Review: Sun and Moon - Desiree Williams

Sun and Moon by Desiree Williams

Young Adult Fantasy

Rating : {★★★☆☆}
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

There is nothing in life that eighteen year old Zara craves more than her freedom. Stolen from her home in Cadrebia at the age of eight, Zara has spent more years than she cared to admit as a slave to the Tankadesh courts. Her days are filled with protecting the princess, while she spends nights entertaining the king and his officials with her mastery of weapons. Any spare moment in between, she plots escape.
Yet her hopes for freedom come to a crashing halt when a stranger arrives bearing the mark of her assigned lifemate, and he threatens war if she isn’t turned over into his care. But a lifemate is not part of the plan. Her dreams, of choosing her own path and being the master of her own will, weaken as her Moon seeks to claim his Sun.
Is it possible that this stranger, with gentle blue eyes and a ready smile, didn’t come to be her new master? That there could be more to his tale?
Zara soon finds that neither her captivity nor her parents’ deaths were mere random attacks. And by returning to Cadrebia, she may have put the future of the royal line—and her Moon—in jeopardy. While Zara breathes in her first taste of freedom, her enemies move in, seeking to rob Cadrebia of its blessed prophecy.
To keep what she holds dear, Zara must rise above the pain and uncertainty to claim the lifemate assigned to her, or more than her freedom will be stolen this time. 

Actual Rating - 3.5 stars

I'm not sure where my expectations truly lay when I received this book. In truth I think I expected a lighter version of a 'Loveswept' novel and this was both more than that and less than that. This is such a wholesome story - there's no graphic sex scenes or even innuendo which is sweet and refreshing. In fact - the whole novel was sweet - perhaps a little too much so.

This is not a long book but it does manage to combine a unique fantasy world into a primarily romantic novel. It has fearless women, resilience, love, magical abilities with a healthy sprinkling of action and I thoroughly enjoyed that Williams embraced the political intrigue and power plays that come with ruling a nation and used them in her plot.

The main problem I had with this book was that everything fit just a little too well into its pigeon-hole. To make this a brilliant novel it needed more depth to the characters, more sharp edges and grit to make it more real. It needed a little more suspense and intensity instead of everything feeling a little too sugar coated.

Jaedon was a little too patient, a little too perfect and sweet and Zara was just a little bit too special. The remaining 2 of Jaedon's 4 minors just happened to find their lifemates within the pages of this book; everyone had a happily ever after.

Regardless the romance was sweet and gentle and grew believably throughout the story. The climax, although it came and went too quickly, was still satisfying.

It was just a little too fairy tale ending. But sometimes that is what you want in a book - total escapism from the real world where everything works out perfectly.