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Yes, I'm reviewing another of Melissa's books. And yeah, feel free to disregard this as hopelessly biased'even more so as I show up in the dedication of this one. I do try to be honest in all my reviews and these are no different, but I am pretty close to the material.

Willow North is a thief with a favorite prey: Tremontane's magical Ascendants. The largely unaccountable Ascendants act with a great deal of impunity and arrogance and Willow hates that and everything they stand for. So much so that it comes between her and Kerish, the man who captured her heart. Still, when he comes to her in the dead of night with the young heir to the throne in tow she finds herself unwilling to cast them out without helping at all. And thus begins a journey that takes her far, indeed, both physically and emotionally.

I love Melissa's strong heroines and Willow is no exception. She's competent and self-assured and unwilling to compromise on the things that are important to her even when that seriously complicates her life. I particularly enjoyed seeing her fall in love with the eight year-old boy king and become his protector, first by the necessity of being the only one willing and able to step up, but eventually in his own right as the boy who needs both her love and protection. And I tell you, Felix rips my heart out, every. single. time.

I also ache for Kerish, though more subtly so. He's obviously trying to bridge the gap between them, but Willow has a hard time getting past the pain of their parting all those years ago. And, to be honest, he does as well and that's heartbreaking, too.

If there's a drawback to the book, it's that the trilogy really does encompass a single, coherent story and this one ends with a lot still to be resolved. It isn't a cliffhanger in the sense that nobody is in danger or lost or anything. But there is a number of open issues that will be addressed in the next book, so if that's going to bother you, then I highly suggest waiting a month or two for the others to be published. That said, it's an excellent story and one I very much enjoy, even after having read it several times and coming back again for another go.

About the magic: For those wondering about Tremontane's magic, this book has a ton more detail than the others. Many of the things that are so common in the other books are being invented in this one and the origins of the hatred against those with inherent magic becomes pretty clear while we're at it.