- I thought this had an interesting start: soft spoiled Jem being matched to the strong hunter Cador, especially since Cador is plotting something
-But immediately Jem seemed too soft / whiny to me, and Cador was a total asshole to Jem! Cador knew of his father's plan, why did he have to be such a jerk?? drunk at the wedding, uncaring, BULLY
- while I can understand lust, on either or both of their parts, there wasn't nearly enough emotional connection or ‘getting to know you’ in this to believe in any sort of true romance or love emotions

-Cador's brother was so clearly a bad guy he was practically mustache twirling = eye rolling
- the ‘we must War because we need the fruit to heal our kids’ as a concept - I felt like Jem was a beacon of common sense: “did you ask? WTF we are not monsters!”
- was steamy, but felt juvenile / frustrating too?
- I liked that gender and sexuality was no big deal
- I felt that the world building was pretty meh
- why were barbarians convinced that clerics were only interested in power/control??
- I saw the cliffhanger coming, and the last few chapters were intense
- this is definitely a setup for book two, which is fine, but Cador better fucking GROVEL
- I can see the comparison to a historical bodice ripper, especially an English bride with a Scotsman