A Gift Freely Given
by J. Ellen Ross
Book: The Tahaerin Chronicles, #1
Publisher: J. Ellen Ross
Pub Date: December 2014
Genre: Romance
Format: Print
Source: Author
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
Leisha’s father, the king of Tahaerin, bartered away her childhood with his failed invasion of a neighboring kingdom. She grew up a hostage, a guarantee of the king’s good behavior. At sixteen, she returns to a land and a throne she knows almost nothing about.
Her powerful and ruthless uncle plans to force her into a marriage or take her crown by violence. The nobles of her kingdom all expect her to fail spectacularly and are eager to fight over the scraps. But, Leisha has no intention of going along quietly with any of their plans.
As a boy, Zaraki watched as slavers butchered his family. Orphaned and starving, he was taken from the streets, trained to spy and kill. He finds a position with the new queen when he is forced to flee the only home he remembers. But the job is far larger than he anticipated and Leisha’s life is threatened from all sides.
Leisha will fight to hold her crown and her throne with the help of an unknown and unproven spy. Zaraki will try keep her alive and to keep the oaths he took - to be loyal to her, to keep her secrets and never, ever fall in love with her.
My Review: I love the cover of this book and it fits perfectly with the story. Leisha was kept hostage and is going back home. To have a throne to a place she has no knowledge about. The crown is hers, and the right thing would be find someone who knows whats going on and help her out. Yeah, no her uncle is a little too power hungry. Leisha will surprise the world. She will stand up strong and show just how powerful she is and she won't fail and let them win.
I love her strength and she is much wiser than her years. But even that isn't going to be enough when everyone is threatening her. So in comes Zaraki, a well trained spy and pretty good looking as well. He is there to help keep her alive while she deals with the kingdom and everything that comes with it. I can't even tell you how great Zaraki is, his skills are amazing and an overall amazing character.
I loved this book. I devoured it so fast and then realized I didn't have the other book to dive into! Don't you hate when you love a book but don't have the next one to dive in? The details are done right, the world building was amazing and overall a really great read. A book that anyone should try.
My Rating:
✪✪✪✪✪
