Author: Frances Pauli
Release Date: November 21, 2013
Series: Princes of the Shroud
Publisher: The Zharmae Publishing Press (Zharmae.com)
Book Description: Vashia’s father is the planetary governor. Unfortunately, he’s also a complete bastard. When he promises her to his lackey, Jarn, she panics. On the run in the nastiest corner of the galaxy, Vashia seizes her one chance at escape and signs on as a bride candidate for the elusive race of aliens known as the Shrouded, unaware that she very well may be chosen as the next Queen of Shroud
Of the seven, volatile Shrouded princes, Dolfan may be the only one that doesn't covet the throne. So the last thing he expects to find in the future queen is the woman of his dreams. If he wants Vashia, he must accept the throne as well. Unfortunately, his long-time rival has the same idea. Now, only the planet’s sacred
crystal can decide their fates, but what happens when the right woman is paired with the wrong man? And when Jarn comes after what was promised to him?
crystal can decide their fates, but what happens when the right woman is paired with the wrong man? And when Jarn comes after what was promised to him?
GoodReads
My
Thoughts:
This
was a fast-paced novel with a surprising ending. I enjoyed the characters and
the intrigue. At first I didn’t particularly like Mofitan. I thought he was
going to be one of the “bad guys”, but in the end he turned out to be a pretty
decent fellow. I loved the clean romance aspect of this book.
I
thought the idea of a stone being able to pick out the perfect mate for someone
was an interesting idea. It sure would save us the trouble of picking them out
for ourselves and then ending up with so many divorces. All of the couples
(except for Vashia and Haftan) were perfectly matched and happily wedded until
their dying day.
The
angst and anxiety that the women felt as they left Eclipsis made me think about
the women that left Europe to become wives of Canadians and Americans in the 19th
and 20th centuries. The difference being that the women in the book
weren’t just leaving a continent, they were leaving their world. It must have
been a hard decision, and they must have been desperate.
But
the people on Shroud were desperate too. For the Shrouded, though they all mated
with women from other worlds, only had male children. In order to further their
race, this very private, insulated society had to bring women to their world in
order to reproduce. And most of the women that were willing to come to their
world were those who wanted to escape the lives that they were presently
living. Most were prostitutes and criminals. Not your best class of people to
start your society with. Ironically however, Shroud had a much better economy
and standard of living that Eclipsis, where Vashia came from. So perhaps the
state of the society comes more from the leadership than anything else.
Frances
Pauli was very creative in her creation of her fantasy world. Her descriptions
of the land and sky-scapes made the scenery easy to visualize. I gave this book
3 stars. It was very enjoyable.
Thank
you to Zharmae Publishing who provided a free copy of this book for a fair and
honest review. All thoughts are my own.
Author Bio:
Frances Pauli writes speculative fiction, usually with touches of humor or romance, which means, of course, that she has trouble choosing sides.
She's always been a fan of things outside the box, odd, weird or unusual, and that trend follows through her books, which feature aliens, fairies, and even, on occasion, an assortment of humans.
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