Dance of Thieves by Mary Pearson (review)

As one of the queen’s premier guard, Kazi is sent to Hell’s Mouth to capture one of her kingdom’s most notorious enemies. Instead she ends up kidnapped by human traffickers, along with Jase Ballenger, leader of the family that controls Hell’s Mouth. The pair escapes, but they’re chained together at the ankle and forced to struggle through wilderness, hoping to make it to Jase’s town safely. Stubborn arguing leads to flirting leads to some lusty encounters, but the possible relationship is put on hold when they make it to Hell’s Mouth. The Ballengers, no friend to the queen, are definitely acting suspicious, amd Jase has to protect his family’s secrets while Kazi’s tasked with sussing them out and bringing her information back to the royal palace. This is perfectly paced, moving easily from Jase and Kazi’s initial survival story to the political intrigue of Hell’s Mouth, spiced with romance and scaffolded with a carefully crafted fantasy world. Both Kazi and Jase are sympathetic in their motives and loyalties, and their bonds with family and friends and their engagement with various subplots fully flesh out their characters, making them more than just romantic partners. While this is set several years after the events of the book’s companion series, the Remnant Chronicles (The Kiss of Deception, BCCB 7/14, etc.), no background knowledge is needed to appreciate this compelling mix of high fantasy, political thriller, and swoony romance.