The Remnant Chronicles are a trilogy made up of The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal, and The Beauty of Darkness. Each book is filled with adventure, romance, intrigue, and deception at each turn.
The Kiss of Deception starts with Lia, or Princess Arabella, First Daughter in the Kingdom of Morrighan. It is her wedding day, but she is far from excited. In fact, she sneaks away, deciding that she wants a chance to live her own life and fall in love. Lia and her handmaid, Pauline, run away to a small town where two young men track her down. One is the Prince who she was to marry and the other is an assassin from a neighboring country on a mission to kill her. The only thing is...you don't know who is who. She starts to fall in love with one of the young men, but you have no idea if it's the Prince or the Assassin. And she has no idea who they are either. She thinks they are just attractive, young men. When something terrible happens, Lia's guilt drives her to return to her home to make things right. But on the way, she is kidnapped by the Assassin. Instead of killing her, he decides to take her back to his country of Venda to see if she can be used. Essentially, he can't kill her because he loves her. The Prince, finding out this happens, chases after her because he is also in love with her. Lia is hauled across the country, fighting and trying to escape, but learning that her destiny is more powerful than she realizes. The story ends with the Prince finally catching up to her, and they are both led into Venda, a vicious place that never takes prisoners.
In The Heart of Betrayal, Lia is trapped in Venda and must learn to play a twisted game with the Kozimar, or King of Venda. He is bent on destroying the other kingdoms and manipulates those around him to get what he wants. The Assassin fights his feelings for Lia while still trying to protect her and the Prince plays another game of deception to keep his true identity and feelings for Lia hidden. To gain more power, the Kozimar parades Lia around to the various people of the land to bring them "hope" for a new future. The people of Venda take to Lia, welcoming her in, and she learns that Venda is not full of evil barbarians as she was once taught. As she gains more power and discovers more of her destiny, the Kozimar decides to marry her. On the day of the wedding, the Prince finally finds a way to escape Venda with Lia, but the getaway is not clean. Lia is hurt and dying.
Finally, The Beauty of Darkness. Lia takes a while but recovers from her wounds. Her goal is to return to her kingdom to warn them that the Kozimar is still coming, but the Prince is determined to bring her to his kingdom to keep her safe. The Assassin catches up to them and helps escort Lia back to her kingdom. But her kingdom is not safe for her. In fact, they would like to kill her. New information comes to light and Lia realizes that there are traitors in her kingdom, people who are helping the Kozimar destroy her home and the people she loves. She ousts the traitors, saves her dying father, and rallies her people to war. But they are terribly outnumbered. Little does she know that the Prince has ordered his troops to fight with Lia and her kingdom. Together, the two kingdoms with help from some Vendans will battle an army that is twice their size. Lia, using her special gifts and brilliant mind, concocts a plan. The people around her are starting to trust her and follow along. The battle is bloody, but Lia finds a way to save so many of them all. The Kozimar is killed and peace is brought to the land, peace between kingdoms that hasn't happened ever. All because of Lia.
What I liked: This series is fabulous! I loved the first book because it was a whole guessing game as to who she fell in love with. Was it the Prince she was to marry or the Assassin that was sent to kill her? You do eventually find out, but it's fun to wonder and guess while you don't know. The books also had amazing characters. The three main characters (Lia, the Prince, and the Assassin) were complex and well thoughtout, with backstories that were so interesting. All the twists and turns throughout each of the books were great too. Other side characters, like Pauline, Gwyneth, Berdie, Aster, Sven, and Griz, made the story so much more rich and entertaining. It was a great series!
I would recommend this series to middle school and young adult girls. Though it's not a girly-girl book with lots of romance and moony eyes, it's not really a guy book either. I think that some boys might enjoy it, but it's mostly for girls.
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