THE HEART OF BETRAYAL By Mary E. Pearson

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles #2
Published by Square Fish on 8/2/16
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 496
Format: Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: There’s Rafe, who lied to Lia but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives among them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country . . . and her own destiny.

My Thoughts

~ The Heart of Betrayal has to be my favorite book in The Remnant Chronicles series. We got so much more in this book from the world building to the character development.

~ The book was set in Venda which I liked, because we get to see how the Vendans lived, they depended on the Komizar more than the resources they had.

~ Lia doesn’t have any allies in Venda so it was nice to see her make alliances with some unlikely citizens in Venda.

~ We also get to see Lia’s gift become more prominent, which seems to draw the Komizar’s interest.

~ Rafe lies to stay alive in the Vendan kingdom while he waits for his own army to come and rescue him and Lia. I love Rafe he’s smart, calculating, and has a good heart, he tries to do the right thing.

~ There isn’t a set strategy for Lia and Rafe to stay alive they just have to stay alive long enough to escape.

~ I liked seeing Kaden on his own turf, we get to learn more about his past and his relationship with the Komizar. I thought that Lia would have stronger feelings for Kaden since they were in Venda, but she just uses him to survive in his world.

~ Venda is in it’s own world, we don’t learn much about whats going on in the outside world sometimes news is passed around but not much often.

~ We also learn more about Vendan history and about the gift and Lia’s prophecy.

Overall

I loved this book, I liked Kiss of Deception too but Heart of Betrayal has so much more to offer. I loved the ending and I want to see how things are tied up in book three!