In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight–but she doesn’t–and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom–to a prince she has never met. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. … village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive–and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets–even as she finds herself falling in love.
The Kiss of Deception is the first book in Mary E. Pearson’s Remnant Chronicles.
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I have so many feelings?!?! My heart was not prepared for the ending of this book. After attempting to listen to the audiobook and completely failing, I was more than a little apprehensive about reading this. But my awesome book friends convinced me it was a good idea and I’M SO GLAD BECAUSE THIS WAS AMAZING???? I can’t even believe there was ever a time when I didn’t love this.
First of all, the format of this is CRAZY genius. The way Pearson spun the traditional love triangle and kept the identities of the guys a secret was such a great way to amp up the tension with minimal action. It gave Lia some time to really get to know Kaden and Rafe and develop feelings while STILL building the suspense. Plus, each chapter begins with a passage from “historical” songs and books that seems so random in the beginning, but come together in the end. It was so great. I literally could NOT put this book down and flew through it in two days.
I also really really REALLY loved Lia. Okay, I admit there were things about her in the beginning that grated on me, but all of that was wiped away at the end of the book. Her character arc is so awesome and she’s such a freaking bad ass by the end!! I can’t talk about most of the other characters without spilling spoilers, but I loved them. Even the characters I hated were amazingly rich and layered. Going into this, I expected a somewhat shallow story of a princess running away from home and caught in a woe-is-me-two-attractive-men-love-me love triangle. And even though it might have started that way, this novel turned into soooooooo much more! I was worried that learning the identity of the two male leads would deflate the excitement of the book, but that DEFINITELY didn’t happen!
↬ FINAL WORD
This book was AMAZING!!! Don’t listen to the audiobook because the hard copy formatting is key for this novel, but definitely pick this up! It’s such an awesome story!!
I thought this book was wonderful. It was a different story line from the other books I’ve been reading. Liked this one enough to put the next one on my “to read” shelf.
3.5
I really enjoyed this book and everything about it. I loved the writing, the world building and most of all the characters that take us through this journey. The book has multiple POVs but for the main part we get Lia. I really enjoyed her and the more I got to know her the more I liked her. She had a few eye rolling moments but overall I loved her.
One of the main parts I loved about this book was, that we don’t find out who is the Prince or the Assassin, even as we read their POV. I loved that and it kept me going and guessing. Once we find out I was not overly shocked, as you can start figuring it out if you look close enough as you read. But it still was great fun.
Another thing I liked was the friendship in this book. Her friendship with Pauline was super great and later with some of the other people in town. I hope we see more of them later on in the books.
When it came to the guys, I’m not sure who I liked more, and to be honest she didn’t spent all that much time with either if them at least on page. I’m hoping we get to know them better in the next book and maybe I can say more about either of them, right now I dint really connect to either of them.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and the cliffhanger ending had me reaching for book two right away. We get a little of everything in this book. Humor, romance, action, heartbreak and betrayal.
Can’t wait to see where the story takes us
I rate book one 3.5
I think my favorite part of this book was that the reader didn’t know which guy was which for so long!
Just finished this. It’s the first book in a series and it kept me interested all the way through. Good plot twists and intrigues.
I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I have seen it mentioned numerous times on bookstagram so I thought I would give it a go.
First things first. The cover of this book to me is deceiving. I did not like the cover at all! I figured it would be a historical romance with some fantasy thrown in. It was not. At all. I LOVED this book.
The story follows Lia, who is set to marry a prince through an arranged marriage. She flees on the day of her nuptials to a faraway village with her handmaiden, Pauline. What Lia does not realize is that the Prince sets out to find her but so does an assassin. The is where her adventure begins.
In book you meet Rafe and Kaden. What I thought was so intriguing…and quite frankly pretty fun was that you did not know which was the assassin or the prince. I loved this part of the book. The world that Pearson built was fun and magical. I truly fell in love with this story. The book does end on a cliffhanger but the good news is that all 3 books are out and you can tear through them like I did. I give this book 5 stars!
this book made me want more and so i found the rest of the series and was even more in love
Wut? What? WHAT???
That was basically my reaction to this book. The title isn’t one that would draw me, but a friend recommended it as something I’d enjoy, so I gave the audiobook a go.
My thought: Wut about this book makes my friend think I’d like it?
Then I got to the first titled chapters. The Prince. The Assassin. No names, descriptions, no anything beyond that they’re both 19-20ish.
My thought: What? Okay, now I’m fascinated. Do continue, oh book of mystery.
Then the drama increased—the kind of drama that draws me in rather than turns me away. The suspense, the dramatic irony, the moments of “No, don’t trust them!” Answers were revealed, only to have new mysteries take their place. The world grew. And the cliffhanger was the closest I can get to “Wait, no! What happens next?!?” without getting mad.
All in all, I totally recommend this book. Don’t let the clichéd premise of a princess running away from an arranged marriage turn you off—this book is far from cliché.
I really loved this book and recommend it to students and staff. Some of my readers wince at the size but so far everyone has loved it.
Original and full of adventure. Couldn’t turn the page fast enough.
When I was a child I loved fantasy and adventure, especially the Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Mary E. Pearson takes us on a similar adventure with The Kiss of Deception, creating a heroine on a vivid quest that will capture all your senses. This is a fully fleshed fantasy with complex characters, a twisting plot, and emotions galore, including many tender and heart-wrenching moments. The worlds of Morrighan, Terravin, and Venda come alive with clarity and mystery as Princess Lia seeks to establish a new home and identity. The romantic interests of Rafe and Kaden are not what they seem. Indeed, we don’t know who is the assassin and who the farmer for some time. And I was wrong. I made an assumption about Lia and the two men . . . And you know what they say about assuming. You’ll cheer for Lia’s strength and determination, her relentless pursuit of truth, the opening of her heart. You’ll be dazzled by the marvelous scenery as she travels from one kingdom to another. And you’ll wonder at the mystery of Gaudrell and Venda. This is a story you won’t want to put down. It is captivating. But be warned. The Kiss of Deception is just the first book of a trilogy. The story doesn’t end here.
While the title initially deterred me because I thought it suited a soap opera, I’m so glad I picked this novel up and read it anyway!
The characters, plot, atmosphere, dialogue and all else, gloriously conspired together to make what is now one of my favourite YA reads. And it’s part of a series!! How glorious is that?!!!
Second time reading through the series and I’m loving it.
I think this series is just amazing. The story is built in the ancient world of kingdoms ruled by the kings. It had just the right amount of romance, suspense, emotion. It’s a real page turner and I read the whole series in 5 days.
The story mainly focuses on Lia, the princess. Her transformation is beautiful and she is strong takes a stand for herself and is not afraid to take fierce decisions. The other two main characters are the prince and the assassin sent to kill Lia. The both fall for her but whom will she choose.
Read the story to find out more.
This entire series is excellent! The more I read the harder it was to put down.
I was intrigued by Lia’s journey. Her determination to carve out a life of her own choosing; her willingness to defy what is expected of her; and her desire to survive all work together for an interesting story.
I highly recommend adding this to your TBR pile.
This book was pretty good! I’ll be honest and say during the reveal around the end of the book almost made me stop reading LOL I was so mad because I didn’t get it! Until about 15 minutes later I finally understood LOL.
My advice: pay attention to the details! I’m sure your experience would be a lot better that mine.
But in regards tp the book; its pretty good a nice love triangle and a lot of mystery. It at least has kept me interested in reading the second one.
This was a long and interesting novel, 500 pages long, which it ended in the middle of heading into a scene of peril. Apparently the reader won’t know how things are resolved until the next book. The story is well-written, with richly detailed descriptions and strong characterizations. The middle slowed a bit for me as the plot receded to the background and the romance developed, but it was a decent romance. I found the plot twist related to the romance slightly annoying, however; was there a good reason for the author to hide the identity of the prince and assassin? I had to re-figure about 100 pages in hindsight. I could’ve sworn there were indications of which man was which (from their relating of past events during the chapters written from their point of view), but apparently I was mistaken, and the prince and the assassin were exact opposite of who I’d thought. I found that ploy more frustrating than clever.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and then the rest in the series… Excellent… I then read this authors other books as well… I now follow her… and look for her new books!
I love, love, love this series!!!
I am a sucker for a great fantasy . . . what I loved about Pearson’s fantasy was how “realistic” and “contemporary” the fantasy felt despite the fantasy elements. The characters read like real people and I loved it. I couldn’t put it down!
Good book