Radiance by Grace Draven

Ildiko has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn't just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she's known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light. Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

Wow. I loved this! It reminded me of some of my favorite medieval romances with more fantasy added into the mix. What a win!

I enjoyed this book. I'm definitely one for more flowery scene-building, but even though the descriptions were relatively sparse, I had a picture in my mind of how everything should look.

First, Ildiko. She was awesome. Patient, kind, smart, and sassy. She kept me going.

Brishen was sweet and strong. I really enjoyed watching them fall in love. There was no angst between them. Honesty, friendship, then love. It was a nice change from typical drama-filled romance.

There were several copy-editing issues with the Kindle edition, but I was able to look past them.

The book probably should have have a glossary because how on Earth are we supposed to pronounce “hercegesé?” In my mind, I just replaced it with the word “duchess” because muddling though it every time (and it is in there a gratuitous amount) was too annoying.

Overall, this was a good, fun, short read. I'd recommend it if you like fantasy romance.

This rates a 3.5 for me.
I like that fact that the romance was built on the emotional rather than the physical (so I can actually picture it lasting more than 10 days). I also really enjoyed how they avoided the purity and sex issues.
What made me rank this 3.5 instead of 4 was it felt to much like a build up. The plot felt as though the entire book was just setting the scene for a larger series. As a book by itself it was very unsatisfying.
I will probably read the next Wraith King book in the series.