Crista McHugh
Publication Date: October 9, 2012
Finish Date: December 3, 2012
Format: e-book
Source: copy for review
From Goodreads: The deadliest assassin in the empire just got too close to her target…
Azurha, a former slave turned deadliest assassin in the empire, has just been offered the ultimate challenge—seduce, then murder the new Emperor. But Titus is not the tyrant his forefathers were, and his radical ideas might be the glimmer of hope the empire needs.
Titus Sergius Flavus has yet to master the powerful magic of his ancestors—magic he must wield if he’s to protect his people—but his father’s death has left him no choice. Rule the Deizian Empire and attempt to right his ancestors’ wrongs, or watch her fall to his greedy kin.
More than just Titus’ ideas hold Azurha captive. Night after night, he awakens desires she thought lost, and uncovers the magic of her hidden lineage. As her deadline approaches, Azurha is forced to make an impossible decision—complete her job and kill the man she loves, or fail and forfeit both their lives.
The story starts of good, I was immediately sucked into the story and I liked seeing a bit of the main characters past so soon in the story already. Very quickly you get a good idea of who she is. I think the romance started a bit too quikcly and developed a bit too fast at first, but after that the pacing was good I think. I liked that the author still managed to write a solid and interesting story even though the focus seemed to be on the romance. I do think that sometimes there was a little bit too much focus on the romance, but most of the time the balance was quite good. The story is fast paced and I just wanted to keep reading to see what would happen next! this book certainly had that keep-reading-feel.
This story most certainly focusses on the two main characters, but the side character still get some attention and I managed to get an idea of who some of them were too. Still I think there could've been some more focus on the side characters. On the other I did get a good idea of who the two main characters were, I understood the descisions they mades, their motivaes and what kind of persons they were and even why they felt in love with each other. Even though it may seem like mostly a romance story, there is still some room for character development and story.
And even though it may seem strange there even was some world building in this book. Ofcourse I wished that there was more world building, because I think the author created a very interesting world here. I didn't get a good feel of what the world looked like and how the magic worked. These things are mentioned, but there is just too less. I hope there will be more world building in the next book. I do think that the glimpses we get of the world were very interesting, there were some references to history, traditions and we get a sense of how this world work even though not everything is explained.
To conclude: a fast paced book, with the focus on romance, but also room for a solid story and world building. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading more books from this author!
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