Ismae has been raised and sheltered by the convent of St. Mortain, patron saint of death. The sisters of this convent, dubbed "Death's Handmaidens" by the populace of medieval Brittany, are not merely devout: each has been trained in the art of death, and follow their saint's signs and symbols in defense of their country. The young Duchess Anne of Brittany has recently been betrayed, and it is in hopes of unearthing that traitor of Ismae is assigned to work with Gavriel Duval, a close member of Anne's court, who may or may not be a traitor himself. Posing as his mistress, Ismae gains access to the Breton court, but soon finds herself questioning her convent's orders when they conflict with the signs from her saint.
First off, don't fall into the same trap I did: this is a straight-up romance novel masquerading as YA historical fiction (with assassin-nuns!). That didn't make me like it any less, but it took me a few chapters to readjust my expectations. This story is good, but not all the characters and relationships are as fleshed-out as they could be (partly because they're all just background to the relationship between Ismae and Duval). Still, I had a really good time with this book, and the suspense was ratcheted up enough that I tore through the last 100 pages in record time (apologies to any of my coworkers who tried to talk to me at lunch yesterday; someone had been poisoned, and it was VERY IMPORTANT that I knew whether or not they were going to make it!!). As a bonus, this cover isn't one of those YA covers where they slap a girl in a fancy dress that has nothing to do with the story: both that exact dress and the crossbow play important roles in the book, so go publishers!
This is the first in a series, but like all true romance series, the next book will focus on a different character (another of the assassin-nuns introduced in this volume). I'll definitely be reading it, though it will fall under the heading of "guilty pleasure."
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