Jeannie Lin
ISBN #: 978-0373296149
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Date Released: October 2010
Page Count: 288
Price: $5.99 Retail
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Format: Print

BACK COVER BLURB:

During China's infamous Tang Dynasty, a time awash with luxury yet littered with deadly intrigues and fallen royalty, betrayed Princess Ai Li flees before her wedding.

Miles from home, with only her delicate butterfly swords for defense, she enlists the reluctant protection of a blue-eyed warrior….

Battle-scarred, embittered Ryam has always held his own life at cheap value. Ai Li's innocent trust in him and honorable, stubborn nature make him desperate to protect her—which means not seducing the first woman he has ever truly wanted….

COVER SNARK:
No cover snark. I think this is a beautiful cover.

FIRST LINES:

The palanquin dipped sharply and Ai Li had to brace her hands against the sides to stay upright. Amidst the startled cries of her attendants, the enclosure lurched again before crashing to the ground with the splintering crack of wood.

LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:

I've heard about the buzz on this book for a long time, long before it became published, before Ms. Lin won Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Contest for Unpublished writers when BUTTERFLY SWORDS was making the contest rounds. I've always meant to get this novel. I even requested it from Net Galley and then I my TBR pile got outrageous and I let my Net Galley requests lapse and never got around to reading all the books I requested. Then I noticed it was a free Kindle download and I snapped it up, where it sat on ShaNayNay.

Then one day I was scrolling through my Kindle for Droid ap on my phone and BUTTERFLY SWORDS started calling to me. I opened the book and began reading.

BUTTERFLY SWORDS opens with a great action scene. Ai Li's carriage (I know it's called something else in China during this time period, but my mind just went blank) is overrun by soldiers attempting to kidnap her. She makes her escape and is on the run where she meets Ryam (a foreigner) after he saves her from another attack. Ai Li and Ryam make the journey back to Ai Li's home where they are pursued by a powerful lord is determined to have Ai Li in his clutches so that he may hold sway over her family.

BUTTERFLY SWORDS is a damn good book that deserves all the praise that it's been getting. Sorry, I'm not sure how else to explain it. It's good. The only gripe that I had about BUTTERFLY SWORDS is that it took me a minute to warm up to the story. It wasn't the action (which was great), but the writing. It took me a moment to warm up to the writing and become engaged in the characters, but I attribute that to this being Ms. Lin's first novel. However, BUTTERFLY SWORDS builds and builds and builds. Every page of BUTTERFLY SWORDS is better than the page before it. I soon found myself transported into Ms. Lin's world and rooting for Ai Li and Ryam. What I loved the most about BUTTERFLY SWORDS was how the relationship between the hero and heroine develops. You're always kept guessing as to how Ai Li and Ryam will be able to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve their happily ever after. Usually, I'm very good figuring out how things are going to work out but with BUTTERFLY SWORDS I had not a clue and I freaking loved that. Seriously, it keep me guessing from the last page. Really, I had no idea how Ai Li and Ryam were going to get together until the last freaking page. It was great.

I highly recommend BUTTERFLY SWORDS.

WHERE PURCHASED:
It was a limited time free download from the publisher via Amazon.

RATING:









COMING SOON:
Stop by later as Jeannie Lin will be stopping by in my Inside the Author's Studio post and will be giving away a copy of BUTTERFLY SWORDS.