A princess longing to be free...
On the dawn of her courtship trials, Princess Lyana Aethionus knows she should be focused on winning her perfect mate, yet her thoughts wander to the open sky waiting at the edge of her floating kingdom. One final adventure calls. Upon fleeing the palace, the last thing she expects to find is a raven prince locked in a death match with a dragon.
A bastard aching to belong...
Reviled son of a dead king, Rafe would do anything for his beloved half-brother, Prince Lysander Taetanus, including posing as him in the upcoming courtship trials. When a dragon interrupts their secret exchange, he orders his studious sibling to run. After suffering a fatal blow, Rafe is saved by a beautiful dove who possesses forbidden magic, just like him.
Fate brought them together, now destiny will tear them apart...
Unknown to the world above, on the foggy sea ten thousand feet below, a young king fights a forgotten war. He believes Lyana is the queen prophesied to save the world, and with the help of his favored spy, hidden deep in the highest ranks of the dove royal house, he will stop at nothing to have her.
Three shocking betrayals. Two star-crossed lovers. One unforgettable journey. If you like fierce heroines, brooding heroes, forbidden romance, and action-packed magical adventures with twists you'll never see coming, don't miss The Raven and the Dove!
My thoughts
I thought this book was just a Tristan & Isolde retelling but oh my... it was SO MUCH MORE. It is a YA fantasy with forbidden magic, floating islands and dragons ! Yes, yes, dragons. I was not prepared for that and this book really surprised me.
It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once I got invested, I couldn't stop reading. Not because the plot was amazing, it was merely okay to be honest, but the romance! The tension ! Oh my god, it was well done. Really well done.
“This will not defeat you. It will not define you.”
This book has 4 points of view: Lyana and Rafe, the main characters, but also Xander, Rafe's brother, and Cassie, Lyana's bestfriend. While I really enjoyed Lyana and Rafe's POV, I was a bit bored by Xander's and Cassie's pov. Xander was a whiny character, and I could not care less about him but maybe we can fault Lyana and Rafe's romance for that, because I was really invested in them honestly.
