I finished the ARC of Of Bargains and Betrayal by Ashley Bresee last evening. That ending, wow, I'm still processing it. I'm hoping some of it is a misunderstanding, because if not, then one of my favorite side characters is a bad-guy. This was a really fun book and I really really enjoyed it. I will be getting a shelf trophy of this one; it instantly became a favorite. Enora Wynn is the bastard daughter of a king. She has, for the most part, been able to skate through life without the typical expectations of a princess. She's in her 30s and is able to live her own life and keep her own friends. But once her father passes away suddenly her crappy half-bother inherits the crown and promptly marries Enora off to the old king of the neighboring kingdom. Enora and a party of Odessans depart for the long and arduous journey through the Wastes to Grimmoria. She gets a little too sloshed one evening of the journey and wakes up with her tent and the whole camp burning around her. She barely makes it out but not before sustaining burns to her body. She next wakes up in a jail cell in Grimmoria with only hazy memories of her journey there. An Umbrite visits her in her cell and accuses her of several crimes. The correspondence between Callum (the king of Grimmoria) and her half-brother arranging the marriage are all forgeries. She also finds out the arranged marriage itself is a farce as Callum has been dead for years, the Umbrite in front of her, Maksym, his son killed him and took the thrown. Maksym gives her three terrible options to atone for her crimes under Grimmorian law. She can be executed, sent out to the Wastes with no supplies and try to make it back to Odessa (also a death sentence and a slow one at that) or marry Maksym. He gives her a few days to decide. She is notable perterbed with these supposed options when, as far as she's concerned, she committed no crimes of note. She's also pissed that her despicable half-brother has set her up. It takes her a little more time to realize that his intentions were more sinister than just trying to get rid of her. Obviously, after some thought she decides to marry Maksym but has some stipulations of her own. He agrees and then enacts a blood bargain. He also informs her at some point here that before they can officially marry she'll have to participate in a trial to earn the marriage rights. Maksym still has a rather tenuous hold on his position and there are traditions that need to be upheld so the people will accept their union. That's about all the plot points I want to divulge at this point.
A lot of what Enora believes is not the truth. Maksym's High Mage Jasper helps with her training for the Agön Ferr, but he is someone from Enora's past. She goes thermal once she finds out who he is. There is an attraction between Maksym and Enora but they butt heads too at a certain point. Enora is attend to and befriends Eilir, a sprite. They are essentially a two foot tall tree creature with iridescent wings. Eilir is adorable and I love them. Gallen is another mage who helped nurse Enora back to heath along with Jasper when she first got there. Enora finds friendship with Gallen when things get complicated with Jasper and Maksym. All in all this was a fabulous story and I'm butchering it with my summery. Enora, Jasper and Maksym's pasts are all dark and complicated. Maksym is nearly 100 years old and has been through hell to get where he is. This series will eventually be a why choose, but this book only has Enora getting with one of the MMCs. There is a lot more going on under the surface. The ending was cliffhanger. I have some theories as to what is happening but I absolutely need the sequel to this immediately.
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