The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Seeing the beautiful cover and reading the synopsis, I was immediately drawn to this book and so sure I would love it. Sadly though The Kiss of Deception didn’t blow me away. But it was good. A simple, light read, although a bit slow at times. The main problem for me was that I felt like there could have been so much more to this book.

In short, the story is about Princess Lia who escapes her arranged marriage and flies to a small coastal village. But following her and eventually tracking her down are not only the prince she was supposed to marry, but also an assassin hired to kill her. At the village, Lia meets and interacts with two young men named Rafe and Kaden, but she doesn’t know that they are not who they pretend to be. Even though the readers know that Rafe and Kaden are not who they say they are, we are also left in the dark at first as to who of them is the prince and who is the assassin.

I really liked the premises of the plot and it was intriguing in the beginning, especially before the mystery of Rafe’s and Kaden’s identities were revealed. I also really liked Lia and how she stood up for herself when she decided to flee her home to avoid an arranged marriage. But for a YA fantasy there wasn’t as much action as I expected. After her initial escape, Lia more or less stays in a small village, trying to blend in to hide from her father’s army sent to find her. And when the suspense was lost after the reveal of the assassin’s and prince’s identity, the story slowed down even more and focused mostly on the romance part.
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But all in all, The Kiss of Deception was an enjoyable and sweet read, even though I felt that it didn’t quite reach its full potential.

​Find out more about the book and the author here: Mary E. Pearson