Heartless

Summary: Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon be married. She dreams of a handsome and charming prince, but when the first suitor arrives, she finds him stodgy and boring. Prince Aethelbald from the mysterious land of Farthestshore has traveled far to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be approaching Parumvir.
Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his warnings. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir, and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in grave danger. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.

My Take: This one was a surprise on many levels. It's darker than a lot of the YA novels I've read - but it's still clean. There is no "hooking up" in this book. The romance is more about her dreams for romance and waiting for her prince to return for her.

Usually the books I read are character focused and a lot of work goes into developing and focusing on them. In this case the story is king. I would say at least ... two thirds of the story have strong elements of allegory. Although a Christian can read these elements into the story, there is no overt mention of anything Biblical so this might be something that could bridge the gap for fans of fantasy.

I thought this was a really unique story with lots of interesting types of characters. The author has populated her world with fairies, goblins, dragons, and everything in between. This is her debut book and I look forward to seeing what she has for the rest of the series.