The Kiss of Deception

*Starred Review* She is a princess, and it is her duty to marry into an alliance. But 17-year-old Lia has her own opinion about that obligation, one that she puts into action when she escapes her wedding with her lady-in-waiting, Pauline. Determined, confident Lia thinks that she knows how to cover her tracks, and soon she and Pauline are working as barmaids in Pauline’s hometown. Now two new voices enter to help tell the story. One belongs to the prince whom Lia was supposed to marry. He is curious about his fled fiancée and angry that she thought of a way to get out of the marriage first. The other voice belongs to an assassin who is sent by the Komizar of Venda to make sure that Lia doesn’t change her mind and return to initiate an alliance that will harm their country. Pearson offers readers a wonderfully full-bodied story: harrowing, romantic, and full of myth and memory, fate and hope. She never compromises her characters—especially the multifaceted Lia—for plot; each element motivates the other. There is also a richness to the descriptions that makes readers feel that they can see and even smell the changing landscapes. This has the sweep of an epic tale, told with some twists; it’s a book that almost doesn’t need a sequel, but readers will be thrilled that it continues on. Grades 9-12. --Ilene Cooper