What starts out as just a way to get the princess out of possible marriages to disgusting men, turns into real romance and the pair decide that they really want to marry and love each other. She fearing an arranged marriage against her wishes, comes up with a plan with the young bar tender. Princess running from her responsibilities runs into a bar staffed by commoners. I've read some real turkeys in the slice of life fantasy genre. This was so much not what I was expecting. I had a bit of a time getting into this story as it starts rather slow. This book was recommended to me, and at first I thought I had received bad advice. You won’t see the twists coming, I assure you. There’s intrigue, secret plots, and mysteries to solve. The hero works his way up the noble line, one lady, duchess, and queen at a time. It gets heated in several scenes of a certain nature-you know the kind I mean. This novel contains an unconventional relationship, told in a slow burn, meaningful way. Though, there was one he wished wouldn't see him-a dark presence in the shadows, darting silently across the rooftops at night, hunting the members of aristocracy it deemed unworthy of the title. It turns out, when a lowly tavern owner talks his way into royalty, it can turn a head or two. The duchess, a thick, sensual redhead, was looking inquiringly at Henry too. Oh, and if Garnet’s petite drow librarian friend would be coming along for the ride-in every way that meant-then so be it. Power is a ladder, and Henry started climbing, two rungs at a time. He’d aim for a nobler seat, high above the counts, dukes and all. He wouldn’t stop at her pretend proposal. See, the moment Garnet asked Henry to act as her betrothed-as some kind of game to shock her parents-he had it all mapped out. Henry would never have expected the count's beautiful buxom daughter to walk into his tavern, looking for refuge.Īnd when the Lady Garnet offered him a proposal, she probably didn’t expect Henry to have concocted a plan of his own.

Raconteur by Kirk Mason