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Synopsis (Found on
Goodreads.com)
Danica Shardae is an
avain shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is
as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more
familiar to her is war: It has rages between her people and the serpiente for
so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. All they know is hatred,
fear and endless years of bloodshed. And Danica is tired of it. As heir to the
avian throne, she’ll do anything to stop this war- even accept Zane Cobriana, the
terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the
two royal families one.
Now Danica must
convince her people that Zane is just as committed to peace as she is- though
she can’t help fearing that, despite his word, he will strike as swiftly and
lethally as the cobra that is his second form. Among the serpiente, she’ll have
to pretend to be in love, though when they’re alone, her reserve threatens to
keep her and Zane’s worlds apart. And in their midst are dissenters who will do
whatever it takes to destroy this union.
Trust. It is all Zane
asks of Danica- and all they ask of their people- but it may be more than she
can give.
My Review:
I love this book.
It is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I never get tired
of rereading this book and this is the 6th time I read it.
The book is about a war between the avian (bird) shifters and the serpiente (snake) shifters. The war has been going on for hundreds of years and the two heirs to the thrones want to end the war and have peace. The heirs are Danica Shardae and Zane Cobriana. Both sides agree to a meeting at a tiger shifter community whose queen is known for her wise advise. Her advise it for Zane and Danica to marry (in their sense of the word) so that the peace begins with them and they can show their people that both species can live in peace together. Both of them think the idea is absurd because of how different their cultures are. Nevertheless they agree to it to have peace. The rest of the book is about getting and maintaining the peace and how Zane and Danica slowly fall in love.
I love Danica. She is the heir and later on queen of the avian people and is a hawk shifter. She is extremely compassionate, caring, loving, kind, sweet and a great ruler. Her mother abdicates and wants Danica to become queen. Danica is very passionate about stopping the war and bloodshed. She has lost her entire family except her mother to the war. Danica will do anything to protect her people and that includes marrying Zane. Readers can see the character change in Danica; she goes from being a quiet unsure heir to a tough skinned queen. Readers can also see a change in Danica in regards to Zane as well. While she won't admit it we can see Danica go from being afraid and un-trusting of him to carig for him, loving him, protecting him and trusting him completely. (This book is written in her pov.)
I also love Zane. He is the serpiente heir and later King and is a cobra shifer with ruby red eyes. He is every emotional, passionate as well, caring, loving, loyal and a great king to his people. He is very outgoing with his emotions, says whats on his mind and also has a temper. He is wonderful with his people and they love him dearly. He is the one to seek out Danica for peace and the first to agree and convince Danica to marry him for peace. He has also lost all of his family except for his mother and one sister to the war. He is more free with his touches (not sexually) and speaking his mind because of how his culture is. He tries to get Danica to warm to him and be comfortable around him. He gives her space and doesn't want to push her into anything she's not ready for. He does tell her when they agree to marry that he doesn't love her but he gives her kisses and small loving touches that he doesn't realize is showing how much he has come to love her. From the way he is described he is also easy on the eyes. Yummy! ♥
I also love the character of Rei (real name is Andreios) who is Danica's best friend, confidante and captain of her Royal flight guard. He protects Danica with his life. He is a wonderful friend and loyal, skilled warrior. He and Danica have been friend since childhood and they love each other. If not for the advice from the tiger queen, Rei and Danica would have been married. Rei is such a good
guy. He understands when Danica marries Zane and even though he is heartbroken he still loves her and protects her with his life. Even though Zane "took" Danica from him he protects him as well and is seen to be warming to him. Rei ventures into the serpiente land when Danica is there with Zane and continues to protect her there. He works with Zane's palace guard to keep both monarch's safe. Even though I love Zane and Danica together, I would of been happy if Rei and Danica ended up together. This is one instance where I wouldn't have minded the heroine being with either of the guys because I love them both.
I also liked Zane's sister Irene who is not in the book much but is a wonderful secondary character. She is pregnant and one of the main reasons that Zane makes contact with the avians for peace. Irene is friendly and warm to Danica. She is almost like a sister to Danica. She offers advice when Danica needs it and is affectionate towards her.
The romance in this book is wonderful because even though it is a main part of the book it is not in your face and it is woven well into the plot about the war and peace. Even though Danica and Rei love each other there is no love triangle. As soon as Rei learns of Danica's decision to marry Zane he "backs off" and helps her plan a way to make the marriage for reality in their court. I guess its safe to say that Rei continues to love her from afar but there is no action on his or her part of trying to be together. Aside from one shared kiss, she is loyal to her vows to Zane and Zane is loyal to her even when his ex (mistress, love, girlfriend? not sure what to call her) kisses and tries to seduce him. I love reading how Zane and Danica go from being distant and wary of each other, both saying that they could never love each other, to becoming friends and caring for each other to loving each other. Its sweet in their conversations and little moments that while both characters won't admit their feelings to each other, the reader can clearly see it. It is very satisfying when they admit their feeling to each other and I can help but yell "YES!" every time I read it.
The cultures of both the avians and the serpiente are interesting to read about. The avians are ruled by a queen whose mate is her "alistair". The alistair doesn't seem to hold much power but the queen's flights (guards, soldiers and army) seem to have a lot of power over the Queen. The avians are a very reserved people who don't touch each other at all and never in public, who are in constant control of their emotions and never shows them. When Danica checks her emotions and puts on her avian face, Zane calls it her Avian reserve and he doesn't like it when she does that. The avians are a very prim and proper people. When Danica announces her marriage to Zane to secure peace the avians accept the marriage even if they are not happy about it and do not show their shock as having a serpent, I guess you could say king.
The serpiente people are completely different. The are very emotional and show their emotions. They speak their mind even to Zane who is the king. They are very expressive in dance and bright colors. They are free to speak to Zane and touch him like friends, not a king. They show their love to their partners and are very free people. To the serpiente, Zane and Danica must pretend, at least in the beginning, to be madly in love because the serpiente people would not accept Danica if the marriage was pitched as a political one. Its absurd to them for Zane to marry anyone he is not in love with. Danica tries very hard to fit in and not be so uptight when she's in the serpiente lands. She gets used to Zane's touches and kisses and eventually returns them. Its very interesting to see how different both species are.
Anyway this is one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it!
The book is about a war between the avian (bird) shifters and the serpiente (snake) shifters. The war has been going on for hundreds of years and the two heirs to the thrones want to end the war and have peace. The heirs are Danica Shardae and Zane Cobriana. Both sides agree to a meeting at a tiger shifter community whose queen is known for her wise advise. Her advise it for Zane and Danica to marry (in their sense of the word) so that the peace begins with them and they can show their people that both species can live in peace together. Both of them think the idea is absurd because of how different their cultures are. Nevertheless they agree to it to have peace. The rest of the book is about getting and maintaining the peace and how Zane and Danica slowly fall in love.
I love Danica. She is the heir and later on queen of the avian people and is a hawk shifter. She is extremely compassionate, caring, loving, kind, sweet and a great ruler. Her mother abdicates and wants Danica to become queen. Danica is very passionate about stopping the war and bloodshed. She has lost her entire family except her mother to the war. Danica will do anything to protect her people and that includes marrying Zane. Readers can see the character change in Danica; she goes from being a quiet unsure heir to a tough skinned queen. Readers can also see a change in Danica in regards to Zane as well. While she won't admit it we can see Danica go from being afraid and un-trusting of him to carig for him, loving him, protecting him and trusting him completely. (This book is written in her pov.)
I also love Zane. He is the serpiente heir and later King and is a cobra shifer with ruby red eyes. He is every emotional, passionate as well, caring, loving, loyal and a great king to his people. He is very outgoing with his emotions, says whats on his mind and also has a temper. He is wonderful with his people and they love him dearly. He is the one to seek out Danica for peace and the first to agree and convince Danica to marry him for peace. He has also lost all of his family except for his mother and one sister to the war. He is more free with his touches (not sexually) and speaking his mind because of how his culture is. He tries to get Danica to warm to him and be comfortable around him. He gives her space and doesn't want to push her into anything she's not ready for. He does tell her when they agree to marry that he doesn't love her but he gives her kisses and small loving touches that he doesn't realize is showing how much he has come to love her. From the way he is described he is also easy on the eyes. Yummy! ♥
I also love the character of Rei (real name is Andreios) who is Danica's best friend, confidante and captain of her Royal flight guard. He protects Danica with his life. He is a wonderful friend and loyal, skilled warrior. He and Danica have been friend since childhood and they love each other. If not for the advice from the tiger queen, Rei and Danica would have been married. Rei is such a good
guy. He understands when Danica marries Zane and even though he is heartbroken he still loves her and protects her with his life. Even though Zane "took" Danica from him he protects him as well and is seen to be warming to him. Rei ventures into the serpiente land when Danica is there with Zane and continues to protect her there. He works with Zane's palace guard to keep both monarch's safe. Even though I love Zane and Danica together, I would of been happy if Rei and Danica ended up together. This is one instance where I wouldn't have minded the heroine being with either of the guys because I love them both.
I also liked Zane's sister Irene who is not in the book much but is a wonderful secondary character. She is pregnant and one of the main reasons that Zane makes contact with the avians for peace. Irene is friendly and warm to Danica. She is almost like a sister to Danica. She offers advice when Danica needs it and is affectionate towards her.
The romance in this book is wonderful because even though it is a main part of the book it is not in your face and it is woven well into the plot about the war and peace. Even though Danica and Rei love each other there is no love triangle. As soon as Rei learns of Danica's decision to marry Zane he "backs off" and helps her plan a way to make the marriage for reality in their court. I guess its safe to say that Rei continues to love her from afar but there is no action on his or her part of trying to be together. Aside from one shared kiss, she is loyal to her vows to Zane and Zane is loyal to her even when his ex (mistress, love, girlfriend? not sure what to call her) kisses and tries to seduce him. I love reading how Zane and Danica go from being distant and wary of each other, both saying that they could never love each other, to becoming friends and caring for each other to loving each other. Its sweet in their conversations and little moments that while both characters won't admit their feelings to each other, the reader can clearly see it. It is very satisfying when they admit their feeling to each other and I can help but yell "YES!" every time I read it.
The cultures of both the avians and the serpiente are interesting to read about. The avians are ruled by a queen whose mate is her "alistair". The alistair doesn't seem to hold much power but the queen's flights (guards, soldiers and army) seem to have a lot of power over the Queen. The avians are a very reserved people who don't touch each other at all and never in public, who are in constant control of their emotions and never shows them. When Danica checks her emotions and puts on her avian face, Zane calls it her Avian reserve and he doesn't like it when she does that. The avians are a very prim and proper people. When Danica announces her marriage to Zane to secure peace the avians accept the marriage even if they are not happy about it and do not show their shock as having a serpent, I guess you could say king.
The serpiente people are completely different. The are very emotional and show their emotions. They speak their mind even to Zane who is the king. They are very expressive in dance and bright colors. They are free to speak to Zane and touch him like friends, not a king. They show their love to their partners and are very free people. To the serpiente, Zane and Danica must pretend, at least in the beginning, to be madly in love because the serpiente people would not accept Danica if the marriage was pitched as a political one. Its absurd to them for Zane to marry anyone he is not in love with. Danica tries very hard to fit in and not be so uptight when she's in the serpiente lands. She gets used to Zane's touches and kisses and eventually returns them. Its very interesting to see how different both species are.
Anyway this is one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
A+
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