I have been searching for historicals set in less familiar areas. I thought that trying one set in the Tang Dynasty would be fascinating.
However, the pacing of this book was really distracting. The beginning felt rushed. We didn’t have time to learn more about the characters. In the middle, it slowed way down and I felt like I was walking through molasses. Then The ending was again fast forwarded and it was all fixed and we’re all good.
There were some parts that I really enjoyed. I do not know a lot about dynasty’s or this time period in history. I usually love learning about history but this book just didn’t work for me.
Empirically this book is beautifully written. The language is flowery and lovely. The story itself just did not hold my interest.

Rating: 3.5
This story is My Fair Lady meets Ancient China. I really enjoyed it. There were times when the story dragged a bit--my interest would be elsewhere at times or I just got bored--but I'm glad I pushed through. Yan Ling and Fei Long are great characters, Fei Long's characterization as a steely man of honor was very well done. Yan Ling was sweet, and her journey of self-improvement tugged at my heartstrings. Also, Li Bai Shen is amazing and deserves all the good things.

I loved, loved the ending. I live for HEAs. I had no idea how it was going to end (which made it really hard to enjoy that sex scene), but I'm glad it was solved that way. Everyone was happy and obtained their heart's desire.