Purchased after reading 2 sample paragraphs on the Kindle. Hopefully this will wash the taste of sloppily written UF out of my mouth cause the opening is gorgeously written.

R.L. LaFevers is now one of my favorite authors. Despite this being the first in a series, this book is complete in itself. Thank you, thank you for the lack of a cliffhanger.

The writing style in this book really reminded me of the elegance of J. Carey's Kushiel's Dart without any sex. And speaking of sex, although this qualifies to me as an entry into PNR, there is NO sex - although there is romance--some may argue against it, but to me sex doesn't equal romance.

I am eagerly awaiting the next installment from Ms LaFevers and will tentatively add her to my auto-buy list. ( )

I really enjoyed this classic fantasy feeling book of girl assassins, historical intrigue, and romance. While it did not stray into anything new, I gulped it up in two days and picked up the next book. ( )

Good story, interesting premise with a female assassin. The first-person present tense storytelling was a little distracting to me for some reason. ( )

I am not a big fan of paranormal stories, but that aspect of this book is fairly minor. The historical fiction aspects were well done and I found the setting of 1480s Brittany fascinating.

Erin Moon did an excellent narration - I look forward to listening her narrate other audiobooks. ( )

Grave Mercy
3.5 Stars

In a time period replete with prejudice and superstition, Ismae Rienne is shunned by family members and villagers alike for being a daughter of Death. Escaping the cruelty of an arranged marriage, Ismae seeks sanctuary at the convent of St. Mortain where she is instructed in the art of assassination and learns to make good use of the gifts bestowed by her father. On her first assignment, Ismae finds herself woefully unprepared for the political intrigue and deadly machinations of the court of Brittany and will have to make the most difficult choice of all between the destiny she longs to fulfill and the love of a man she may be forced to kill.

Despite the minor elements of magical realism included in the narrative, this is a work of historical fiction revolving around the early life of Anne, Duchess of Brittany.

As an Anglophile, most of my knowledge of this time period related to English history, so the focus on Brittany and France was both novel and interesting. Anne led a fascinating life and it was fun learning more about the various people and events depicted in the book.

The story itself was well paced albeit a little too lengthy. The slow burn romance is a highlight of the tale and will resonate with fans of Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study series. In fact, there are many similarities between Snyder's Yelena and LaFever's Ismae.

The series continues with different heroines, but neither is particularly appealing so it will remain on the backburner for now. ( )