but her relationship with the two strangers, Kaden and Rafe. I felt that Gwyneth, a fellow barmaid, both fiery and sharp, should have had a more prominent role in Lia’s life, considering she challenged Lia when no one else would.

One of the book’s main plot devices is the mystery behind Kaden and Rafe’s identites. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil it for you. I will say that it left me guessing and then second-guessing myself when I thought I’d figured it out. I will say that this book does showcase a bit of a love triangle which I sometimes found a little frustrating. My problem with many love triangles in literature is that the female protagonist tends to be be too passive in the situation and sometimes Lia fell into this trap. As for Kaden and Rafe’s characters, Pearson does a nice job of being sympathetic to both parties, forming well-rounded individuals that I am eager to read more about in the next book.

This book started out really good. I loved the idea and the writing was good. I liked Lia and her need to be a normal girl and to get away from the heavy traditions of her home and family. I liked how she wasn't afraid to try new things. The love triangle was not my fav and the fact that you had no idea which boy was which, at least I didn't. I listened to the audio and the reader was good. The twists and turns were pretty good and the story flowed well. I started to not really want to read the next towards the end of this book when there was a attempted rape scene, a couple deaths and swearing and the love triangle just got stupid. I am a little afraid that this young adult book is turning into an adult read and I read these books for the lighter content. Not sure I will read the next one or recommend it.

This novel is fairly intense; although the beginning had a bit of a slow start, as the novel evolved, I found myself completely wrapped up in the world that Pearson has created in this fantastical novel. Lia is a well-written, layered character, and as the story progresses we learn so much about her. She is strong-willed, compassionate, devious, and good-hearted all in one, and getting to know her was an absolute joy. Her plight is one that, while I don’t identify with from personal experience, I completely understand—if you’ve ever found yourself in a situation with no decent possible outcomes, then you, too, will be able to connect with Lia’s thoughts and feelings as this novel unfolds.

Reader beware, tissues are a necessity. I was not expecting it in the least, but Pearson definitely made me ugly cry on multiple occasions as I read. There are some awful situations that leave the characters destitute and destroyed, and as Pearson wove the story, I found myself caring for even those I thought I hated. Thankfully, the novel is not too graphic when it comes to the gruesomeness that is war, and the novel is 100% clean as well, which is an added bonus, but know going in that when you least expect, Lia’s world will come crashing down on you. I wept more times than I can count, but I loved it just the same. Pearson has created a poignancy that permeates the story, and it’s amazing.

In terms of other characters, I found myself falling hard for Rafe almost instantly. It’s the tragic “what if” scenario—if either Rafe or Lia had to have submitted to their impending marriage, none of the tragedy would have ensued, but at the same time, neither would have the love. For Lia and Rafe’s sake, I wish they would have gone along with the pressures of their society in this one instance, but I loved their story just the same. Pearson really draws the reader in with her characterization and pacing, and I highly recommend picking up this novel.

I will admit that the cliffhanger in this one made me angry, though. It’s such a great story, and about 80% in I knew there weren’t enough pages left for it to have a satisfactory conclusion—and it didn’t. We are left with an awful cliffhanger that just isn’t fair—I need book two now.

I got a copy of this book to review through the the store Vine program. This was a wonderful high fantasy novel, full of adventure and intrigue.

Princess Lia is a First Daughter, her whole life it laid out for her. She is supposed to have the Sight, but doesn’t. However, her father has still arranged a marriage to a neighboring Prince for her. The morning of her wedding Lia flees along with her best friend. She settles into life in her best friend’s home town working at an inn, when two intriguing strangers enter her life. She becomes friends with both and is especially drawn to one of them. Little does she know one of these strangers is the assassin sent to kill her and the other is the very prince that she was supposed to marry.

I really enjoyed this high fantasy young adult novel by Pearson. It starts out a bit slow, but things really pick up as the story continues. There is intrigue, romance, and plenty of adventure too. I was surprised by how completely drawn in I was by the story and I really enjoyed all of the characters as well.

This story starts out as a somewhat typical princess novel...basically a princess flees an arranged marriage only to meet the man she was destined to marry in different surroundings, but she doesn’t know it because he is in disguise.

The story switches between Lia, the assassin, and the prince. It rotates between the three for most of the book. Then towards the end of the book we hear from Lia more often.

All of the characters are very engaging. Lia is determined to live her own life, but at first she doesn’t realize what that will cost the people of her kingdom. She is headstrong and intelligent, but at bit naive about the bigger picture. I enjoyed watching her adjust to “peasant” life and enjoyed watching her finally step up and take responsibility for her actions. As the book progresses she finally starts to see that she can do a lot of what she wants to with her life as a First Daughter and even make a lot more difference.

The two male leads are also very well done. For a while it is a bit confusing which character is the prince and which is the assassin, they both use false names in front of Lia. It is written in such a way that who is who is supposed to be something of a surprise at the end.

The side characters are all decently done too, they have depth and were engaging all on their own.

I enjoyed the writing style and found the story very engaging. The book ends on a cliffhanger, but I didn’t mind so much in this case. It ended at a good spot where the reader is kind of leaving one part of the story and transitioning into another.

Overall this was a wonderful read. The story is full of adventure, intrigue and romance. The book is very well written and very engaging. The story started a little bit slow, but quickly turned into a story full of twists and turns, intrigue and deceit. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. Definitely recommended to fans of fantasy with adventure, intrigue and romance.

Lia wants nothing to do with her planned marriage. Instead of walking down the isle she flees in her wedding attire with her best friend for a distant village and a new life. Little does she know that her intended followed her to her new life, he's hiding in plain site, and just might have stolen her heart along the way.

THE KISS OF DECEPTION was so much more than I was expecting. Although it is told in more than one POV at times, you mainly follow Princess Lia. Lia is determined to live her life the way she wants instead of being her fathers pawn. She does a really good job of taking care of herself and her friend as they journey to freedom from her old life. I found her to be down to earth and in no way stuffy like you would expect a princess to be.

There is a bit of a love triangle going on in THE KISS OF DECEPTION. We have the Prince who wants to meet the bride who didn't want him. He does not tell Lia who he is and although he wants to hate her, she is nothing like he expected and he finds himself being drawn to her instead. Then we have the Assassin who was sent to kill her. He also doesn't in any way reveal who he is, finds out she is nothing like he expected and then finds himself hesitating when he has the chance to kill her like he was supposed to. The triangle and romance is done well and I didn't find myself annoyed with it one bit.

THE KISS OF DECEPTION is 489 pages long and a LOT happens in between those pages and it's only the beginning of the story. I found the pace quick and the reading smooth. I was really able to connect with not only Lia but with the Prince, Assassin and best friend as well. I couldn't seem to put the book down and by the end I was completely and utterly exhausted (in a good way). Any fantasy fan should jump aboard The Remnant Chronicles express.

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alright, so I finished this book over a week ago...but I was so BLOWN AWAY by this story, that I couldn't find the words to write the review! I'm still not sure I can do it justice, but I'll have to try!

I'll admit, before I started reading this book, I was worried that I wasn't "in the mood" for this type of book, but it was next in my ARC pile, and it was already past its release date, so I wanted to get going on it. Well, I can tell you right now, it doesn't matter what you're in the mood for reading, this is a story for any mood! It's fantasy, with a historical fiction feel (even if it is all just fiction), and it's a bit of a suspense, and is about what I simply call 'royal life', and the list just goes on! Once I got into reading it, I just couldn't stop!

Pearson does a superb job of world building. And her ability to weave such an intricate story is phenomenal. The writing was absolutely fantastic. The characters are both relatable and three dimensional. AH! I just can't even tell you how amazing this book is!

So this story is told from three points of view: Lia, the prince she left waiting at the altar, and an assassin looking for a way to off her. In the beginning of the story, whenever it is being told from one of the young men's POV, it is simply labled 'The Prince' and 'The Assassin'. However, the author pinpoints the perfect moment to switch the labels to the men's names...it's so perfect that the reader has NO CLUE which man is which! Is Lia developing feelings for the man she left behind? Or the man sent to kill her? My head was left spinning in the best kind of way. :) And the ending?! Let's just say I'm going to have a VERY hard time waiting until the next book in this series is released!

WOW!!! This is a story of a young princess who runs away from her betrothal to a prince she has never met. She wants to live a life of peace and find someone who will love her for who she is and not for her title. The prince comes to find her and meet this stuck up princess who jilted him. Also and assassin comes who has been sent by a neighboring city of barbarians to murder her so she wont marry the prince and pull the two smaller country together against them. You get to see the thoughts of both men, but for quite a while you don't know which is which. Lia meets them both on the same night and is attracted to both of them, but one more than the other. Still you don't know which one it is. Is it the assassin? Is it the Prince?? It was driving me crazy and I loved it! Finally of course you do figure it out which is which and still I like them both and so does she. It is lucky both of them fell in love with her, because she would be dead otherwise. This book was intense! I love the characters and they world Mary has described. Lia is wonderful she is strong and has goals and opinions that are different from most, but life leads her in directions she never would have chosen.I can't wait to see what happens next. The end is a cliffhanger and of course I have to wait a while for the next book. SIGH!!!!

Originally reviewed on The Escapist.

***

I've heard so many great things about Kiss of Deception and that's one of the reasons why I'm dying to read it. It's one of my need-to-read-soon list. However, with great expectations comes a possible great disappointment, and I'm not looking forward for the latter. When I finally had a copy of Kiss of Deception, I did my own crazy I-got-THE-book! dance. (It's not something you want to witness. :3) I'm so excited to read it but because I have a reading schedule to follow, I end up just staring and sniffing at it for a while.

I couldn't seem to understand or dive into Kiss of Deception's world when I started reading it, so I got worried that I might end up on the disappointment part. After a couple more pages, it's like the world of Kiss of Deception had opened and swallowed me whole--in a good way. I was sucked in it, not wanting to go back to reality. I couldn't put the book down.

Kiss of Deception was primarily told in Lia's (the runaway princess) POV but there were also some from The Prince and The Assassin, which remained a mystery until the 3/4 of the book. It made my reading more interesting. I looove being curious. I like Lia in so many ways. She's sweet and thoughtful but sharp-minded, independent but not whiny, strong but soft-hearted. She's also quite funny. I like her note to the prince before their supposed to be wedding day.

The characters and events were familiar, but the plot, mystery, romance, and thrill of it all was graciously wrapped and written. Especially the mystery of the identity of the prince and assassin. It drives me crazy and excited. The fantasy part wasn't shown on the book, but there are traces of it. I think book two would be more fantasy. Despite little fantasy and action, the book has its own elements of beauty that didn't bore or frustrate me. I actually loved every single of it!

The ending was the worst of it all not because it sucks (it doesn't!) but because it was freaking amazing! I was holding my breath until the end and that was the only time I got frustrated. I've never--NEVER--wanted a sequel to be in my hands this bad right now--not even after I read The Hunger Games (yeah, because the entire trilogy were already published and I just have to grab them). I. Want. More!!! Wasn't it unfair to wait for another year? If I could ask Santa for one gift this Christmas, that would be the sequel. *puppy dog eyes*

Kiss of Deception is like a kiss of sweetness, bitterness, and everything beyond amazing. Although it had the ingredients I hated the most (love triangle and somehow insta-love), the author made a twist on each of the characters' stories that made me forget or not mind it. It added spice and turned out romantic. Clever, breathtaking, and achingly beautiful. I would recommend Kiss of Deception to all kinds of readers. I wouldn't even pick particular ones--it's just that good you'd want to read it. I swear. Read it!

http://michelletheescapist.blogspot.com/2015/01/book-review-kiss-of-deception-by-mary-e.html

Fans of young adult distopian novels, will find the recently published The Kiss of Deception, a breath of fresh air in the genre. The book is set in a society with age old traditions and mysticism. Princess Lia, is being forced to marry a prince she has never met, in order for an alliance to be forged between the two neighboring kingdoms. Even with a strong sense of devotion to her kingdom and family, mostly her older brothers whom she adores, Lia has an even stronger desire for free will to find love. She flees from the kingdom, moments before her wedding is to take place, taking only a small satchel of items and her maid servant Pauline. Together, the charge forth to a small fishing village and begin a new life - one that Lia finds she very much enjoys. However, they can not outrun their old lives; an assassin has been sent to kill Lia and he finds her in the village and the Prince, whom she left waiting for his bride, has also tracked her to the village.

The story is written mostly from the perspective of Lia, but there are also chapters written the perspective of the assassin and the Prince. All three voices, weave together nicely to create a story of intrigue, complex relations, and revelations. The supporting cast of characters are also very well written and likable. The first of what will no doubt be a series, The Kiss of Deception will have you wondering what will happen to Lia, will she find love, and what will be the fate of those that love her?

*Review posted on Page Turners Blog on 9/18/2014*

This book is the answer to a question I get asked a lot -- what is your favorite book this year? Well, so far, Kiss of Deception is that book. And here's why:

- World-building: It's a classic high fantasy and Mary's world is both logical and complex. But it's not so complex that you can't follow along. The best part? Unlike a few fantasy reads I'm currently reading, Mary's a master storyteller and she let's the plot take you through the world. There is no info-dump.

- Love Triangle: Okay, okay, I feel like I should quote Taylor Swift: "And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate…". But listen, this is a GOOD love triangle, and I personally loved it. An assassin and a prince? This is fantasy and not real life, so for me, it was perfect, believable and I loved every word of it.

- Multiple POVs: I'm a fan of multiple points-of-view in a story. I like knowing what is going on. For me, there is nothing more frustrating than reading a key chapter and wondering what the other characters were thinking. Mary does this so smoothly. The chapters are clearly labeled and the tone in each p.o.v. is different and immediately recognizable.

- Plot Twists: I'm smiling and nodding my head and not writing down any spoilers, but oh the plot twists are delicious.

If you're in the mood for a fantasy story, pick up Kiss of Deception, this is one that will stick with you.

Pearson shows all of her assets in The Kiss of Deception with beautiful prose and a very powerful opening line. Fortunately for readers the prose is just the foundation of a fantasy world which intertwines the familiarity of the middle ages along with original world building via languages, religious texts and prophecies, and ethnic cultures. While the presence of magic is obscure it is forgiven with swoons, action and the main character, Lia's tongue.

Told from six voices which belong to four people, the art it is the subtle battle to claim the voice of The Assassin and The Prince as Princess Lia takes the role of main narrator. Pearson plays with your logic to keep you guessing and experience all of the manipulations alongside Lia. There is one chapter where Pauline, Lia's best friend and handmaiden, is introduced as a narrator and comes across as awkward and irrelevant. While you root for a narrator be careful which team you choose because there's a 99.9% things may not be what they seem.

Fans of fantasy and historical fiction will not be disappointed. For the rest of you plow through the slow, world building beginning and coast to the finish with the mystery, action and betrayals.

Why I'll be reading book two...

I did not expect to like this read as much as I did! The twist! OMG, the twist! It totally snuck up on me because I thought I had figured it all out and well... let's just say I didn't write the book so obviously I had no clue what was coming up.

The world building, the men of our triangle, the languages... I ship it all! It was a bit slow in the beginning because there's some foundation to lay down and I was impatient but once everyone came together the pace quickened.

Two things I did not care for... the first being Pauline's random chapter narration. Maybe she'll be a narrator in book two? The second being the religious or prophesying that occurs between the chapters. It may just be me but it usually made me more confused than not. I have a feeling those who are more into classical literature will appreciate it more than I did.

I'll be reading book two because there is a cliffhanger ending and I needed it like... yesterday! I also want to know what else is around the corner. I'm expecting more secrets to be revealed and more magic to surface.

*Review copy provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own.

I loved this book. At first glance it is a really big book (489 pages) but I flyed through it, and as soon as I finished The Kiss of Deception, I had to start The Heart of Betrayal because I needed more.

The Kiss of Deception has one of the biggest plot twists I have ever seen. Definitely in my top two, and possibly even the best. It was amazing, and I may have screamed just a little bit. Every twist and turn in the story left me on the edge of my seat wanting more.

The characters are all very dynamic, and see so much development throughout the course of the book. They had great chemistry with each other, whether positive or negative, and it made the book even more impressive and interesting. Lia is bold, loveable, and made me laugh a lot. I could relate to her in certain ways, and that relatability is really important for any book I read. Pauline was super sweet. Rafe and Kaden were both… well, they are both swoon worthy, and even though I liked Rafe better for the majority of the time, I found myself liking Kaden too, and sometimes feeling bad for him. Most of the characters are likeable.

I love the writing style, and all of the extras throughout the book. At the beginning or ends of many of the chapters, there are parts of the Holy Texts or Song of Venda and it was interesting to read them because they contribute to the story, and show the differences in culture and religion among the different kingdoms.

The world is built very well, and it is easy to imagine everything that the characters go through because it is nicely painted out. I was lost in the world for a while even after finishing the book. The world is built up very well, and reminded me of why I love series so much: because when done right, they show a very complete picture of a beautiful world I can get lost in. Also it gives ample time for the characters to be built up and go through plenty of development.

Overall, I would give The Kiss of Deception 5/5 stars because the plot was perfect, the plot twist was even better, and it didn’t even take me two minutes to decide I didn’t need sleep and would rather start the next one.

Read the full review here: https://aubreysbooknook.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/review-the-kiss-of-deception-by-mary-e-pearson-the-remnant-chronicles-1/

Synopsis: A girl named Lia who also happens to be the Princess of a fantasy land and decides to run away from an arranged marriage. Throw in a Prince, Assassin, and some weird magic mojo and you’ve got “The Kiss of Deception,” by Mary E. Pearson.

What I liked: I really loved that the book is told in three POV’s-Lia’s, the Prince, and the Assassin. What I liked even more is that you are not sure which male character is the Prince and which is the Assassin. The writing itself was incredible. Pearson is a very poetic in her writing and paints a very visual picture of her make-believe land. Not only was the writing extremely beautiful and incredible, but the story felt very fresh. Sure, we’ve all ready Princess with magical powers before, but this just felt so different.

What I meh-ed: The ending. Really!! Ugh. This was just a personal preference type of thing–I like my stories wrapped up in a bow and this was definitely not wrapped up. Just when my two favorite characters are reunited, the book freaking ends. It was like watching the season finale of your favorite show only for it to end the second things blow up.

What I took Issue With: The love triangle. It did not feel very flushed out. Spoiler Alert: The Assassin and The Prince both fall in love with Lia, though it’s really confusing what motivates the Assassin to take an interest. It felt very forced and not entirely interesting.

Basically, if you are into YA Fantasy you need to pick this up. It is totally worth the hype and you won’t regret it. I am already eagerly awaiting the sequel. 9/10

The kiss of deception (the remnant chronicles #1) by Mary e Person
A wonderful teen adventure, This book looks into the dreams of youth and the responsibility of adulthood. Lia is a young princess, disillusioned with the way her parents have begun to isolate her taking her from her guiding and loving brothers. Now they have arranged her marriage, to a prince in a neighboring kingdom. This rebellious teen escapes her wedding day, insulting her home country and the neighboring kingdom. She clandestinely adventures into the unknown, to a small sea town on the boarder with her close friend and maid. She has found her ideal life, she loves the quaint town with different colored buildings, friendly people, and dynamic life. She believes that she has found her place. Until her brother comes to tell her the consequence of her action has taken the light out of his life. His new bride and their unborn son were killed in a raid by another neighboring kingdom. She needs to return to her life. Only to find that one of her new friends has other plans.
Can she survive his dastardly plan, will she escape and protect her family and country.

I was super excited to read this one. The Adoration of Jenna Fox was phenomenal so what could be better than a fantasy by the same author? This was really well done fantasy too. The characters were detailed and intricately created. Lia progressed so much in this book in such a believable way.

The way the assassin and the prince were kept hidden from the readers was clever and effective. I couldn't make up my mind which one was which. Fortunately it worked out the way it should have worked out. The ending was a cliff hanger, but I loved the gesture of protection and tenderness that one of the characters made.

I thought the beginning was slow and didn't really world build very well. The second half was much stronger in both of those areas. I would have liked to have seen more about the cultures and gods in the first half of the book.

There isn't really much to say without revealing some of the books secrets. Suffice to say, I think Lia and he who shall not be revealed are the ultimate couple. Their romance was sweet, pure and uncomplicated.

I definitely want to read the next book especially considering where the book left off. It was so well done with many elements that were perfect.
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This one gets 2 stars for the 1st 300 BORING pages and 5 stars for the last 200, high-speed, awesome pages. That evens itself out to a three right? I would still totally recommend this book and will still most likely read the sequel. I loved the description of the vagabond camp, the chase across the continent, the development of strength and realization of power from the lead character in the 2nd half of the book. I did not like the slow, plodding build-up that preceded it however. The escape at the beginning was just far too convenient, the giggling between the two girls was superfluous, the change from princess to peasant too easy, the love triangle too (hurl). Laos, while I understand the vague mysteriousness behind the Kaden/Rafe/Lia/Assassin/Prince/Princess love triangle, it was just too much, clever no doubt, but too much.

Also, I'm calling it now. This book is set in a post-apocolyptic North America (not a completely made-up fantasy world). If this is the big reveal in book 2 or 3, someone owes me some skittles!

Final Recommendations: if you like high fantasy, love-triangles, baby-mama drama, the development of strong characters over the length of a book, interesting (if not confusing) world set-up

Kiss of Deception is the first book in a new series known as the Remnant Chronicles. The book tells the story of Princess Lia of Morrighan, destined for a loveless marriage with the prince of a neighboring kingdom. Expected to be gifted with the sight (which she isn't), Lia is just a pawn being used to secure an alliance with another kingdom. But not one to sit down and take what is handed to her, Lia takes matters into her own hands, and devices a plan to escape with her loyal servant Paulina, who has secrets of her own to hide. On the fateful day of the holy alliance, Lia leaves behind her life and her title, and embarks on a journey that even she isn't prepared for. Little does she know that following her are the jilted prince, and an assassin sent to kill her.

Lia and Paulina arrive at a beautiful coastal town, and start building a new life for themselves by working as tavern maids. Following on their heel, the prince and the assassin arrive in the town simultaneously, and secure boarding at the same inn Lia works in. Kaden and Rafe are both mysterious and charming, and Lia finds herself attracted to both men. Unaware of their true identity, Lia starts becoming closer to them, one more so than the other. The story develops around the three of them, and a lot more is divulged about the world, and our characters. Romance id definitely involved, but thankfully it's not too obvious or the highlight of the story.

Lia is such a wonderful and strong character. She's a steadfast friend, and doesn't let her royal status get in the way of her getting her hands dirty. She starts out as a bit weak and naïve, but grows into a terrific heroine who isn't afraid to stand up for what is right. She's caring, and honest, and makes for a wonderful female protagonist. Rafe and Kaden's characters are very mysterious and intriguing, especially since for the most part of the book, we are unaware of who is the prince and who's the assassin. There perspective interspersed through the book make the story even more exciting and entertaining. The sole focus of the story isn't on the romance (thankfully), and there isn't much of a love triangle as the synopsis might suggest. Other characters are written just as well as our leads, and they provide more depth and substance to the story.

The world in the book is quite fascinating; a lot is revealed, yet a lot still remains unexplained. Mary E. Pearson manages to create a world full of magic, intrigue, political turmoil, and a heroine to root for. The writing is beautiful and simple, and the story is quite compelling. My only qualm with the book is the ending. It was anti-climatic, and honestly a little disappointing. But overall, the book is surprising (in a good way), and definitely worth reading. I just wish that the second book was out already!

Kiss of Deception is a little bit hard for me to rate, because while part of me felt just a bit “eh” about the whole thing, another part of me could NOT.STOP.THINKING.ABOUT.IT. I love the concept, the story of a young adult standing up for her rights and even wants and need; but then having to face the consequences of those actions. Lia was a strong and growing character, and I felt like I grew right along with her – I felt the injustice of an arrange marriage, her confusion as she was starting to discover her gift, and then her devastation at realizing the chain of events that has followed as a result of her running away. The LOVE TRIANGLE (yes, of course) was beautiful, I was trapped between Rafe and Kaden, and had a very difficult time “choosing” a side, because throughout the first half of the book, both boys kind of made my heart melt. All of that sounds great, so I’ll tell you what was wrong; this book felt like it just draaagged on forever without a whole lot of action, and even that little bit kind of felt flat to me, which could have been the result of how long it took to get from Point A to Point B.

On her wedding day, Princess Lia takes her maid, Pauline, and runs away to a village where she can live as a commoner. She has always chaffed at the restriction of being a princess. Now she is expected to marry a prince she has never seen, and is sure is an ugly old man, to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom.

She is happily living as a commoner in the village when two men arrive: one, the prince; the other, an assassin. Lia's life changes again as she is taken as a captive on a journey to a kingdom at war with her father's.

The book starts with Lia acting like a spoiled teenager. She doesn't want to do what her parents require, so she runs away. The second part of the book devolves into a hero's journey during which she grows up and begins to understand that more is at stake than her romantic notions.

I enjoyed this fantasy, particularly the second half. For me, in the beginning Lia is a rather unattractive character, but as the story progresses, she faces danger and begins to develop a serious love. I recommend this book if you enjoy romantic fantasy. It's a good choice for middle grade students.

I reviewed this book for Net Galley.

This book started off a bit slow, and honestly I was a little bored. For me, it really didn't pick up until the second half of the book, where I felt there was more world building and more interesting things coming into play.

There is a love triangle that all readers (oops, I mean very few readers) love to see. It almost seems to be resolved quite early on, but then comes back with a vengeance. It's not as bad as some, but it threatens to overshadow what could be a very good story with a sweet romance.

I definitely liked it well enough to read the next book, and would recommend it to fans of YA fantasy.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a gem to find! I didn’t look it up previously, or read any reviews, it was simply a spur of the moment grab at the library last week and I’m so glad that it landed in my nerdy hands. What a novel! Where to begin?

Princess Lia is a princess you can root for, in spite of her title. She’s got brains, beauty, brawn and spunk—a real treasure of a princess. She defies tradition, and an entire kingdom, to escape an arranged marriage and seek a normal life for herself and her maidservant. However, little do either of the girls know that both the jilted prince and a hired assassin have tracked her to the tiny fishing village she’s made her new home.

And, big surprise, both men fall for Lia, despite the fact that both have every reason to hate her. Think it sounds a wee bit cliche? Well, it is, a little…but the plot doth thicken. You think you know what will happen and then, bam, Pearson throws ya for a loop! There’s twist that had me flipping back through the chapters to figure out what the heck was going on. Then there’s a kidnapping, a long journey, some gypsies and barbarians…and well, you’ll just have to read this awesome story to find out for yourself what happens in the end.

The Kiss of Deception is super awesome. Read and enjoy. – M.

I ABSOLUTELY CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE SEQUEL! I NEED IT NOW!!

Actual Rating: more of a 4.5 stars

Princess Lia is arranged to marry someone to a nearby kingdom to create an alliance between the two. She absolutely hates the thought of marrying someone she doesn't love so she decides to escape. When she makes to the town with her friend, she settles in. When two mysterious strangers come into town she thinks nothing of it, but little does she know one is an assassin and one is a Prince. But which is which?

Let me start off with - this book is perfect for people who love fantasy/historical fiction type stuff. The romance is kind of prominent in this book, but not overbearing. The love triangle isn't really a love triangle and it's done well.

Once I actually got into the book it was hard to put down! I would read 100 or more pages in a sitting and I enjoyed every second of it. That being said at the beginning I wasn't too sure about this book. The first couple chapters were slightly boring, but after that it quickly picked up. It delivered on a great read and I recommend!

I won a copy through Goodreads firstreads

What a book! The Kiss of Deception was given to me as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Thank you both so much!

Generally speaking you give me a book with princesses, assassins, political intrigue, the possibility of magic.... and I am SOOO there. I love all those elements in a story. but Kiss of Deception is so much more than those elements. It is a story of depth, of friendships, of sacrifices and of a princess willing to give up everything she has to carve out her own destiny.. (does that sound good.... or is that a little like how my mother in law tried to sell Twilight to me... "a story about vampires and self control"?)
I picked up Lia's story expecting to be entertained... and I was of course. But I fell in love with her character. She was not alright lying to another kingdom about abilities that she as the First Daughter was supposed to have. And she was not alright with marrying a man that she did not know or love. (and had not even seen). So she and her maid left their lives behind and secreted themselves away to a far off village, and found employment in a tavern. Lia loves earning her keep and learning a skill that will support herself. Her friendship with her maid is beautiful, and sweet.
And then enters our heroes. Both men are bent on finding Lia, but for vastly different reasons. But upon finding our princess, both are surprised to not find what what they thought they were looking for. Through her interactions with both, she starts developing feelings for one of them. Liking him as a man and not who he really is.
And did I mention that there were plot twists. I think that my only complaint about the whole book was that it was in ebook format and when the plot twisted.... which I was not expecting....I wanted to be able to flip back and read it again to see how I could have missed something like that (it is not super easy to do that on my ereader).
Kiss of Deception luckily is the first novel in a series... And I am so glad. I would have been sad to see Lia and her men's adventures end when and where they did. I can't wait to see what happens in book 2.
Honestly this is probably my favourite book in this genre this year. I highly recommend it!

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson was a bit confusing for me at first, in a good way. It’s written in 3 different POV’s: Lia, the Prince, and the Assassin. Mary doesn’t go into detail about who the Prince and Assassin are, but it was fun to try and figure out who the Prince was and who the Assassin was. And she kept me guessing!

Lia is a strong female protagonist, which was extremely refreshing. She’s hard-working, tries to right any wrongs, outspoken, loyal to her friends, independent, and someone I would want as a best friend! Lia of the first chapter is far different than the Lia in the last chapter. Loved her!

The Prince originally seemed like an overconfident hot-head. He acted exactly you would think a prince would act. Cocky, arrogant, angry, justified, entitled and the list can go on and on. He knew one life and then things were turned, in a sense, upside down for him. I loved that his side of the story is told by his POV.

The Assassin was just as he seems, an assassin. Rude, cunning, manipulative, and was polite just enough to keep suspicion off him. He was a nice addition to the story. With his POV being added to the book, it added a dark and delicious side.

The romance in the book just seems purely unattainable with the odds stacked against Lia in every way. It was beautifully done, even if it was a bit of a love triangle. (Shocked? Me too)

And that cliff-hanger! It sure promises for an exciting read in the next book in the series, The Heart of Betrayal that came out last July. I will read it and I’m hoping to lose sleep over that book!

It was a good book with great characters. I’m giving The Kiss of Deception 3.5/5 Stars, generously rounded up to 4 stars. I would give it a better rating, but I didn’t feel the need to stay up and read the book. It kept me entertained while I was reading, but it wasn’t one of those books that I was willing to give up sleep for.

In The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson, Princess Arabella leaves Morrighan to escape an arranged marriage to the Prince of Dalbreck. This rebellion has consequences that are far greater than anything she imagined. As Lia (the preferred shortened version of one of her many names) and her maid, Pauline, travel to a remote village; Lia starts to learn the ways of normal people. They settle in that village and are working at a local tavern when two men arrive. Arriving separately, they have the same mission find the Princess. One man wants to see the woman who demanded the right to see and meet him before the wedding, the other is sent to assassinate her. It is written in a way that makes it difficult to tell which man is which. But trouble follows Lia’s rash actions and the end of the book leaves one facing the fact that rash actions lead to harsh consequences and the reader must wait until the sequel to know what’s next.

This was a nice change of pace for me. I liked this book a lot because Lia is such a feisty princess. The book has humor, action, mystery and clean romance. The writes the story in first person by alternating chapters among the perspectives of three different people: the princess, the assassin and the prince who are all complex characters. The chapters are plainly titled when the prince or assassin are speaking and the untitled chapters are when the princess is speaking. In the beginning though, it is a bit confusing as to who Rafe and Kadin are—one is the prince and one is the assassin, but it took me a while to figure out which was which. What I thought turned out to be wrong when I read on a bit farther. On the inside the cover is a map of the various locations of the different kingdoms which is helpful to the reader. This is the first book in The Remnant Chronicles series and now I have to look for the second one!

I'm not sure what to write.. But this book was just ok. Not good enough for me to continue with the series. My favorite character was Kaden, and felt for him through out the book. Rafe was a keeper too but Lia just kind of bothered me. She possibly would have grown on me in the next book but just not that into it.
The other thing that seems to be bothering me in YA novels is .. How do I explain.. It seems to have become a norm to talk about killing and people getting killed pretty easily.. But when the author starts talking about romance or sex or anything slightly erotic its hush hush! I just don't get this! So is it easier for young adults to digest killing but SEX is still off limits?!? Maybe I'm just venting.. But it seems to have become pretty frequent in my readings.
On to another series :) happy Reading!

The Kiss of Deception, how I love thee. Seriously. I am so in love with this book. SO IN LOVE. You guys, I haven't loved a book this much since probably Crown of Midnight and I'm not even kidding you. I want to go outside and SCREAM because it's all bottled up inside right now and I don't know what do with all these emotions. I really don't know what to do. Plus, it's one in the morning, so if I went outside to scream, someone would probably call the cops. Not a good idea so I may go find a pillow or something so smother my screams because I just need to let this all GO!

I don't think I could possibly wait another year for the next book. I truly don't know how I'm going to survive. Clearly, I don't have a choice in the matter but this is one that will be sticking with me for a long time to come. Not only because of the romance (SWOON) but because of the characters, the story, the world, the journey, the . . . well, everything. There is NOTHING about this book I don't like. Except. I got angry. Really angry. But that was at myself. I bet you'll be feeling the same thing.

This book starts off with Lia refuses to being forced to marry a Prince of another Kingdom just for politics and because she is the First Daughter. She wants to marry for love, as I'm sure every person wishes to. She's fearful she'd be marrying some fat, old ogre and can't even see the man she's marrying beforehand. I can understand that fear, I'd want to runaway, too. But on a serious note, she's not really running away because of his appearance (or possibly, lack thereof). So already, from the get go, I love her. She's a woman who refuses to be like the rest of them and wants to be the person she is. She knows what she wants and to hell with anyone who tries to stop her.

When she skips out on her wedding there are two guys who go after her. One, being the Prince, because he's pissed she had the guts to ditch the wedding. Not because he wanted to marry but because he didn't have the chance to run himself. And two, being an assassin hired to kill her. Clearly, we know things are about to get real interesting up in this book.

I'm usually not taken by surprise in books. I usually have an understanding of things while some things tend to slip by me. However, I bow down to you, Mary E. Pearson, because you, my friend, completely pulled the rug from underneath me and then threw it in my face. That's right, you threw it in my face when you were done. I was so angry at myself. SO ANGRY. I'm not even kidding you. I felt like a fool. But I later found out that I was not alone in feeling like a fool so some of my anger left. Some but not all. I'm still angry at myself. And I feel betrayed. Or shall I dare say it . . . I felt deceived. The deception was brilliant. But now I can only wonder, how can she blow me away with the next book. In my mind, there is no way she can manage to pull that same rug out from under me again, could she? I will be on guard . . .

There is not a moment in this book that I'm not flipping through page after page only to look at my clock realizing the sun is about to start rising. Toward the end, I slowed down because I was so in love with everything about this book, I couldn't possibly have it end on me. What was I going to do once it ended? How was I going to choose a book to follow THAT?! It's just not even possible. But I needed to know what happened. I NEEDED to know. I'm happy I did because I couldn't keep the big grin off my face. It's still there, in fact. It will be there for quite sometime.

Read. This. Book. Fantasy lovers, if you pass on this book, for shame. You don't even realize what you're missing. Not a fantasy lover? Who cares, this book will make you one.

Reviewed by Jessica @ Step Into Fiction

This book reads like a punch in the gut. OK, we have at the start a somewhat stereotypical runaway princess, the prince who's chasing her, and I didn't expect to be impressed after learning that (guess what!) there's an assassin who probably wouldn't mind doing away with both of them. However, while we know the princess, exactly which of the Male Romantic Interests is the prince and which is the assassion (the golden haired one or the mysterious one...hmmm) isn't revealed until about halfway through. And that's when things get interesting and the slow building apparent mystery concerning some old book...kind of burns to the ground. I did not expect many of the plot twists. It's been a long time since a book has literally had me crying in places, but this one managed it. Holy cow.

Coupled with some kind of made up, self-consistent, and almost familiar language, some odd mythological references, and a magic that may or may not exist...

Well worth the time you spend on it.

****Review post on Bookletbeauty blog****
bookletbeauty.blogspot.com

Synopsis

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.

My Rating: 5 stars!

My Thoughts

I'm sure every teenager that loves to read has read various genres. However, not many read fantasy. The Kiss of Deception by: Mary E. Pearson fits into the fantasy genre, but is nothing like you have read before. Lia finds herself in a predicament when she flees on her wedding day. Little does she know that a prince and an assassin are looking for her.

One of the many things about this book I enjoyed was not knowing who the prince or assassin was. Kaden or Rafe? Of course we find out who is who, but I enjoyed guessing and changing my answer every 5 pages. Let me just tell you that I did guess correctly.

The writing style is what made the book for me. It was unique and was the best I have ever read. All the characters had their own way of standing out, which I highly enjoyed.

One issue I did have with this book was the love triangle. I do not read many love triangle books, but this one I did not like. However, this did not ruin the book for me.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves an adventure/ fantasy novel.

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Lia flees on her wedding day. Her marriage is of convinience to her king father and brings her no joy. She never even met the groom.

With the help of her maid, she leaves and finds freedom. She starts working as a barmaid and is content.

what Lia doesnt know is that 2 people are after her: the Prince she was meant to marry and an assassin sent to kill her.

One night, 2 stranger enter the tavern she works in. Both have an interest in her. But which one is which...

I have never read any of Mary Pearson's previous books and I'm not even sure how I found this book. It certainly wasn't the title or the cover art that drew me in, but I'm glad for whatever it was that made me take a closer look. Your first impression of this book will probably be that it's some sort of romance novel. It's not, and that's okay. This is the first novel in a great fantasy trilogy. Mary Pearson has done an amazing job of world-building -- kingdoms, rulers, magic, and strife. The characters are realistic and flawed, placed amongst a rich and vivid landscape. I was fortunate to begin this series after all three books had been released, allowing me to read it in its entirety over a week. I have read books where I literally had to will myself through the story; that was never the case here. It flows well from book to book, and did not feel too long or drawn out. Instead, I wanted more... Lia is heroine that you can't help but admire and I wanted her story to continue. Is there an aspect of romance to the series? Sure. But if that's what is driving you to read this series, you'll be better off sticking to the fluffy stuff. However, if you want to enjoy reading a well-written fantasy series, slap a little masking tape over the title and dive right in. This one's worth your time.

Holy dang. This book was great. I really enjoyed it but didn't absolutely loved it. There were parts that were OH MY GOD LORD JESUS WHAT but over all it was mainly a calm pace. What really got me was the two male characters. I WAS SO DANG POSITIVE that they were certain people and then BAM. NOPE NOPE NOPE. My heart was so confused and I didn't know how to deal with life for a little bit and that was definitely a part that was amazing. The world Pearson created was simple in the beginning but riveting towards the second half of the book.

If you're into fantasy then this one is for you. If you're into PLOT TWIST THEN HOLY GOSH this one is for you! It was so good and I honestly can't wait till I have money for the second book.

"The Kiss of Deception" by Mary E. Pearson is very beautifully written but it was lacking in everything else. Princess Lia is no ordinary princess! She is tough and very determined. Princess Lia would like to take control of her life instead of following the life that has been bestowed upon her. Princess Lia is a first daughter and normally the gift of being able to predict and see the future is passed on to the first daughter however it has missed Princess Lia. When Princess Lia finds out that she has an arranged marriage she takes off with her maid and head to her maid's hometown village hoping to start over with her life. The Prince is not one who easily forgives a rejection. He sends an assassin to kill her. Then Lia becomes apart of one of the most unlikely love triangles.

This story is so beautifully written. Pearson definitely has a way with words. The storyline and plot could use a lot of work. There really wasn't a whole lot of action or exciting parts. Nothing in the story lead up to a climax. This was more of a boring romantic tale. There were a lot of problems as the story went on. I don't know if the princess was as dumb as she seemed or if the writer just forgot to pay attention to details but there were so many little issues like not covering up the rest of her tattoo or the way she talked to the soliders. Those were things that gave her away to the prince. The princess carries around a jewel incrusted dagger. Like really? Are you wanting to be found quickly?

I don't totally get the love triangle that is going on. One of the guys is trying to kill the princess and then she finds out and gets mad at him but then turns around and proceeds to fall in love with him. Like really? Why does she love this guy that was trying to kill her? On top of that he gets drunk and tries to force himself on her. She still loves him.

I don't feel very attached to any of the characters. Actually I feel quite indifferent. It has been a really long time since I disliked a book and I really didn't like this one. I also want to say that just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that others won't like it. I know there are some positive reviews. I'm just not a fan of this one.

Brilliant! The Kiss of Deception was just all sorts of awesomeness. I neglected a lot of responsibilities over this book and it was well worth it.

The book starts off with Lia a royal princess the first daughter and soon to be married but she has other plans for her future and takes off to live that life with the help of one of the servants Pauline who also happens to be a close friend of hers. Lia settles into a life that she always wanted she knows there is a lot of very important people looking for her but figures who is going to think a girl working in a tavern wearing shabby clothes is a princess.

You have no idea how much I loved this book. I've never been a fan of more then two povs and this book had it and guess what I loved it! We have Lia's pov, and then every once in a while we have the Prince and the Assassins pov only thing is we don't know who is the prince and who is the assassin there is a guy named Rafe and one named Kaden but you don't learn who is who until Lia does. The name truly fit the book in my opinion, Lia thought she created this safety net of a life for herself and had no idea that the two guys that were worming there way into her new world were deceiving her the entire time. Beware of a semi love triangle of sorts, well more like Lia loved one of the guys but both of them fell for her kind of thing all I know is it didn't bother me and I am hoping beyond hope it stays the way it is and she doesn't develop intense feelings for the other guy in the second book.

As far as the main characters they were fantastically written. Lia, Kaden, and Rafe were all very complex characters with many layers to them. I'm not going to talk much about Kaden and Rafe because I don't want to give away who is who since that was half of the fun trying to guess who is the prince and who is the assassin. As for Lia this princess was not a damsel in distress whatsoever she was fierce and daring but at times a little hasty with her decisions truth be told all of that made her to be very real and likable.

Even though I have tons of questions about Rafe and Kaden I am just as eager to learn about some of the secondary characters such as Lia's mom and her reasons behind a few of her decisions when it came to Lia and her ability. Then you have Pauline and Gwenyth with how things kind of ended with them I need to know what is going on which obviously we wont know till the next book which is killing me especially with that cliffhanger, yes this book has cliffhanger one that will have you throwing a fit because you don't have the second book in your hands like yesterday.

Overall one of the best fantasy reads I've read all year. The book had it all romance, betrayal, adventure, heartbreak, politics, and suspense. I highly recommend The Kiss of Deception.

I love the adventure/romance/fantasy genre. Always have, probably always will, but in recent years, there have been a lot of similar books in the YA category (and NA, if I'm to be honest). Thankfully, Kiss of Deception was fresh and original. The plot was a real page-turner from start to finish. The characters were all three-dimensional with complexities that I could relate to.

One thing about the characters, the beginning of the book is told from Lia's POV, then goes to the Prince's and the Assasin's (marked under the chapter numbers). When we learn the 2 guys names as Rafe and Kaden (not necessarily in order), it switches to those instead of the titles. But it is not until Chapter 43 (of 72)) that it is explicitly revealed who is who. For my part, I kept jumping between who was who, but finally guessed correctly (and before I read that chapter). It was a little frustrating, but I so deeply admire the author's ability to avoid using either guy's name for the majority of the novel.

I really tried to like this book. I saw a lot of really good reviews and thought that it would be something I would like. And the cover is stunning. However, I had a hard time getting into the story. Typically I need to connect to one person in any story to keep reading. I really didn't like anyone in this book.
I found the main characters to be shallow and immature. For me, there was not enough information about this "magical" world. There was however a lot of information that appears irrelevant. Perhaps a lot of the irrelevant information that is given to the reader will show up again in the next book. I am not sure that I will read the next book in this series or just stop here.

This book was going along just alright then turned really interesting! It started as a simple princess running from an arranged marriage to find true love, to a big story of war, history and different kingdoms. You can tell that Lia hasn't been told the real truth about herself or the history she grew up hearing. I'm really excited to hear the story about Kaden! I loved the first half of the book trying to decide who was the assassin and who was the Prince in disguise! Love triangles are very played out and they usually ruin the book for me, but it doesn't take over the whole book like other romance novels. I'm excited for the sequel!

I loved this book, it was so good, I really enjoyed Lia, she is strong, mouthy, romantic, and loyal, Rafe is handsome, strong, stubborn, loyal, Kaden was handsome, quiet, but also dangerous, loyal to a fault, and a liar. This book is packed full of duty, lies, death, loss, suspicion, drama, love, mystical beings, war, and a girl's surprising discovery. Once I started to read this book I did not want to put it down, I could not wait to get home from work so I could read this story each day then at the end of the book I was shocked I was done and could not start the next one soon enough. Great read!!!!

"Greater stories will have their way.”

THE KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary E. Pearson is an incredible historical YA fantasy that I devoured! It's an impressive start to the author's new Remnant Chronicles series teeming with romance, danger, intrigue, action and magic. Our heroine, Princess Lia, and our hero, the Prince, are strong, empathetic characters reminiscent of Buttercup and Wesley in The Princess Bride. Supporting characters were amazing from Lia's maid and brother, the gypsies and more. The villain, the Assassin, was an heinous heel. I liked the author's utilization of varying POV by chapter giving the reader valuable insight into the mind of each of the major characters, including the villain.
“Who was this girl who thumbed her nose at two kingdoms and did as she pleased?”

4 1/2 Wine Glasses!

My full review is posted at Reading Between The Wines Book Club.

Failing to have the gift of sight traditionally held by First Daughters, Lia is to be married to a prince from a nearby kingdom to forge an alliance. As she prepares the morning of her wedding, she waits until the one moment she can, and runs. Taking her best friend Pauline with her and they race to the coast to the town of Terravin.

Chapter 3 introduces you to the Prince and Chapter 4 to the Assassin. What's intriguing is that when she meets them for the first time in the tavern, the author describes and names them but doesn't link who they are to their names.

It's fun watching Lia learn how to live the life of a commoner but she is by no means a meek character. She is determined to live her life her way, loyal to those she loves, and has great strength.
This is a very well written story, with a few twists to keep you guessing, hints of romance and leaves you wanting the next book right now.

I really really really wanted to love this book. It got so many hyped up reviews, and the cover was so pretty and there is a prince and an assassin and… I just wish the book was half the length.

First off, I don’t know how word got around that this was a love triangle- but it is very clearly NOT.

I repeat
NOT A LOVE TRIANGLE.
Definitely not.

It is extremely clear that Lia likes One guy from the moment she sees both these boys at the same time.

She thinks the other one is mysterious and good looking, but she always goes on about how the other gives her goose bumps and makes her feel all hot when they meet.

If you mean a love triangle as in there are two boys who like one girl. Then I guess that would be a yes. But Lia is ALL about one man. She can’t stop thinking about him and it’s just a one way street.
As for the characters. I loved Lia. She was such a firecracker from the very beginning and I love that. She’s fierce, loyal to her friends and family, and she doesn’t take s*** from no one. Her friend Pauline is a shy little lamb comparing, but still fiercely loyal.

The world was really well fleshed out and great. More fleshed out than the romance, that’s for sure :P

Now for the romance… It’s odd because most of the book is about the romance and Lia finding her way. But, for ME, not a single swoon was done. I felt nothing for the romance at all. It was one of the reasons I didn’t fall in love with the book. The two boys come in and pretty much fall in love right off the bat for the same reason. She’s a princess, but doesn’t ACT like it. That’s pretty much it. They’re shocked into love. And Lia, I really don’t know what she sees in either of them. There aren’t many interactions- that we get to see at least. She mentions talking to one of them for hours, but… we don’t get to see it or feel it.

The book is about 486 pages in the hardcover and about 300 pages of the beginning of that is… set up. I didn’t get excited or into it until it’s reviled who is who and things get real.

Maybe it’s because the author had books a bunch of books out so she didn’t have to follow the rule of the first book in a trilogy, which I thought was ‘have the first book be able to stand on its own.”

This book feels like the first HALF of a book. All these threads are there. But NONE of them get completed, unless you count finding out who is the Prince and who is the assassin… which I don’t…
The ending wasn’t even a cliff hanger. It just felt… unfinished. Like I was missing 100 pages from the book.

I’ll read the rest of the trilogy, only because I think things will finally be more exciting now that everything is set up.

I read between fifty and two hundred books in a year, and they are all at least a couple hundred pages long. This happens to be one of my new favorites. An excellent plot that is full of amazing twists, romantic elements, and other things such as dark betrayals and hidden secrets. The point of view changes continually, and I was amazingly impressed with the author because of the way she manages to weave the story together from different view points and never confuse them. There is the point of view of the assassin and then the prince, as well as the two young men who catches her interest, but the author has pulled it all together in such a way that you never get any hint as to who is who. I couldn't put it down practically at all, I was always saying "One more page! One more page!" It was finished all too soon, and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!

5 stars--This book was amazing! The two twists that happens in the third half made my jaw drop and totally changed my perception of everything I'd been reading prior. I loved Lia as a character. I actually enjoyed all of the characters, they were fleshed out and even the bad guys were humanized a bit.

The writing style, flow of the story, and plot itself were all stellar.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I pre-ordered this book before it came out just by reading the short synopsis because I knew I'd love it. But little did I know that I'd be surprised at how great of a writer Ms. Pearson is. I was totally surprised at just how much I'd enjoy this book and it's definitely one of the best I've read this year.

So to not repeat what's been already said in others' reviews as well as in the description box for this book, this book follows the a princess named Lia who's being forced to marry someone she's never met so her father can gain political power in the realm they're living in. She's not ok with this, runs away with her maiden and drama and intrigue ensues. Lia and her maiden settles into this sleepy town and work as restaurant/inn maids and there she meets two gentlemen known as "The Assassin" and "The Prince". The Assassin is a man who was sent from a different kingdom to kill her for a reason that's not totally clear to us as of right now. The Prince is the prince that she was betrothed to. Both of these men have their own agendas of finding her.

As we get to know each of these guys' relationships with Lia, and start to know them a little better, including their names (Rafe and Kaden), we weren't sure as readers who was the Assassin and who was the Prince. That was what was so great about this and I guessed it pretty early on who was who...but it might have been pure luck (also, there's a little hint splattered in one of the earlier chapters...if you want to talk about this...you can message me privately)! After all, I had 50% chance of getting it right! The story drags on a little bit in the middle but Ms. Pearson's writing totally makes up for the temporary slower pacing and just when you think it's starting to get a little boring, she throws something in there to surprise you. This book was so full of twists and turns...it was just so much fun!

The "deception" part of this book is just all over! Lia is deceptive to her two guys, the Assassin is deceptive, the Prince is deceptive. And Lia even is deceptive to her maiden, Pauline. There's just a lot of secrets going on and it's so intricately interwoven within the storyline...perfection! I do have to mention that I believe there is a love triangle in this book and I can see it going further into the second book. For those reviewers that did say there is no love triangle, I can see that as Lia kind of makes her mind towards one particular guy. But this doesn't stop the other guy from also developing feelings for her as well and because she spends a lot of time with this said particular other guy, she of course also is pulled towards him. So I think the love triangle's seed's been planted but it'll be further explored in the next book. I don't mind a love triangle if it's done right because there's just something that's great about people being angsty in a fantastical world!

Overall a glowing 5 stars for this. I am just sad that I have to wait so long for the next installment. I guess Heir of Fire is coming out this fall so that should tie me over!

It took me a while to get into this book (I even put it down last month because I wasn't in the mood) mainly because of the writing style and the three POVS that it follows. I was a fan of the mystery of who is the jilted prince and who the assassin, and it kept me reading to see what would happen.

I loved the way the author described people and the setting. However, it lost a star mainly because of the romance. It was too instant-love and I am not a fan of love triangles.

I really liked the main character, Lia, she was badass and not a stuck up princess like I thought she would be.

I recommend checking this out just for the prose, and the main character,

I love this book! I was intrigued that it started with a darkened atmosphere about how Leah's royal life actually is, that her people are incredibly devout to their culture and traditions. I love Leah's voice, she's witty and strong in character which I wasn't expecting when I first started the book. However, as her story progresses and we are introduced to the assassin and the prince, I was even more engaged when the author had me guessing and trying to figure out who is who. The only thing I wish there could have been more of, is that as glad as I am that Leah got to experience happiness even if it was very brief, I would have liked a little more enlightenment on her 'gift' and maybe more about finding herself and how to use it. She started out as a very strong character and although her circumstances became very difficult, I would have liked to see more of that. Which I am hoping happens in book two! Overall, I do recommend this book!

This book has been exploding in the book universe and I can't believe I waited so long to read it! It wasn't chock full of romance like I feared, but the romance was innocent and sweet, which made it even more irresistible. Reading reviews, I thought it would be more of a love triangle and I am so pleased to say that it was not.

The book is nearly 500 pages, but it somehow never has a slow moment. Lia and Pauline's new life in the slow city of Terravin may bore some readers, but it made me feel like I was reading a story about a small town in Skyrim and I loved it! Even down to washing the dishes the story pulled me in because everything felt real. The men are charming as in any fantasy novel. Kaden and Rafe are like night and day, and I vacillated between the two for the longest time until I realized more than halfway through which one was somewhat the good guy.

The story ends on a major cliffhanger (how could you, Pearson?!), but I recommend everyone read it regardless of the time spent waiting for the sequel. The writing is superb. It took me a while to get into the style because my nose has been stuffed in dystopian, and the change from super future to super past can be jarring but I fell in love immediately. Adult fantasy is usually stuffy and bland to me, but this YA stuff is brilliant!

Overall, a fan of fantasy will love this, and even if you're not a fan of romance (like me), I recommend giving it a go. It's not as tangled up as I expected, so you can enjoy Lia and her adventures through this beautiful land without getting bogged down with "I love you's". Amazing read!

This was a beautiful story, and I loved the independence of the main character. I think there's a general rule with YA Fantasy that one must suspend any expectation of reality, and so I definitely did.

We are abruptly introduced to a world that has seemingly barbaric rules, when compared to all the feminist hoopla of our society today. Princess Lia flees her kingdom and life as she knows it, and finds herself in an idyllic countryside setting. It's very different and she has to work harder than she ever has before, but she relishes the freedom that she gains in this new life she's creating. Along come two handsome strangers, who we immediately learn, have their own agendas. The prince, who portrays himself to be a melon farmer, and the assassin, who claims to be a pelt trader, closely follow Lia in her new world. She is unaware of their true identity, though they both know hers.

Perceptions change as they begin to get to know one another, and as various obstacles come up. Without giving any spoilers, something happens that makes them all question their own and one another's true identities, as well as what their intentions are. I enjoyed this book very much, but wish some of the details were elaborated. Some transitions seemed abrupt, and where great detail and care was taken to describe a particular scene or event (for example, the very beginning when her back is being painted) and then we abruptly move forward, skimming over those details. This happens with landscapes, clothing, and descriptions of people fairly frequently. Overall though, the story is engaging and fun. I did have to flip back a few times in the first chapters so I could clarify who was who- the prince or the assassin. If this was done on purpose, it was great, because you find yourself in a similar position as Lia and each male are in- not really being sure of who is whom.

The Kiss of Deception was really hyped all over BookTube and blogging sites, and recommended to me countless times by friends and bloggers. I loved Mary’s Jenna Fox books, and I had no hesitation picking this one up.

I felt it started slow but quickly picked up about thirty pages in. There was a magic aspect involved, and it was not too overdone, giving the plot line more room for character growth, and world building. The love triangle got me even more hooked to the story because I could not decide if I was #TeamKaden or #TeamRafe. Normally I do not like love triangles, but this one got me so gripped!

I loved how Lia wanted to create a new life and leave her royal title behind. The relationships made with the characters she met in the village were so beautifully written, making me feel like I was also a part of the friendships.

I was totally blown away towards the end of the book. I had to flip back some chapters to see if I missed anything important!

If you want a book that will deceive you, make you laugh, make you smile, and make you cry, this is the book for you.

Four out of five stars to The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson.

The Kiss of Deception was not your typical YA high fantasy. Lia is a feisty young princess engaged to a "stuffy old prince" she has not met, and promptly runs off from her kingdom to hopefully never be seen again. She travels across her country with her maid and friend, Pauline, to a peaceful city by sea. Aiming to start a new life, she assimilates into village life. Unbeknownst to her, two young men have followed her to the village: one the stifled prince she left at the altar, and the other an assassin sent to kill her.

With the story alternating between Lia and the two men as narrators, what makes the story so different is that the reader is never quite sure which man is the prince or assassin for a majority of the book. The reader knows one is the assassin and the other the prince, but Lia is in the dark entirely believing them to be a trader and a farmer. There were moments where I as the reader thought I knew who was who, but at the same time I tried not to get too invested in figuring it out because that is part of the fun of reading this book: being surprised at the reveal.

The aspect of not being sure who the narrator was added a special something to The Kiss of Deception. It took the idea of the unreliable narrator to a different level, though it also added a layer of frustration to the story. In addition, it created a barrier between the reader and the characters that prevented getting attached to the characters. The reader knows the entire time that both male characters are deceiving Lia, but Lia doesn’t. The difference in distrust from the reader to the main character changed the reading perspective.

Lia, however, was a character easy to root for. She is feisty and impulsive and just wants a normal life. She is tired of being told what to do and doesn’t want to be a pawn for her father’s diplomacy, thus running from her own wedding. What was interesting about Lia was how she surprises everyone by knowing she simply wants a peasant’s life and then falling into it easily and proving it -- she doesn’t get discouraged by chores or not having money.

While the story had a great premise, interesting storytelling, and fun main character, I still found myself bored with the details in the book. The pacing felt slow, overly long at times, and I would’ve preferred a bit more flow in the reading process. The book definitely picks up after the reveal of the two male characters. It will be interesting to see if and how the author continues this way of storytelling, but I almost hope she doesn’t. I felt that it held the story back and was the cause of the odd pacing and occasional drag.

Regardless of the minor hang-ups I had with pacing, I still very much so enjoyed The Kiss of Deception. I would recommend it to anyone who loves high fantasy and those who might still be getting their feet wet in the genre. It has great world building, full fleshed characters, and a great love story with a big dash a deception all laced throughout.

Wow! I picked up this book at my local library after reading a positive review on one of the blogs-- The YA/Fantasy aspect is not a huge draw for me. The book is excellent. Great descriptive writing (but not too much boring detail), a wonderful job of character building, and a fast-paced, complex plot. I loved the shifting PoVs, and the creative way the author kept the identities of the Prince and Assassin secret until she was ready to reveal. Yes, there are hints, but they were well-laid and thoughtful. Loved the book, and will definitely read the next book in the series. Book doesn't end on a cliffhanger, so much as the storyline didn't conclude. It ended in a good place, leaving the reader anticipatory, rather than frustrated. Great job!

The main reviews that pop up on the store for this series were pretty bad. So for months I saw this book in my recommendations and even though I was interested in it I passed it up due to all the terrible reviews. I finally decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did because the book was amazing. I read allot and am super critical. I found nothing wrong with this story. Definitely give it a try and decide for yourself. I'm going to start reading book 2 immediately.

Wow! I really loved this book!! It he heroine is awesome that I found myself rooting for her from page one. I love how the author writes in such a way that the reader in not sure who is the assassin and who is the prince while still telling the story in first person perspective, alternating between characters. I also love how the reader gets small glimpses of the setting of the story, slowly able to come to conclusions about the time period in which this story takes place. I love the transitional passages between chapters and the bit of fantasy thrown in with the magic and the dragon. I love Rafe, Kaden and of course Lia and CANNOT WAIT for the sequel! How soon in 2015 will it be out? Remnant Chronicles is my new favorite series!

Original Review Link: http://asdreamsaremade.com/2014/07/book-tuesday-arc-the-kiss-of-deception/

I have to be completely honest and say I was really hesitant about starting this book. Why? Because of the love triangle aspect. I feel like ever since a certain vampire book, everybody is jumping on the love triangle bandwagon. Ugh. Normally, I would not even bother, but something was telling me to give this one a chance. Boy, am I glad I did!

Princess Lia was the First Daughter set to inherit great power, but it never came. Not wanting to be forced into an arranged marriage, and one that was based on deceit, she runs away with the help of her Lady’s Maid to start a new life for herself. Little does she know two men come after her–the prince she jolted and an assassin sent to kill her.

I LOVED Lia. She was a no-nonsense girl in a world where that was frowned upon. She never complained about the new life she chose–the work or other hardships she encountered. Actually, all the female characters in this book were very strong willed and independent. They really held their own no matter what occurred, which is such a rare occurrence in YA literature that I was all like:

<gif> You Go Girl <gif>

Ok now, the love triangle. It really wasn’t the typical love triangle. I feel like there wasn’t a huge struggle in deciding between the two or at least to me, it seemed obvious who she was leaning toward–especially in the second half of the book. This made the whole “love triangle” thing bearable for me.

The book can almost be thought of in two parts. The first as a medieval, historical, village-type account and the second as a magical quest through a desert. It reminded me a lot of Rae Carson’s The Girl of Fire and Thorns (which was amazing – and amazing is in my sing-song voice).

It tended to be a bit slow at the beginning, but it really picks up.

And the end. OMG the end. All the feels!

I need the second book.

Like Now.

So as always, I chose the book a long time ago and get approved to read it. I don't read the summary again so I am totally blind going in to read the book. Best way to do it. I was thrilled with Lia! She is a fabulous princess because she is so unlike a princess! She doesn't have the haughty airs of a royal at all and I'm pretty sure, from reading accounts of her previous adventures, she never had any. She is a born rebel! I thought she was a little reckless with her safety in the beginning but I believe it just came from growing up in a palace surrounded by people that constantly protected her. She wasn't aware of danger. It just didn't register with her like it did everyone else. Her enjoyment of her freedom is addictive. She finds the smallest things bringing her the greatest joy, things the townspeople ( and I) would take for granted- the colors of the shops, the smell of the air, the pleasure of a bath even in a cold stream. Her character just continues to grow throughout the story and I continued to love her. Oh, she could dish out the coldness when it needed to be. And toying with suspicions, metting out revenge, stoicism. I could go on. My admiration for Lia just continued to grow throughout the book and it ends on a very high note.

This story, what a crafty weaver of tales Ms. Pearson is! I was so hooked leading me along the merry path, thinking one thing, something I really didn't like. I actually discussed it with my husband told him how much I liked the book and all, except for this one thing. And then bam! Hit me right between the eyes and I had to go back and reread. I had assumed some things that were absolutely not true. Next day had to explain to my husband again about the book and how I was enjoying it so much more because of the same thing I hadn't liked the day before I had been wrong about it. A sharper reader might not have gotten fooled. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer these days. But God did I love being wrong!!!
(And my husband didn't fall asleep either night when I explained the book to him, miracles).

So here's what I think, there are a lot of "songs" in the beginnings of each chapter that refer to religious texts and tales from the gods. Not a lot is explained, it sort of slowly unfolds, but I wasn't completely clear. Lia does tell the tale about The Remnant so it is more or less explained but much is left to be told. That didn't bother me. Just skipped right over what I didn't know. I concentrated on what I did know. Lia, the people she knew, the countries that were allied, the "barbarians" and the action. There is so much going on that you really shouldn't get hung up or even have time to think about what you don't know. There are so many delicious little hints about what might be and I kept waiting for some things to happen that never did, but I just know they are coming. The only thing I hate is that it will be another year before the next book comes out. As excited as I am about Lia and this book, I hope I can remember my enthusiasm by the time the next book rolls out a year from now.

Recommended for lovers of fantasy, young adult, romance, strong female characters and a lot of action. I think I was tired after reading everything that happened. There is some violence and some crude sexual references, but nothing terrible. No sex, no bad words and no nudity.

For fans of Kristin Cashore and Rae Carson!

I love that Lia is a badass heroine in a decidedly female way (aka, her badassery is not dependent upon what society values as traditionally male traits/skills). Her strengths are her intelligence, her courage, her tenacity, and her compassion. Yes, she can throw a knife — but she still needs to practice.

For a complete recommendation, including my love for the book's female relationships, check out This Is What You Should Be Reading - http://www.thisiswhatyoushouldbereading.com/recommendations/2015/7/23/the-kiss-of-deception-by-mary-e-pearson

I really wanted to finish this book, but couldn't, i like the story, but think the detail is toooooooooo overdone, which slowed down the story and made it less enjoyable, i wanna give it another try though.Also, the feel that the multiple POV completely ruined what could of been a story I didn't have to DNF. What bothered me most is that there was this prince and he was talked with someone else. They were sitting on a horse, but I didn't know where they were, were they in the middle of a field? were they atop a hill? I DON'T KNOW! Great story, multiple POV ruined it.

The Kiss of Deception was awesome and I promise that this review will not do it justice. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve really loved a YA fantasy book and I’m so glad this one came around. I had similar feelings while reading this one as I did with The Girl of Fire and Thorns and Shadow and Bone. I loved it and definitely recommend this book if you like YA fantasy.

There were so many great things about this book that I can’t pick one that I love the most. I really liked the characters, the story, the setting, and the romance. The only thing that wasn’t great for me was the pacing. The beginning was great, then it slowed down quite a bit, but then by the middle it picked up and for the last third I couldn’t put the book down at all! I appreciate the slow part because that helped us learn more about all of the characters and get a better understanding of the parts they played in the whole story, but I just didn’t care all that much when nothing seemed to be happening and there was still so much left of the book. Also, this is the part where the love triangle feels the strongest and I am not a fan of love triangles. I was worried the rest of the book would be the same. But it only lasted for a little while before all of the action started up again and the real plot started to unfold and it became amazing. So I’m really willing to forgive those slow parts because the payoff in the end was completely worth it.

The characters in this book are amazing. I’m seriously dying for the second book in this series because I know there is so much more to learn about everyone. Kaden definitely has a lot more to offer us as well as Rafe and I can’t wait to visit them again. But I also want to learn more about Pauline and Gwyneth and Berdi and Lia’s mom and the guys we haven’t met yet but will soon. They’re all so good. I won’t give anything away about the characters but they all hold secrets. The ones we learn in this book are intriguing and I can’t wait to find out the ones we don’t know yet. I know they will be good. I have a few predictions for some of them but I won’t tell anyone what they are!

I also can’t wait to read more of this story. I can already tell that while book one held it’s own great storyline, the overall story arc of the series is going to be amazing. In almost 500 pages we’ve only touched on parts of the world that Lia knows and seen a glimpse of a world she knew almost nothing about. I’m sure as the series goes on we will see Lia’s eyes opened wide to the real world that she lives in and I can’t wait to learn about that world as well as see how Lia reacts to it all. Lia is one of those amazing female heroines. She’s strong and brave and smart and a little reckless. She cares about those close to her, isn’t very trusting, and wants to learn everything. She knows when to stand up for what she wants and believes and when to let someone else tell her what’s best. I hope she continues to grow as the series progresses and proves to be a great female leading character. I also hope the series continues to be as exciting and intriguing as the first book was.

The Kiss of Deception is definitely a book you are going to want to read. It’s exciting and interesting and a very good start to a series. The characters all have depth and secrets and I want to know them all. The world this book takes place in is both beautiful and ugly. Book one gives us enough of a glimpse at it so we know that it’s not as peaceful as Lia was lead to believe but we also don’t know how deep the unrest goes. This book was so great and I don’t know how to explain it in a way that makes sense without giving anything away and I definitely don’t want to give anything away. As you may have guessed from the title, there is plenty of deception in this book. But everything else that comes with it is also worthwhile and I really hope that if you give this book a chance that you’ll love it as much as I did.

Overall, this was a really great book. At first, it seemed like a overly romantic story with no real heart to it, but it's not. This trilogy has a lot to offer. The characters have to make hard decisions--and they often make the wrong ones. They grow and become so much more than who they started out as. I really enjoyed the world that the author created. It was believable and rich in tradition and culture, as well as prejudice and hate. I enjoyed this trilogy very much and will read it again. She did use several phrases over and over, most I didn't mind, but I couldn't get over how often everyone snapped their reins to make their horses go. A real rider does not snap his reins. Ever. They squeeze with their heels and lower legs. Other than that, though, her language and writing was very good. Overall, this trilogy is the best I've read this summer. It is definitely worth reading if you like YA fantasy with a good amount of mostly clean romance thrown in.

Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia of Morrighan is not resigned to her fate. She does not bow to tradition. Her name alone, the name she chooses to call herself, Lia, makes her different from the Queens of past. As the only daughter, the first daughter of Morrighan, she is expected to fulfill her duty and marry the prince of Dalbreck. A man she has never met. This to forge a strong alliance both kingdoms desperately need to survive outside forces, Barbarians who want to destroy them all.

Wanting a life of her own choosing, Lia runs away on her wedding day with her most trusted friend and servant, Pauline. They end up in Terravin, Pauline’s childhood home, where they begin a new life as barmaids at an Inn. Soon after, two handsome strangers enter the Inn with eyes only for Lia. One of them is the jilted Prince, the other is an assassin meant to find and kill Lia to permanently end the alliance between Morrighan and Dalbreck.

Lia innocently trusts both and falls in love with one. The question is, does she fall for her prince or the one sent to end her life once and for all?

My Review:

Tears of heartbreak and hope fell from my eyes as I devoured this lovely book. Beautifully written by Mary Pearson, I could not put it down, even for a second.

The rich plot and romance caught me. I was riveted throughout the hours I spent consuming the new world that is Lia’s and the Prince. The Kiss Of Deception is written in 5 different POVs; those of Lia, the Prince, the Assassin, Kaden and Rafe.
The beauty here is that you would never know which man is which until it’s too late. Until you find yourself attached to one and realize it’s probably the wrong one. But then again, he could be right too given a different circumstance. I know I’m being cryptic, but I refuse to ruin this book for any reader. It is good. So very very good.

But be warned, your heart will bleed, especially for my other favorite character, Walther. A soldier so brave and strong yet so loving to his only sister. His life and loss will break your heart. I should know because I’m still healing as I write.
Read this book and prepare to fall in love with Lia and her brave Prince.

Expect Book two of The Remnant Chronicles: The Heart of Betrayal, in 2015.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!! That's it! I don't know what else I can say to describe this book. From the very first page you will find yourself glued to the story. The writing was great, the story flowed at a great pace, and the romance was everything I love, and more!

Each chapter is written from different points of views. You get into the minds of the main character, Princess Lia, the Assassin, and the Prince. The entire time you are reading you have no idea who is the assassin, and who is the prince, unless the chapter is labeled with their name. The reason for this is, the Princess runs away and goes into hiding. Both male characters head out on a mission to find her. One is sent to kill her, and the other wants to find her mostly out of curiosity since she left him at the altar.

I loved that the author did this! I am probably not explaining it correctly, but I will say that this is one of my favorite things about this book. You just have to read it to find out what I am talking about. The author pulls you in and makes you fall in love with both male characters. I am bad with these kinds of things, so I sort of skipped to the last chapter and figured who was who. I was also rooting for one of the male characters and was happy when I read the ending.

If you're worried there is a love triangle, I can tell you right now there isn't. Not really. Yes, she is attracted to both, but she falls for one completely and nothing ever comes from the other. It wasn't a back and forth relationship.

I LOVE this book! This was a great story with a strong female character. Princess Lia isn't weak at all. She was brave and did what she wanted, and not what her family and friends wanted. She wanted to marry someone who loved her for her. Someone she got to know, and not a stranger that was just being thrown at her. She was awesome!

A Good Choice for Reading ;)

I bought this book series when it was on kindle sale. I really love it! The only reason it gets 4 stars is because I confused the two male characters most of the time. I don’t know if it was just me but I was confused with them. I love the fantasy side of this series.

Somehow I got super confused about who was the prince and who was the assassin. I thought there was a massive typo... That I got a bad copy. How did I miss that? But I kind of like that it was so surprising because I was all confused about who's team I was on and it was all so interesting.

As soon as I saw the amazing cover art, I needed to have this book! Never mind the synopsis; I am a sucker for a beautiful cover. What drew me into this cover were those clouds. Add in the layout of the girl, the white text on the darker background and you have, in my opinion, one of the best book covers of 2014.

But would the story be worthy of such a mesmerizing cover? I think so.

Story / Tempo

The book opens with seventeen year old Princess Lia being “prepared” for her wedding to a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Lia is struggling with the restrictions and responsibilities thrust on her shoulders. The most notable restriction, she can’t chose who she’s to fall in love with. She’s jealous of her three older brothers who played with her like she was one of the boys and made sure she knew how to protect herself. They are allowed to flirt and choose who they are allowed to love. It’s Lia’s strong sense of self that gives her the courage to run out of her wedding and hide in a distant village to start a new life. If it wasn’t for the two pesky hotties who show up: one who makes life difficult and one who can possibly make everything perfect(?)

The key word for this entire book is DECEPTION. Everyone, even the writer, is deceiving someone.

I found no problems with execution of the story. There was one lull in the story at about 20%. Otherwise, I wasn’t bored. Some say the story was predictable but I never saw that. Maybe I haven’t read enough fantasy. But I do have the first two A Song of Ice and Fire books by Martin under my belt, along with Jordan’s The Eye of the World. I think that gives me some street cred…

The story is written in multiple POVs, with a chapter dedicated to each voice: Lia, the Prince, and the Assassin. Love my multiple POV books!!

The Characters

Because the story is written in multiple POVs, the reader is afforded a thorough view into the mind of each of the characters. You understand that Lia is struggling with living in a small village while not endangering those around just by her mere presence. The assassin is trying to complete his mission of killing the princess. The Prince is struggling with his anger over the fact that the princess thought to run out on their wedding before he did.

Well, okay, it is predictable that both these guys are intrigued by the Princess. Operative word is “intrigued”.

YES, Virginia, there is a love triangle.

I hate love triangles. I especially hate them when they don’t go the way I want them to. I could tell you who I was rooting for. But that might ruin it for you! I will tell you that this triangle plays out such that you are lead to the correct guy. There’s really no question who she should be with in the end.

Yes, Virginia, the story ends up dangling off the cliff a bit.

I hate cliff hangers. But this one wasn’t bad. Hence why the five stars. Ms. Pearson nailed the ending brilliantly. I can still hear the clapping from days ago when I finished the book… I was rather boisterous in my cheering at the end.

Completely appropriate for the YA audience it’s written for, this fantasy story would be perfect for those readers who enjoy high fantasy but don’t have the time to devote to the huge tomes written by Martin or Sanderson. It would also be a great way to introduce fantasy / high fantasy to a reader.

The next book in this trilogy, The Heart of Betrayal, comes out in 2015. *sigh*

It has been a while since a new release had me at the edge of my seat biting my nails. I’m a big fan of medieval kingdoms, magic, fierce and bold female leads, hot guys, and unexpected plot twists. This brand new release by Mary Pearson delivers on every count.

Lia, Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia First Daughter of Morrighan that is, is set to marry the Prince of Dalbreck, and important union for both Kingdoms as it will constitute an alliance in a time of war against Venda, their rival Kingdom to the North. The only problem? Lia hasn’t met her betrothed and is not totally on board with marrying someone she doesn’t love or even know just because it’s tradition and her duty to the Kingdom. When all is ready and set for the wedding to take place, Lia on a gutsy move, packs up a few things, takes two horses and escapes with Pauline, her friend and Lady of the Court, in search of freedom but also heading into the unknown, as a fugitive and in a way a deserter.

Lia and Pauline find help and new friends in Terravin, a city south of Morrighan, and all Lia wants to do is build a new life and bury her old one and forget she is a princess.

Unfortunately this will not be as easy as she thinks. Being the Princess and First Daughter of Morrighan is not something she can easily escape. Even when she has found a new job as a tavern maid and seems to be blending in with the people in town and finally finding some semblance of peace and normalcy, the royal life she left behind comes looking for her, in the form of a handsome prince and a gorgeous assassin.

The Prince of Dalbreck, can’t get over the Princess leaving him waiting at the altar and fleeing her kingdom, so he sets out on a quest to find her because he needs to meet this girl that had the guts to do what he couldn’t. The Prince is not the only one looking for Lia though, Venda is ecstatic with the turn of events but wants to make sure the Princess is completely eliminated in case she second guesses herself and returns to Morrighan to fulfill her duty, Venda wants to make sure there is no chance of alliance in between their rival Kingdoms and wants to take no chance of leaving a First Daughter with a “the gift” alive. Throughout the years it’s believed that some chosen First Daughters have a magical gift which presents in different ways, the gift of seeing what others can’t and of sensing what’s others have no idea is coming. Lia’s mother possessed the gift but what Venda doesn’t know is that Lia hasn’t shown any signs of possessing it herself.

Both the Prince and the assassin have a goal, one to confront her the other one to kill her, but neither of them expects to find who they find when they finally track her down, nor do they ever imagine they would grow to feel the way they feel about her.An unlikely and deceiving friendship, forged by seeking the same girl for different purposes, will land them in the right place.

Lia will meet them both, not knowing who they are but by the time she discovers their real identity it may be too late, as she may have already fallen in love.

A story of bravery, defiance, magic, secrets, war, loss, love but overall a story of lies with just the right amount of action and romance. This book took me by surprise when I thought I had everything figured out and from one chapter to the next everything changed and gave the word deception a whole new meaning, one of the most exciting plot twists I’ve seen in a very long time and a cliffhanger that makes you wish you had the sequel in your hands!

Riveting, enthralling, everything I always look for in a fantasy novel!

This book was nothing like I'd thought it'd be. From reading the synopsis, I thought, Okay. Standard, love story, girl of priviledge wanting to be free of that life, etc etc etc. Nothing new here, completely predictable, but I can accept that if the author can make me connect with at least one, preferably more, characters. Yes, my expectations were extremely low.

About a quarter of the way through, I was thinking, okay well things are progressing along as expecting. Yes it's predictable, but I wasn't thoroughly set on which one she'd choose. I mean, she seemed to have made her choice, but it didn't seem cemented. And what was better, it didn't seem like an easy no brainer for once! While the characters were all likeable enough, what I really connected with was the history of this world and their kingdoms. Typically, I'd get frustrated with a tiny morsel of backstory given here and there at the beginnings of random chapters, in the form of song or poem stanzas etc, like breadcrumbs leading hansel and gretel through the woods toward a big unveiling. I don't have much patience for that. But Ms. Pearson still managed to captivate me with the themes of hunger and magic and the eery nonsense from an unknown land. I happily read on.

About halfway though Ms. Pearson pulled the rug out from under me with a twist I never saw coming. I'm usually pretty good at suspecting these things, or maybe most other authors are just horrible at planting them. I don't know, but she got me. At first, I thought maybe these were typos. I did get an ARC, so maybe it was a mistake. But they just kept coming... how could this many be missed?! I had to accept the fact that I'd been fooled. I was so convinced that at some point, she said something that confirmed my beliefs and it had to be wrong. It had to be incomplete. How could I have been so thoroughly convinced of one thing and then HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK find out I had assumed wrong and everything I thought built on that?! I started reading backward, chapter by chapter until I was convinced that Ms. Pearson had Jedi-mind-tricked me, but that I had walked right into it. Oh, so well done. *round of applause* I loved it. And the result suited my sensibilities better.

I read on and on and on and on. Despite the fact that I was sick, despite the fact that my head was pounding and I had class in the morning. I could not put. it. down.

There were a lot of profound statements in this book, mostly due to their simple truths, like: "It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of second for it to be shattered."

I was really surprised that the love triangle seemed to grow and intensify as the book went on. It seemed that the choice should be obvious, why continue to develop an unrequited love? But Ms. Pearson did. And she continued to develop characters and make them make hard choices, she allowed them to grow and to change, naturally. All of the characters seem to have so many layers of depth, the lies and betrayal, I never get to the point where I can safely say I've got them figured out. I can't remember the last time I felt so invested in so many characters' story lines, and then, being a history lover like I am, I can't wait to unravel the mysteries and ancient stories of the people as a whole. It was such a kick to the gut to learn that the next book is not going to be released until 2015. oh, but I cannot wait!

Up until the first half I had intended to give this book 4 stars because it really held my attention and I enjoyed it. But the second half really sold me. This book gets 5 stars, a 10 out of 10 because it is one I will have to own for myself in physical format, so that I can read it again and again and again, each time, seeing things from a different point of view and learning more about their world and my own.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson is the first in a new series about a princess that has a lot to learn, an assassin who is rather conflicted, and a prince who is nothing that you’d expect. While that makes The Kiss of Deception sound like a typical YA fantasy, you would make a horrendous mistake to leave it at that. The world that The Kiss of Deception gives us glimpses of has the potential to be truly epic and could rival adult epic fantasy for its scope and depth. The plot and character dynamics could easily have fallen into tropes, but beautifully escaped being quite what you’d think. On top of all that the writing is addictive and you’ll easily sprint through this 500-page book and be begging for book two with the rest of us! Yes, all right, I really darn enjoyed this one!
Note: I received The Kiss of Deception from the publisher for an honest review. Some things may have changed in the final version.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson (The Remnant Chronicles #1)
Published by Henry Holt and Co. on July 15th, 2014
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Length: 496 pages
How I got my copy: Publisher

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.

Strengths:
Lia is our mischievous heroine, but she is backed up by some excellent secondary characters and some refreshingly solid friendships and family relationships. I really enjoyed the dynamics and loyalty between Lia and her best friend Pauline, as well as Lia’s more complicated relationship with her mother. On top of that, Lia’s brothers are there for her when she needs them and one in particular rises above being a passing plot point to really reflect the depth of Lia’s character.
I cannot tell you enough how excited I am for the world of The Kiss of Deception. If you’ve read The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, you have a bit of an idea of how vast and intriguing the world in The Kiss of Deception is. We see a fair amount of the world directly from Lia’s perspective, but there are also some delectable hints of Ancient beings that left mysterious ruins behind and possibly had a past more distant and epic than anyone of Lia’s time can imagine.
While I have mixed feelings about the romance as you’ll see below, I have to admit that the romance has a twist that I definitely didn’t see coming and that I haven’t actually seen before. I applaud Pearson for being able to still surprise me with YA romance ;-).
I found the pacing of The Kiss of Deception to be spot on. Just as I was growing comfortable with where things were headed, something new cropped up to surprise, horrify, or reassure me. I read the bulk of The Kiss of Deception in an evening and probably could have finished it in a day if I hadn’t gotten distracted by food. Silly food and its distractive nature.
Lia grows a lot throughout The Kiss of Deception, but it felt completely organic. I never could point to a moment that felt forced just for the sake of growth. Instead, I stiffened my upper lip with Lia because she made the best choice among a list of bad options and changed due to those choices. Her inner monologues also reflected this growth well and I feel that I really know her as a person after going through this adventure with her.

Weaknesses:
I’ve seen a fair amount of discussion of the possibility of a love triangle in The Kiss of Deception and while I acknowledge that things aren’t a true love triangle ever, I can’t help but feel conflicted. As you can guess from the main characters being one girl and two boys (especially when the girl is a princess), there is attraction and confused feelings all over the place. I have hope that subsequent books will deviate away from this YA trope, but The Kiss of Deception got too close to a love triangle for my complete enjoyment.
There are chapters from the two boys’ perspectives and I honestly had trouble keeping them straight and remembering who had been in which scene with Lia. That is all I shall say on this point >.>.
The Kiss of Deception has a bit of a quirk to its writing in that there are paragraphs interspersed that summarize events instead of showing them play out. While it didn’t greatly decrease my enjoyment of The Kiss of Deception, I couldn’t help but notice them and wonder if I would have been more engrossed if they had been shown instead of told to me.

Summary:
The Kiss of Deception is poised to be the next great YA fantasy series that everyone is dying to read. The writing is delicious and addictive, the characters strong and lovable, the world deep and intriguing. While I’m worried about a love triangle brewing, I have hope that this series will turn that trope on its head just like all the others The Kiss of Deception manages to gracefully overturn. If you are looking for your next reading addiction, look no further than The Kiss of Deception.

Having greatly enjoyed Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox, I was delighted to learn that she was branching out into the fantasy genre. And the result? Well, color me thoroughly intrigued… and greatly anticipating the next book. And that ending?! Oh. Nicely played Mary E. Pearson. Nicely played. *slow claps*

Lia. Oh, I like this girl. Fiery and intelligent, outspoken and independent, defiant and resolute with a slight imperiousness, Lia is not about to let herself be forced into an arranged marriage. And so she bolts — runs away from duty, marriage, family, and legacy — to start over in the port town of Terravin as a barmaid. No, it’s not as fancy as her previous life as a princess, but she’s free to make her own choices. And I love that about her, that she had the courage to leave everything she ever knew behind, to leave behind luxury and security, to leave behind what some would perceive as her duty and what she perceives as imprisonment and a farce. She knows her own mind and won’t be cowed by anyone. Lia’s just a delightfully strong character who is forced to grow up quite a bit in this novel — being faced with circumstances and consequences set in motion by her flight, dealing with tragedy, becoming more self-aware, learning more about what it means to be a first daughter, and recognizing her own misconceptions and misjudgments — and I loved the journey that Pearson took her on.

Rafe & Kaden. When two strangers appear at the door of her inn, Lia has no idea that they both know exactly who she is, and that they are both looking for her. And that they both have their own (possibly nefarious) purposes for seeking her out. One’s an assassin, the other the prince she left at the altar. I don’t want to say too much about these two. It’s best if you’re left to discover more about them on your own, but I will say, “Many, many props to Mary E. Pearson on these two characters.”

And yes, there are two guys, which might have some of you going, “Great. A love triangle.” Ehhhhh… actually not really. I wouldn’t consider it to be one.

So, now that we’ve broached the subject of romance, let’s talk about it a bit more, shall we?

Romance. While I eventually ended up liking what developed in the romance department, the beginning was a tad rocky. WIthout going into too much detail, the romance angle began a bit too abruptly for me. Once it got rolling, I was on board waving my ticket like a madwoman. But I was running to catch that train in the beginning.

But even so, though I ended up invested in the romance, the book was a bit more romance-heavy in the first half than I would’ve preferred.

“What?!” you gasp in horror.

Yes. I know. That’s what I said.

Story and World. And here’s why. There’s SO MUCH that’s happening in the fringes — world, politics, history, religion, magic, maneuverings, agendas, prejudices — so much that doesn’t get as much page time as I would’ve hoped due to so much of the focus being on the development of characters and their various relationships. And so in the first half of the book, there was a sense of the larger story being put on slo-mo while that development was going on. I much prefer when all these things develop in tandem, but that’s not so much what happens in The Kiss of Deception. At least not so much in the first half. Once *spoilery things* happen, the plot does get its momentum back, and some of those things I mentioned above (world, politics, etc.) do get more exploration. And really, it’s an interesting foundation that Pearson’s building here — a tantalizing glimpse of a rich, complicated, magical world that has a lot of unexplored depth. I think it will get explored, I just need to be more patient. *sheepish shrug* Because from the way things end up playing out in the second half and now that considerable time has been spent on the development of characters and relationships, Pearson now has a fantastic launching board for Book #2. And I have no doubt that many answers to my various questions (and Lia’s) will be addressed in some way, shape, or form.

Overall. A promising and intriguing addition to YA fantasy that holds possible favorite series potential.

3.5 stars.

Kiss of Deception was indeed an epic fantasy. I highly enjoyed it and will definitely be reading the sequel, but for some reason it just didn't have the "wow" factor for me. I had a couple problems with it, mainly the pacing and the writing style.

What I liked:

Lia is such a kick-butt heroine. I loved her! Not only is she unafraid to work hard for what she wants, she is also intelligent, smart, and sticks up for her friends. She's not some naive princess; instead, she thinks things through and does her best to make the right decisions. I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't much insta-love, too. The romance is really only centered on Lia and one guy, and I liked their sweet relationship. Which brings me to...the love triangle. Or lack of.

So, I liked the two love interests. They were well-developed and had integral roles in the plot. But...it wasn't much of a love triangle. There's really only one guy that Lia's in love with, so I kept wondering why the other guy had to be in love with her. It seemed a little pointless, because his character would be much better if he wasn't in love with Lia. Just my thought. *shrugs*

Also, the setting was fantastic! The author really worked out every detail of the world. It felt so real, and it was such a treat to read a book with such wonderful world-building. It reminded me of reading about worlds like in the Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings. And of course, the plot was top-notch. The three points-of-view help add to the suspense, and despite the slow pacing, there are many well-crafted twists and exciting action scenes.

What I didn't like:

The pacing wasn't great. Even though I was really enjoying the storyline, it took me forever to finish this book because it was so slow. Honestly, the writing style just weighed it down. I feel like a fantasy book like this should have a slightly faster pace to it. But instead of having a little more action, the story was flooded with endless descriptions and lengthy paragraphs. Yes, the descriptions are good in that they add to the world-building and help the reader feel lost in the characters' lives; the problem was there there was just way too much. Also, some of the paragraphs really should've been shortened. They take so long to get through, unlike short lines of dialogue, which would have suited the story better.

I had issues with the slow pacing and overly descriptive writing, but despite that I really liked this book. It's so fun to read a well-developed fantasy with such in-depth world-building and characters. This is one fantasy book you definitely want to try. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

*I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

Why I chose this book:
All the way back in 2003 I read a book I fell in love with, Scribbler of Dreams by Mary E. Pearson. It was basically a Romeo & Juliet, star-crossed lovers story. It was the first story I ever reread a second time. Since then, I haven’t gone out of my way to seek out her books, honestly I even forgot about Scribbler until I saw an ARC for The Kiss of Deception and realized it was Pearson’s. I knew I immediately had to nab it from NetGalley, not only because it was Mary E. Pearson, but because the plot seemed like it was exactly what I generally love to read. I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

3 things you have to know about this book:

1. If you’re looking for a quick read, look somewhere else.
If we’re being honest here, I began reading this back in March. The first 15% is the hardest to get through. There’s a lot of information, traditional explanation, and setting the stage, that really became a big drag for me. I stopped reading the book for a couple of months, because I thought that it was just me being in a funk. Everyone was seeming to love this book, so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and come back when my mind was in the right place. Well, once I picked it back up, I finished it in a day.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a long book. One of the longest I have read all year, at about 492 pages. So if you are looking for quick simple read that doesn’t sometimes way you down with meaningless descriptions, this book may not be for you, but if you have patience and like extremely developed fantasy worlds with political intrigue, you may fall in love just as I did.

2. Lia is not afraid to get her hands dirty.
One things I enjoyed most about this book was Lia. She was a take-no-shit character and didn’t mind getting her hands dirty in the menial tasks. I loved that Lia was never the pompous princess, she was bourn of misery, but even still, you see her change and grow and in some ways harden due to grief and strife. There is some wonderful character development that happens in this book that I just can’t wait to read about in the sequel!

3. The twists! Oh! The twists!
For the most part, I thought I saw how this book was going to go. It could go one of two ways which was easy to ascertain, but then there is a twist that comes out of nowhere (until you take a second and look back because it’s been building this entire time right under your nose)! I was so thoroughly happy yet confused, and I just could quite put my emotions into coherent sentences without screaming. SO GOOD. That is all.

Final Thoughts:
After I gave this book a second chance, I was glad that I did. It was worth the read, and the character development and major plot twist left me begging for the next book in the series. Though because it was so slow, I have to leave it with only a three star rating. I hope the next book will be more fast paced.

Check out more of my reviews at ofspectaclesandbooks.com

I found that this book started out really slow. I was intrigued by the world and learning more about it but I found myself putting the book down often, the pace was making it hard for me to read non-stop. About two-thirds of the book is day-to-day stuff aimed at getting to know Lia, Kaden, and Rafe. I personally in wish those pages there had been a little bit more action. I think more action would have helped keep me involved in the story.

The point of view changes between Lia, the prince, and the assassin. Normally more than two point of view changes bother me but Pearson did them really well and I found that they only enhanced the story. Later the chapter ‘titles’ will occasionally use the names of the boys instead of their titles.

One thing that drove me nuts while I was reading for this book was that for far too long we didn’t know which boy was the prince and which boy was the assassin. Pearson did a very good job at not giving any descriptors of the boys in the chapter’s titled ‘The Prince’ or ‘The Assassin’ (I even went back and re-read their first two chapters to see if she did, she didn’t!). We don’t find out until about two-thirds of the way into the book who is who. I did guess which was which, my initial guess from the beginning of the book when she met them was wrong, but around 100 pages or so into the book I was 98% sure who was who. (I might have been a little smug when I found out I was right.) I liked all three characters. Pearson did a good job giving them flaws and for the most part redeeming qualities.

I’ve seen several people mention a love triangle but I do not see it. She falls in love with one of the boys pretty early on in the book and only thinks that the other one has nice eyes and is attractive, she has no real feelings for him. Sure she cares about him, but she’s a caring person and caring for someone doesn’t mean that you are in love with them. There are two people in this story who are in love with each other, there is a third person who has feelings for the girl, that are unrequited. That is NOT a love triangle, it’s not even a love V.

The last third or so of the book really picked up and I found myself unable to put the book down, even though I was tired and could barely stay awake. I really enjoyed this book and thankful thank Macmillan approved me for it. The wait for the next book in this series is going to be agony but I look forward to reading it. I also am THRILLED to hear that the final copy for this book will include a map, while I was reading I kept wishing I had one to use as a reference.

**I received an ARC of this book on Netgalley from Macmillan Teen for an honest review.**

There are some reviews that feel like a shame to write. Sometimes, because the book was so… bad, for lack of a better word. Other times, it’s because the book was so splendidly beautiful, you know that a mashup of thoughts that we’ll dub ‘review’ cannot do it justice.

Mary Pearson’s THE KISS OF DECEPTION is one of those books.

It was beautiful from page one. Fresh from the moment I learned there would be 3+ narrators. And heartbreaking. Utterly heartbreaking.

I finished THE KISS OF DECEPTION in the dark of the night and felt very much surprised by the fact that I was trembling.

YA is full of death. Family members, friends, enemies. But in THE KISS OF DECEPTION, something was different. Something about it felt all too real. Perhaps it was because the end didn’t offer the closure I needed. Or maybe it was because I was so invested in Lia’s life that it hit me so hard in the feels.

THE KISS OF DECEPTION is a slow book. Princess Lia, our Morrighan First Daughter, escapes an arranged marriage and begins a new life in a far off town and we experience that. We experience her learning how to chop an onion and how to serve a table. We see her day-to-day thoughts as if we’re there, right beside her. This is all possible because the book is, for lack of a better word, slow. But Lia isn’t the only narrator, and every new chapter raises the tension. Every new page sort of adds to the fear brimming inside.

Because who is good and who is evil? Who was sent to kill her and who was sent by his own heart?

THE KISS OF DECEPTION is truly about deception. Lia would do anything to keep her freedom. But there is only so much one can lose before freedom becomes a burden. And Lia learns the depth of that. She learns to control her loose tongue. And so much more.

Rafe and Kaiden were a joy to read. They were full of conflict, and like Lia, beautiful narrators. The entire book is a work of art. The slow build to conflict was a real treat and I enjoyed every minute of it.

If you’re a fan of fantasy, THE KISS OF DECEPTION is for you. Fans of THE WINNER’S CURSE rejoice, Mary Pearson has your next fix and it’s hitting shelves soon.

Right off the bat, let me say this: THE KISS OF DECEPTION almost got a 2-star rating from me. I thought, until about 3/4ths of the way through, that it was predictable, sappy, and eye-roll worthy. Then something happened that knocked it up a star rating. Still, for a book that's been raved about by people I really trust, THE KISS OF DECEPTION had a lot of flaws and quite a few holes in it.

First, Pearson works so hard to set the reader in a familiar, comfortable place, that I almost feel the story suffers as a result. The book is told from three perspectives: Lia's, The Assassin's, and The Prince's. Pearson leaves the reader to figure out who is the assassin and who is the prince, but she never actually identifies Lia's narrative (after a bit I got used to it and just started assuming). But all that aside, let me talk about the things that really bugged me about THE KISS OF DECEPTION.

First, I'm so tired of all fate and the world resting on the shoulders of a lone, teenage girl. If that was the case, the protection surrounding Lia would have been so dense that she would have never taken the fateful steps leading her toward her adventure. Secondly, Lia has some ambitious plans - who trusts a random person as much as she does in a way that makes this adventure even plausible? Lia and her ladies maid friend were not close and then were close, or were they close? These are the things I start to think about as I read something that seems slightly improbable.

Then... there's the assassin. First of all, don't get me started on "Assassins" being in fantasy novels - especially ones involving some strange love triangle or wanna-be love triangle. If there is going to be an assassin, he should be an assassin.. not some guy who plays at being tough when he needs to be tough but can be brought low by the smile of a girl.

So, unfortunately, THE KISS OF DECEPTION didn't do it for me. My 3-star rating is merely because I was so sure I knew everyone's roles that the ending completely surprised me, but the rest of the story, I'm sad to say, was stuff I've seen before and am ready to move on from.

First, I want to start out this review with WOW! I was pulled into this story from the first sentence and my attention was engaged to the very last sentence. I was so shocked and disappointed when I realized I was at the end I went through the last few pages to find out when the next book will be released. November 2015 seems so very far away to discover what happens next in this well crafted and fascinating read.

What I particularly loved about this story is how each chapter was written from the perspective of each of the main characters. You became involved in their thoughts and feelings as you read. I was so wrong on who the Assassin really is but happy to discover his real identity.

When Princess Lia runs away on her wedding day, she absolutely refuses to marry someone she hasn't met nor loves. Pauline, a relative, helps her plan their escape to Terravin a small fishing village, the birthplace of Pauline.

They arrive at a local Inn and Pub and the owner takes them in and gives them work. Lia is working as a serving girl when Kadden and Rafe walk in and sit at a corner table. Lia finds herself intrigued and interested in these two men. Lia is unaware that one of them is the Assassin sent to kill her and the other is the Prince she was suppose to marry. The Prince tracked her to the Inn because he is intrigued by this young woman who would run away and work as a servant rather then marry him. The Assassin is intrigued by this Princess who is working as a servant and delays fulfilling his assignment to discover more.

This is a story worth reading. Lia, the main female character, grows and changes into the strong and powerful woman you find by the end of this first book. Both of the main male characters are interesting men, strong of mind and character. I really thought the Assassin would be a total creep but he turned out to be such a sweet man. I hope I discover in the next book how he became an Assassin.

This is a book I highly recommend to anyone who reads this genre, you will not be disappointed.

The Kiss of Deception is the first book in a new trilogy by Mary E. Pearson. This is my first read by this author and I am a fan! The story line is exciting and intriguing and the characters are fantastic.

Princess Lia is what royalty should be all about. She is strong-willed and fierce, absolutely ready, willing, and able to buck tradition to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage to a prince she has never met. Her best friend Pauline, and her handmaiden, runs with her, pure loyalty and friendship. The two girls flee to a distant land and start over. It is a life that is unlike that which they left behind, but for Lia, it is the happiest she has ever been.

This is a story about not only sacrifice and freedom, but about love and friendship and loyalty. The first half of the book was very much like reading historical fiction. But the second half became more of an epic fantasy read, quests and danger galore! There is no end to the mystery and the intrigue and there are plot twists galore. There are two mysterious men that appear in Lia's life, men that keep you guessing right until the moment that things become clear. There are so many levels of deception in this book, from the little ones conceived in a moment of the best of intentions to the huge ones that are life-altering!

Things to love...

--The mystery between the prince and the assassin. Who is who? There are things about each that are oh, so misleading and that ramps up the suspense!
--The fiercely strong Lia. She is an amazing female lead, strong and loyal and full of honor.

My Recommendation: Fantastic epic-like fantasy! There is love and mystery and intrigue and danger and I highly recommend this read! I gave this 4.5 mugs!

Wooooooooooow!

I have one simple question to ask before I start ranting. Why would you end a book this way?!? Do you know who's long I have to wait now for the second book!!!!! -sigh- ok, make that 2...

Anyway, the only thing I didn't like about this book, was the fact that author tricked me into thinking the assassin was one person and the prince was another. She's very clever... Also, I don't like Kaden, I'm team Rafe all the way!!! I also don't like the fact that this book has a lot of pages full of useless information. But, the author makes it makes up for that for the cover, writing style, plot, and finally I'm reading a book that's not ALL ABOUT romance :D Yay!

Now things I liked; the cover, the main character, (She's not feisty and spoiled like lots of princesses are), instead she's been dying to be normal, is selfless, caring, intelligent, and isn't obsessed with wanting to have the "gift" than other people. The writing style was very formal but with a little bit of a modern style as well. And I really like that cover :D

*copied from my goodreads review:

I was absolutely blown away by this book! I was sucked into the world from the start. The beginning may be a bit slower than the rest of the book, but I still enjoyed easing into the story because we got to really find out who these main characters are and learn what their motivations were. I loved that the points of view changed and it was done in such a way that it wasn't confusing at all. Then later there is a huge OMG moment that really knocked me for a loop! I don't remember the last time a book delivered such a shocker but it was AWESOME.

I also have to give some love to RAFE!! I loved their scenes and really felt the connection between them. Also have to give kudos to the author for creating such a amazing world with so many different places. This can't be easy to do so I admire anyone who can create something from scratch like that. The map though definitely helped!

I recommend this book for anyone who loves romance with a little magic. I'm not a "young adult" but I haven't read a book with this much heart, soul, and depth in a long time. So don't let the YA fool you, it is so well written and will leave you wanting more!

Now I just have to survive the wait for book 2!

This thick book is fantastical and interesting (with a bit of mystery thrown in!). We start off with Lia's story. She's a princess who runs away on the eve of her wedding night … a wedding to a prince she's never met that was to secure an alliance for the king. Now she's hiding out, and both an assassin and the prince are trying to find her. What is really interesting about this book is that each of the chapters are being told by Lia, the prince and the assassin … what's really cool is readers aren't sure which chapter belongs to which (of the assassin and prince, that is). What's even better is that I had trouble guessing, and we didn't get to find out until near the end which was which. There's a lot of mystery that spices up the book. It's not all about the mystery, but it's on the peripheral always, which makes it that much more interesting. It's one of my new favorites and I definitely recommend.

Head over to the HEA Blog to see what Mary has to say about her heroine and The Kiss of Deception!

Fantastic start to a well-developed and engrossing trilogy. The writing is excellent and the world building is so good that I couldn't wait to uncover more of the history in subsequent books (which I immediately picked up from the library). I adored all 3 MCs and most of the supporting characters as well. Wasn't so keen on Pauline but I can see why a character like her is necessary to the story.

The Kiss of Deception has been on my radar for a long time. I saw it on favorites lists of many bloggers that I tend to share taste with but neither the blurb or cover was winning me over. When I saw that a group of said bloggers was doing a read-along this summer I thought it was the perfect time to give it a shot. When I saw the page count I was daunted but soldiered into it and it wound up being so well paced that even though it is a long book, it never felt slow.

The one issue that held me back from quite falling in love with the book was that I never felt connected to any of the characters. I can't put my finger on why I felt like I was at arms length but it may have been the first person narration that alternated between characters. The way the characters spoke felt very focused on the what happened and not often on how they felt about it and those involved. Otherwise it's pretty standard fantasy and there were hints that made me think it's set in our world very far in the future (ie. mention of ribbed flagons left by the ancients that haven't degraded).

Overall, an engrossing read with a very enjoyable blend of fantasy and romantic elements. If you enjoy those I think you'll like it.

MY THOUGHTS
It's The Winner's Curse all over again. The Winner's Curse was an over-hyped book all over the blog world before it even came out! The Kiss of Deception had the same thing happen. ALL THE BLOGS were raving about this book! So I, of course, had extremely high expectations for this book! But having high expectations is a bad thing because it's very hard to reach those expectations, so you generally end up at least a little bit disappointed.
I was disappointed.
I don't know, I enjoyed this book, but I thought this would become a new favorite, but it didn't. I can't rave and gush about this book because, while I enjoyed it, that's basically it.

I did find this book extremely original, though, and for the first half, I thought I was going to be in the same boat as those other bloggers. The story has a majority point-of-view following Lia, but their are two other points-of-view. Two strangers meet her, at the same time, one of whom is The Prince, the other is The Assassin. You get their points-of-view from time to time, but you don't know who is who! I loved this part! It made me suspicious and screwed up my mind a bit, but I love it when authors do that! It's such an original idea and it flowed together! But, when the mystery is all figured out, I began to lose interest.

I don't know why. Maybe it's because my favorite aspect was done with, but I just wasn't as into the book. My main issue was just that I couldn't connect to any of the characters. They felt flat for some reason. Again, I don't know why. And I still liked the book, but I just wasn't enjoying it as much anymore.

IN CONCLUSION
This book is original and very unique, but beware of the hype-monster! My expectations for this book were much much higher than possible, so I was a bit disappointed. I do recommend this book, as I did enjoy it. It's great for fantasy fans and those who just want something different.

And I am definitely continuing the series!

A sweeping YA romance, full of secrets, thrills, and the deadly games of kingdoms, A Kiss of Deception was a wonderful read. I really liked this book. From the sweet romance, to the deadly games, it was lovely and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Lia was an okay heroine. She was strong and went after what she wanted. I did have an issue with her, though, and it was that she seemed remarkably naive for a princess. In the beginning, when she first ran away, I liked that she was willing to fight for what she wanted, but I also wanted to shake her. Didn't she realize the political implications of insulting a kingdom that was already on shaky relations with her kingdom? It seemed very naive for her to believe that she could just leave and no one would suffer for it and that she could just abandon her position with no effects. And, later, it felt like she didn't understand the full cost of war. At one point, she berates someone for killing a soldier from her kingdom and he tells her that her kingdom has killed its fair share of innocents. And, she refused to believe him, as if she truly didn't understand that neither side is innocent in a war. She was determined to believe that her kingdom was blameless. This is a specific example of a recurring theme: Lia could be very immature. However, near the end of the book, after witnessing some terrible events, she started to grow up and I could see her potential to be a great heroine and that has me curious about what she'll be like in book 2. So, overall, I didn't love her character, but I liked her fine and I'm excited to see how she grows in the next book.

Rafe was the prince and he was a darling. He was very sweet and, once he came to know Lia, was determined to make himself worthy of her. He was loyal to his kingdom and to his loved ones. There is something to be said about a guy who'll run after the girl he loves. Twice. He was wonderful and I adored him.

Kaden was the assassin and he was an interesting character. Despite his profession, he could be very sweet and he had his own code of honor that he acted upon. He really did try to do what he thought was right. I thought he was a fantastic character.

The romance was very sweet. I don't want to say who it was with (though I'm sure many of you can guess), but I thought he and Lia were lovely together. I wish we had gotten to see more of them together, since they were apart for almost the entire second half of the book, but I suppose we'll get that in book 2. But, for this book, they were a sweet couple.

The plot was okay. It started off a bit slow. For the first half, I was kept interested, but not much really happened. In the second half, though, things picked up and I got hooked. There were tons of twists, secrets, and thrills that kept me on the edge of my seat. Not to mention all the political games at play. I really enjoyed the story and the ending has me excited to see what happens next.

The Kiss of Deception was a wonderful YA fantasy romance. It was sweet, thrilling, and enjoyable, with plenty of secrets and surprises that kept things interesting. YA lovers, this is a book you'll definitely want to check out.

*I received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

A friend of mine recommended this book, and I’m so glad she did. While the story takes a little while to really get going, I enjoyed the build up and trying to guess which character was the prince and which was the assassin. The main character - Lia - is a well rounded character as are Kaden and Rafe. I became very invested in their story and am anxious to see what happens in the next book.

Mary E. Pearson has tacked contemporary and science fiction, and now she's taking on fantasy. KISS OF DECEPTION is the story of Lia, a princess angered by her upcoming marriage - a marriage she had no say in. So she runs (with her best friend Pauline) and becomes a bar maid.

There she is joined by the two men following her: Rafe and Kaden. One is the prince she is supposed to marry, the other is an assassin from a third country sent to prevent the alliance. The narrative goes through hoops with the point of view to obscure which is which, but it's not that hard to figure out. I thought it was a bit of trickery that didn't add much to the story.

I don't think KISS OF DECEPTION will convert people who are tired of love triangles. Especially since it doesn't make that much sense for the assassin to be that soft hearted. But for those who can stomach them, Lia is a terrific heroine. She honestly adapts pretty well to a much smaller life, although she is haunted by the knowledge that she has a duty that is going unfulfilled. She has to find a balance between herself and her country.

I'm also intrigued by the world presented in KISS OF DECEPTION. It's a historical-type fantasy world, with hints of magic around the edges. As a First Daughter, Lia is supposed to have a magical gift, but she's never felt she had one. The politics between the three countries aren't the focus, but they do add a bit of flavor. I'm ready for the assassin's country to become more defined in the next book.

KISS OF DECEPTION does have a cliffhanger ending, which annoyed me. But Pearson's writing is so good that I'll still be back for more. This looks to be the beginning of a great series, one that will appeal to fans of Megan Whalen Turner.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I truly loved this book. The first few chapters where Lia was a princess was a little slow, but as soon as escape happened, the story took off like a racehorse at the starting gate. It kept me continuously guessing, wrongly. But in the end I was so happy I read this book. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next in the series.
I loved Lia, and enjoyed watching her grow from a princess who wanted to run away from her destiny, to a woman who was determined to get back to it and face it down on her own terms. It was interesting to see how deep her own faith was when faced with a moral issue, and how she handled it. The two men, I couldn't figure out which was which, and I was left guessing up until the end. Just when I thought I had it nailed, the author showed me how wrong I was.
It wasn't just the main characters I loved, but all of them. The author has done such a wonderful job of writing you couldn't help but be pulled into even the side stories.

This isn't a fast paced story throughout but I really enjoyed it. I liked almost everything about it. You start with adventure, then comes settling down, then there's mystery regarding the assassin and the prince, and then you have a journey adventure too. Just FYI, the end is a "to be cont'd" so you will want the next book right away. I am going to read the sequal asap!

Wow! I don't even know where to begin. A girl who is already a princess, willing to give it all up to be a commoner, free to choose as she pleases. But the adventure, struggles, lies, secrets ... this has it all, and then some, skillfully woven in a tale that compelled me to read on. Can't wait to begin the next book now!

I am always on the look out for new authors and new fiction. When the store recommend this book I thought this was going to be another "Queen of the Tearling" knock off. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the character of Lia drew me into her story. The beginning was slow and like other reviewers have noted, Lia seems very spoiled and unaware of her actions. Yet, as the characters develop and you find how who the Prince and the Assassin really are the novel gets turn on its head. The last few chapters I reread twice just to try and absorb all the revelations that happened. The Kiss of Deception leaves you wanting more even if it is INCREDIBLY annoying not to know the identities of Rafe and Kaden until the last fourth of the book. I read this book in one evening and can't wait for more from the author.

I liked this book it kept me intrigued. I have been wanting to read it since I read the synopsis of the book. This story is about princess Lia who is suppose to get married thru her arranged marriage but decides to flee. Not knowing that she has the prince and an assassin after her. I will probably continue with this series.

This has the potential to be a really good series. We have the story of a strong girl who wants to defy convention and be true to herself. As she grows, that truth changes. Good characters, nice misdirection and strong themes of fairness and justice that appeal to those whose own voices may not have been heard. A heroine for those who care fiercely.

What an amazing beginning to a new series!

If you eye-rolled at the mention of "series" let me explain that this is a complete story. So yes, there is a cliff-hanger but at 490 pages you feel like you've been taken on a journey and it was more than worth it. I want more!

This story takes place in a high fantasy world and it reminded me of the PG version of Game of Thrones. It has a historical romance feel with the prince, princess, warring kingdoms and arrange marriages but there is a magic element that is really beautifully done and introduced.

Lia is a princess but she isn't a delicate flower and she won't be told what to do. So when she is forced into an arranged marriage, to someone she had never even met "an old toad" she bolts. She wants to start a new life and she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty or speak her mind.

I really love her character and how it developed through the story.

There is a prince and an assassin. Both want to kill her. One for breaking their marriage agreement and the kingdom alliance. One, because he is an assassin from a warring "barbarian" country that hates all royals and he doesn't want any political alliances made.

Here is the fun part: WE DON'T KNOW WHO IS THE PRINCE AND WHO IS THE ASSASSIN. They both track her to a small village and are disarmed by Lia who doesn't act like they thought a princess would. She is working at a tavern and introductions are made as she serves them beer and food. She meets Kaden and Rafe. One a farm boy. One a hunter/trapper.

You can see where this is going.

I did find the first part of the book a little bit slow, but that is to be expected with this type of world building but it really picks up half way. Similar to Game of Thrones (but fewer characters) there are multiple POV's broken up by chapter.

I would call the magic element "lite" really just a hint, but we know it exists. I am sure we will learn more in the next installment.

This is also a clean read. No sex. No swearing. A little bit of violence but nothing overt. YA - PG

The book comes out in July so put your pre-order in now because this is a MUST READ!​

4 Stars

THE KISS OF DECEPTION was surprisingly original, and a highly mysterious adventure, that had me in anticipation until the very end. Mary E. Pearson crafts something so magical, and truly heartwarming, as one girl--princess, fights for what she believes in. And slowly builds the strength and courage to overcome the oncoming battle that has claimed her as it's pawn. THE KISS OF DECEPTION packs a powerful punch that had me swaying until the last page!

But I have to admit my feelings were conflicted throughout the majority of the THE KISS OF DECEPTION. On one hand, I absolutely loved it. I adored the characters and their strengths and willpower, and overall the epic worldbuilding that kept me reading until the end. But on the other hand, I struggled with the pacing and lack of action and adventure that most of the book lacked. It also took me a while to actually get into THE KISS OF DECEPTION. But after about halfway through, that's when I really started to get pulled in, and wanted to unravel all it's hidden secrets. That's one thing I can say about this book, it had lots of secrets, and mystery's you had to decipher. And that was one of the best aspects of this book. Throughout most of the book you didn't know who was the Prince and who was the Assassin. But it became like a game to me, every so often I would change my mind of who was who, but eventually by the end, my final guess of who was the Prince and who was the Assassin, was right! ;)

THE PLOT

Princess Lia, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan wants freedom. She wants options, the opportunity to love the one her heart chooses. Not to be forced into at the hands of her father, the King of Morrighan. She wants to marry for love, not to forge an alliance. But the time has come, and now Lia must do as she's told. She will be forced into a marriage with a prince she doesn't know, let alone love. Then demanded to move to a kingdom that their country has a rocky alliance with. She will be forced to sacrifice her life for the kingdom of Morrighan, and play her part as their pawn. But Lia has a secret, she is done playing her roll, she is done being the princess that does as she is told, she is done living a life she doesn't want, but most of all, she is done being a solider in her fathers army. And she is ready to take action, she is ready to claim her life, as hers...

On Princess Lia's wedding day, she decides it's time, and her and her best friend Pauline flee from their kingdom in search of a knew beginning for them both. After tremendously covering their tracks, they finally make the long trek to a little village in Terravin, and try to start a quiet new life as tavern maids. But what Princess Lia doesn't know, is that she has been followed. There are people who are searching for her for their own very special reasons, and two of them has just walked into her life.

Her betrothed, the Prince of Dalbreck, has entered the peaceful town of Terravin. With his uncertainty of his full motives, only that he secretly wishes to seek out this spoiled Princess that fled on their wedding day. But when the prince meets Lia, no longer the princess she was, all the anger and resentment that he felt for her slowly washes away, as he stares into the eyes of not a self-absorbed rich princess acting out for not getting her way. But he sees the true qualities of what a princess should be; strong, caring, selfless, helpful, thoughtful, and nothing like he thought she'd be. Suddenly, his motives become clear, he needs Lia, he needs her more then anyone he's ever needed. She becomes the life he wishes to have, she becomes the everything that is missing in is life.

And the other that has tracked Lia to the village of Terravin is an assassin. Sent by his barbarian leaders to quickly murder her and be on his way. But he too does not expect to meet the Princess as who she really is. And then he starts to second guess his mission, and if he can actually kill not the princess, but the woman that he's come to love. But if his mission fails, and he does not complete what is intended of him, he will pay the price, and then someone else would be sent in his place to complete what he could not, to kill the princess.... Either way, the clock is ticking, and he has to make a choice, but what he decides could very well change all the kingdoms combined.

Lia is unaware of who either of the men truly are. She thinks they're passing thorough like many others to visit the festival there Terravin. All while unaware of their true motives, and how deadly they truly are. But the prince and the assassin have both caught her eye, and she slowly builds a bound and trust with them both. But soon, Lia will have to face the reality of her choices--choices that may end lives, shatter kingdoms, and put the ultimate weapon in enemy's hands...

Overall, THE KISS OF DECEPTION was full of secrets and surprises that kept me second guessing myself until the very end. Though it did take me longer then I anticipated to fully be immersed into this novel, it still was enough to keep me hanging on. And when it did finally take off, it took off on full force!! I would definitely recommenced THE KISS OF DECEPTION, especially to anyone that's looking for a rich fantasy, with a touch of originality, and mystery to keep you enthralled until the end!

NOTE: I received a physical ARC from Henry Holt for reviewing purposes! All opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
Book One of the Remnant Chronicles
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
Rating: 5 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

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.

What I Liked:

I'm a little pissed, because whoever told me there would be a love triangle in this book misled me. I got this book from the publisher, and then I saw somewhere about a love triangle, and I DREADED reading this book after seeing that. I literally did not want to read this book, because of the expected love triangle. But that information was misleading, and I'm so mad that I waited until now to read this book, because I was afraid of the potential love triangle. Trust me, this book would not get five stars from me, if there was a full-on, obnoxious love triangle.

So. We have Princess Lia, who has escaped on her wedding day with her friend Pauline. They flee to a small village, and begin their new lives there. Meanwhile, Lia's father has sent the army to search for her. The Komizar has sent an assassin. And the Prince of Dalbreck - her would-be husband - is also looking for her. Nothing is as it seems, no one as they seem.

I don't even know where to begin! FIVE STARS, PEOPLE. I rarely give books a rating of five stars. There was so much to love about this book - the writing, the characters, the romance, the fantasy, the story... everything!

The writing surprised me, honestly. For some reason, I didn't expect the writing to be so fluid and almost lyrical, with a historical fantasy quality to it. There are plenty of similes and metaphors and awesome comparisons, plenty without being too many. The writing definitely made this book wonderful to read.

The characters - that's kind of a general thing to like. I LOVED Lia, she surprised me. I was expecting a stuck-up princess at least in the beginning, but I found that I liked her from start to finish. I thought her judgments and actions were careful and intelligent, and that as much as she thought and analyzed everything, she was also good about listening to her heart and feelings. We see this a lot with Pauline, Lia's friend. Lia has a kind heart, but a stern disposition.

I really, really liked Rafe. In this book, we get to read from three different perspectives - Lia's, Rafe's, and Kaden's. Lia is the runaway princess bride. Rafe is the jilted prince, who is searching for Lia. Kaden is the Komizar assassin. It's so interesting to see how each character works his/her way into the plot, and how they keep missing each other, or not knowing that one is the other. When they all meet, it's incredible.

But back to Rafe. I really like Rafe. For a prince, he also surprised me. I wanted to see more from his side, to be honest. He seemed very accustomed to doing a servant/farmhand's work. I wanted to know more about Dalbreck, and how Dalbreck treated their prince. Hopefully, in book two, we got to Dalbreck. I mean, it looks like we're going to Venda, but still. Maybe in book three.

I didn't hate Kaden, but I didn't like him, either. He's the ASSASSIN, trying to kill Lia. I suppose I like him as an assassin, but not necessarily as Lia's friend, or as a love interest. I didn't really care about his side of things, even though I could see and understand them.

I guess I'll talk about the romance then... yes, it looks like there is a love triangle. Lia, Rafe, Kaden. I thought so too. HOWEVER. I'd say that there is not a love triangle. While both young men harbor feelings towards Lia, I don't think Lia harbors feelings towards both of them. One of them, yes. And this is why I'm not pissed that there is even a potential to have a love triangle - because while the two of them have feelings for Lia, she does not necessarily have feelings for both of them.

I LOVE the fantasy world that Pearson has created. You all know that fantasy - specifically, medieval fantasy - is my favorite genre. I am very hard on authors when it comes to fantasy, and the worldbuilding of a fantasy novel. I think Pearson did a beautiful job of creating the world of Morrighan, the kingdoms, the wars, the traditions, the religion, everything. I can't find a plot hole or anything vaguely described or such.

I want to know more about those books that Lia has, her gifts, the secrecy, the lies, the deception. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, but I have no doubt that they will be answered throughout the next two books. So I'm not irritated by that or anything.

The story... oh, how I loved it. Lia and Pauline escape, they build a nice life elsewhere, then the assassin and the prince coming looking for them. Then the festival, then the conflict and climax. This book is long, and it seems like Pearson focuses on each part of the book a lot, but for good reason. I love how much page-time we get for each "part" of the book. The story was interesting and thrilling, I was never bored.

All in all, I know I haven't done this book justice, in this review. I'm terrified that I've misled anyone or spoiled anything, but I think I've been pretty vague. I seriously cannot wait to read book two! I NEED IT NOW!! Of course, a lot of people are saying that right now.

What I Did Not Like:

Nothing! At least in this book, I'm not too worried about the love triangle. That was the only thing that might have ended up in this section.

Would I Recommend It:

YES! Fantasy fan or not, you don't want to let this one pass you by. Unless you're planning to binge-read the entire series in 2016, when the final book comes out, GO READ THIS ONE NOW! Or as soon as (legally) possible. Seriously though.

Rating:

5 stars. Wow wow wow wow. I'm so impressed by this book! And to think, I might have let someone's comment about the love triangle ruin this book for me. Nope nope nope! I'm so happy that I loved this one!

Ok, we'll lets see we have this princess who doesn't want to marry the prince chosen for her, so she runs away with her best friend. Meanwhile the prince and an assassin are looking for her. They both show up in the town she is at separately but act like they are friends traveling together. We get 3 pov's throughout the book, Lia's who is the princess, Rafe's, and Kaden's. But we don't find out who's the assassin and who's the prince until almost the end of the book.

I struggled to finish this book. Even with the want of wanting to find out who is the prince I almost dnf the book. Just after a while of the slow and when I say slow I mean very very slow moving plot, I just didn't care anymore. The love triangle wasn't very good and the characters were very boring.

I would recommend skipping this one and moving to the next book in your tbr list.