3.5 stars

While I have read all of this author’s Ice Planet Barbarians series and almost all of her Icehome series, I haven’t read any of her books that don’t involve blue aliens. It was a no-brainer for me to give a different genre from her a try. I’m glad I did. Although the story started slowly for me, once Princess Candra was locked in the tower I was fully invested.

Candra had a bit of a Scarlett O’Hara thing going on. Every time things got tough and she felt like giving up and crying her eyes out, she would tell herself she could cry about it “tomorrow” or “later”. She has basically been told she is useless her whole life. She may be a Princess and have the blood of her nation’s founder running through her veins, but she also has a blood-sickness and is not the firstborn. Since nobody thought she was worth much, she did what she wanted when she wanted. Her actions gave her quite a reputation. She was thought of as loose, frivolous, and spoiled. To be fair, she kind of was those things. She was also loyal, loving, and persistent. Candra grows up in many ways while in the tower. She digs deep and finds things out about herself she didn’t know. She’s one tough cookie.

Nemeth may start out as a scary presence, but it turns out he’s just a big teddy bear. Especially when it comes to Candra. There is a lot of mistrust and preconceived notions on both sides, but these two can’t stay apart forever. The more they talk, the more they wonder about all they learned while growing up.

As much as I loved staying in the bubble of the tower with Candra and Nemeth, it becomes obvious huge changes are going on outside the tower. Eventually, the pair cannot ignore the outside world and have to make some tough decisions. But they decide that whatever is happening, they are committed to being together.

Many eye-opening things happen on their journey outside of the tower, and that part of the story did drag a bit. The pacing wasn’t consistent throughout this story, and this was one of the slow parts for me. Once they rejoin society (I’m wording this in a way to avoid spoilers) I felt Nemeth’s secret-keeping became too much. Both Nemeth and Candra kept things from each other, which was understandable with the situation they were in. Yet when Nemeth continued to keep things from Candra I got annoyed.

This was a great story. It could have been so much better if the pacing issues were resolved.

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**