Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.
Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.
Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The Prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.
So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all.
A zombie young woman attempts to prevent a war in this young adult fantasy romance.
This is a hard novel to review - I waffled between two and four stars for several weeks. I eventually settled on four stars because of the chemistry between the romantic leads, but I think everything else fell into the two star range for me. Zera is a sassy, sarcastic protagonist who fears very little due to her undead status. While a fun lead, she never felt authentic or real. I'm not sure I would be sad if something actually happened to her. Her and Lucien have wonderful chemistry, and it's probably the only thing that will keep me reading the sequel. The other characters aren't all that interesting, and the plot felt a little all over the place. I think all the ingredients for an amazing fantasy romance are present, but not necessarily combined well.
tl;dr While an unmemorable fantasy, the chemistry between the leads sizzles.
