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very, very good!

I really liked this book. Aine is a refreshing heroine - smart AND well-educated in ladylike graces, compassionate AND shrewd, discreet without being a shy pushover, confident without being reckless. She's not perfect, of course, but all the more believable because of it, and you can see how her life experiences resulted in her flawed thinking and her personality flaws stem from traits that are also her strengths.

Rian was also multifaceted and highly likeable. I GREATLY appreciated that he wasn't physically attractive - so refreshing to have a romance with physical attraction truly taken off the table.

I do wish there was a touch more banter but that's really nit-picking. The story was light and there were some moments that made me chuckle internally (not quite LOL but good enough).

The plot was well thought through and well paced too. Not a lot of twists and turns, but not draggy or overly predictable. There were some new elements that kept it fresh.

I also liked that the story wrapped up nicely while setting the stage for other stories - I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next one more now that I've met Maeryn (wild swans isn't usually my favourite tale).

After reading the acknowledgements, I realised that Ms Carlisle reveres many of my favourite authors both traditional and indie (Gail Carson Levine, Tamora Pierce, Jessica Day George, KM Shea, Melanie Cellier, Deborah Grace White...) so it makes sense that her writing has much of what I love. Adding her to my favourite authors list!