Marissa Doyle, Between Silk and Sand

As the younger daughter of the king of Thekla, Saraid has always known that it is her duty to marry the ruler of a neighboring country, thus cementing an alliance that will benefit her people. With the help of The Book, a treatise written by a wise courtier to a previous Theklan monarch, Saraid knows she can become the perfect royal wife. When she is betrothed to the Lord Protector of Mauburni, she sets off with a small retinue through the harsh desert land called the Adaiha. En route she is kidnapped by a warlord named Cadel who is determined not to let her reach her destination. At first, Saraid is furious and desperate to escape. But the more time she spends in Cadel’s camp, the more she finds herself drawn to him — and the more conflicted she becomes about where she truly wishes to be.

I want to start off by saying that I didn’t dislike this book; it was a pleasant enough read, and I liked Saraid as a character. But several things about this book really frustrated me! First of all, the premise reminds me of Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword — which is not necessarily a bad thing, except that The Blue Sword is so much better! Second, the prologue reveals way too much of the plot of the book, which completely killed the dramatic tension for me. And third, I found the romance somewhat problematic because it seems like Saraid is always wrong and Cadel is always right. Not to mention the fact that she is his prisoner; and while Cadel does have legitimate reasons to prevent her from reaching Mauburni, he never shares those reasons with her. So overall, I found myself focusing a lot more on this book’s flaws than its good points. I’ve read and enjoyed other books by Marissa Doyle, but I’d advise people to pass on this one.