2021 romantic fantasy. Clara's on her own in tribal lands, trying to
rescue her sisters from the pillaged convent; Istvhan was the paladin
of a god now dead. They have goals in common, but neither of them is
telling the other everything.
"Galen, I don't know what's going on here, but hopefully this woman
can explain."
"What if she kills you, Boss?" called Galen.
"Then either avenge me or put her in charge. Your choice."
I won't go into the spoilers, but they each have good reasons for
keeping quiet about what they're really up to and what particular
abilities they have. Each of them has a task that they don't want to
broadcast to the world; then, even once they trust each other a
little, each of them has history with potential partners being put off
when they learned the truth.
"I was married once," said Istvhan defensively.
Doc Mason raised an eyebrow.
The problem with being a paladin was that you were fundamentally
honest. "For about six weeks. It was more of a fling with extra
paperwork."
It's not just about the romance, of course. Where Paladin's Grace
was an urban adventure, this is a traditional fantasy journey across
hostile country, ending at a city so corrupt that even the White Rat
can't make a great difference to it. The "smooth men" of Paladin's
Grace are back, as well as power struggles that notice the little
people only as pawns to be drafted into the service of one faction or
another.
And because it's Kingfisher there are also serious ethical
considerations. When Istvhan was a paladin, the god pointed out his
targets and he could surrender to the battle-rage knowing that his
actions were just. But… now that that certainty is gone, were they,
really, even back then?
Another fine book from Kingfisher. Yes, the romance between a
burned-out paladin and a middle-aged woman is something of a theme.
But you know what you're getting into.