Red Rope of Fate

I had a blast with this book. The story was lovely and simple but kept me engaged nonetheless, the characters were endearing and more well-developped than what I was anticipating. Arion was totally my type. A black-haired, taciturn, reserved and strong man? Sign me up. Tari was adorable: she was calm, stalwart and at times impulsive. I enjoyed following their relationship and seeing both of them grow on their own as well.

“I'm dreadfully sorry, Captain Arion, but it has been a long night; I am not as intelligent as I normally am, and this sounds potentially embarrassing. Can you please explain in more than a single sentence?”

I'll admit that for as much as I love the more rough-and-tumble, going on quests, fighting epic wars and saving the world in my fantasy books, there's a not so small part of me that will also always love the fantasy romance. There's something about those stories that makes the girl in me come out and I just adore the fluff, humor and drama that comes with fantasy romance.

This book is exactly that.

At the back of her mind, Tari's bond with Arion burned steadily. Tari felt it, reached for it, and savagely yanked on it when she stopped next to Eric. (Across the room, Arion stumbled unaccountably.)

This book takes the different races falling in love that I adore so much in a fantasy romance book and adds the expected ‘opposites attracting'.

Tari is a Lesser Elf. She's strong and brave, but she's also got a very good sense of humor and isn't particularly good at keeping quite. Arion is...well:

“Of course I would fall for Captain Emotionally Constipated. I could train a rock to hold more affection for me.”

That's the human love interest in a nutshell. Personally, I think he's great, but he does fall into that ‘stoic male fighter' from romances a little too well. Though he does have some wonderful moments.

There is, surprising me a bit, a plot beyond human and elf fall in love. Though don't be distracted, if you're not here for the wonderfully convoluted romance between Tari and Arion, there's only one other thing I can say.

The supporting cast is brilliant!

“Good boy,” Seer Ringali said, patting the top of Arion's head with the fan.

I really like everyone we get to deal with in the story - even a couple of the characters that were the ‘villains' of the story. The only one I didn't love was the human Queen, but that's okay because we never even hear her talk.

While everyone was great, it was the human King Petyrr and the elven King Celrin that stole my heart.

It was King Petyrr, storming the room with a bright smile, askew hat, and his usual procession. Today, trailing behind him were: four courtiers, six guards, two assistants carrying quills, a footman, and one fat, orange tabby cat that sat on the King's shoulders.

They can't communicate too well, thanks to the human/elf language barrier, so most of their conversations are through translators - though occasionally in the universal sign language - but these two men have a very strong, solid friendship that I wish I could find more often in stories with royals.

“Anyone who wants to ship one of you two off will have to deal directly with me. And King Celrin - and he's got a mean right hook.”

The only real complain I've got is that they were a little too quick to put the name of love to Tari and Arion's affection for me. Also, there were a couple of minor spelling/grammar flubs that I noticed. Nothing major - and easy mistakes to make - but they were there and a editor wouldn't be amiss.

“I am courting you. I have been for quite some time.”

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

Sweet, fun, and clean.