as in previous books, Lindsay Buroker's strength resides in writing very likable characters, at times bordering on the -suesque, but you can't help but root for them. And there's no dead moment in her books. ( )

Really, they should have known it wouldn't be that easy. There's no reason Rias--aka Federias Starcrest, the enemy Tikaya's people blame for the harm they suffered during the war--would be welcome on her home island. But they, or at least Tikaya, thought Rias' skills and her assurances of his loyalties would be enough. What they didn't and couldn't expect was that secrets dating back to the founding of her island nation would be their biggest problem. ( )

The first novel in this series, Encrypted, is the first thing I ever read by Lindsay Buroker, and the novel that got me hooked on her world. I like this series better than her main Emperor’s Edge series.

The action in this book directly follows the the action from the first book. Therefore, I can’t recommend this book unless you’ve already read Encrypted.

Now that Rias and Tikaya have escaped their captors, and the ruins, alive, its time for the scariest prospect of them all – introducing her new beau to the family. However, things don’t quite go as they planned when Rias and Tikaya are arrested before they even leave the docks. Now they must fight to clear their names and to gain acceptance on the island before its too late.

Now, overall, the plot of this book lacked a lot of the sense of danger that defined the first book. The antagonists in this book mainly are trying to scare off our main characters. And while peppered with sweet, intellectual moments between the lovebirds, I missed the more puzzle solving, archaeological influences of the first book. Not to say, I didn’t like it, far from it, it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting. ( )