About the Book: Truth is more dangerous than fiction…in this exhilarating upper YA fantasy that will capture fans of Shadow and Bone and Dark Water Daughter In ancient times, the Elder Wrights breathed their magic into the fabric of the seven seas. Now what was once an ocean of plenty is slowly becoming a sea of death, and the Talin—a race of hidden mages—are beginning to starve. And for the first time ever, one of their own has no magic. Ostracized by her own people, Nieve is certain that the old stories hide a missing piece of the puzzle. It’s just a matter of unlocking the secret. But when a stranger comes sailing into their harbor, Nieve’s world is suddenly blown wide open. Now she’s sailing on the seven seas—with a too-charming, swashbuckling pirate, a group of strange misfits, and a woman who claims to be one of the Elder Wrights. It’s like Nieve is living one of the stories she’s always loved…only now, she’s weaving a legend of her own. Except that the ol...
Synopsis
If Mary Babington-Smith knows nothing else, it's that Lord Edwin Sutton kissed her. Regardless of who-kissed-whom, with the deed witnessed, they have no choice but to carry on with a temporary, fake, engagement. When Edwin sweetens the deal, offering Mary the money she needs to pursue her independence if she can play the lovesick fiancée for two weeks, Mary rises to the challenge. In two weeks, she'll have everything she wants, and this time she'll be the one to walk out of his life.
Despite Sutton's argumentative, self-assured nature, when Mary glimpses a sliver of the boy he used to be, she vows to peel away every layer of armor he uses to shield his emotions. Somewhere underneath that worldly exterior is the kind-hearted man she once loved, but in order to find him, she'll have to give him the power to hurt her...and he's already broken her trust once.
Review
If you love non-conventional heroines then this is a must read novel. Both main characters are amazing, I loved the chemistry between them. They were childhood friends, but grew apart due to misunderstandings. Now they can't stand to be together, or so they think. However, the more time they do spend in each others company the more they realize how good they are together. Things will not be easy for them though, because their mutual attraction aside, they're now very different. Nothing of their childhood friendship remains and they can't possibly have any sort of harmonious relationship. Even their fake relationship is not going exactly as they'd like. For now they are stuck with each other so they better enjoy themselves, soon they may never have any reason to see each other again.
Mary doesn't need a man to complete her life. She is a free-spirited woman who has a purpose in life. Men only interfere in your life and relationships do you no good. She thinks that she can live alone. It doesn't matter that her friends are leaving her one after the other. She will survive without them. Then Sutton comes back into her life and suddenly everything changes...
Sutton needs a pretend fiancé and who better than Mary to play the role. Once he had left her but there was a good reason for that. Now he is back and he doesn't plan to leave. If their pretend engagement turned into a real one he won't feel bad at all. In fact he might just prefer it. So, they're going to play their respective roles the best way possible and who knows what the future holds for them...
It's well-written and quite interesting story. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend to all historical romance fans.
P.S. I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley.