By K. M. Shea
In the epic stories falling in love is often described as a
beautiful, wonderful experience. Tari finds it to be life threatening,
embarrassing, and nothing but heartache.
When Tari, an elf, is selected to be bound to Captain Arion,
a human military officer, in a ceremony designed to promote friendship between
their countries it is discovered that the two can communicate with each other
in spite of the language barrier. Not everyone is supportive of the change Tari
and Arion symbolize, so in addition to attending evening teas and royal
luncheons Tari and Arion dodge kidnapping attempts and blackmail plots crafted
by powerful political figures.
Tari is dumbfounded when she realizes she has fallen in love
with Arion, who has the emotional capabilities of a rock. As both human and elf
society dictate that an elf and a human can never be together, Tari must
conceal her feelings. Unfortunately the taciturn Arion is watchful and
attentive to Tari’s well-being, constantly pushing her to her limits with his
loyalty, friendship, and dreadfully informal habit of touching her.
If Tari and Arion survive, their tumultuous realationship
will either strengthen their countries’ alliance, or cripple the human courts
of nobility. The deciding factor will be Arion, and his indecipherable feelings
for Tari.
I got a trial subscription to Kindle Unlimited from Amazon
and I ended up reading as many of K. M. Shea’s novels as possible. I just liked
them. They are wholesome and lovely and just a good read. This is a story about
elves and humans who have an uneasy treaty between the two worlds, but the
differences between their worlds is staggering. Language is an enormous
barrier, and many humans and elves dedicate their entire lives to learning as
much as they can about each other’s culture. There is a ritual, usually
performed on the young of both species that binds one elf to one human for
life. Normally this binding is purely political and nothing comes of the process,
but when Tari and Arion, two adults are bound in a special ceremony, they
become celebrities when they find out that they can perfectly understand each
other without translators, and even sometimes feel what the other is feeling or
know where the other is. This is a love story above all else, and there are a
few discrepancies in the plot that confused me. The story made it seem like it
was taboo for an elf and a human to love one another and fall in love, but in
the end everything seemed peachy and there was no conflict. Oh well, it was
still a fun story, though not my favorite from Shea. I get a little skeptical
when people use elves in their stories, because in my opinion elves can only be
done seriously in high fantasy by masters. Tolkien started it and I have very
little patience for other versions because they seem like pale imitations.
I give this a 3 out of 5 for an average, though fun romance.
