Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this book in part because of the glowing reviews and in part because there were no negative reviews yet posted. A book nobody hated? It seemed to be a safe bet. This book started strong. It had interesting premise, appealing characters, and enough internal conflict in the male lead to make me optimistic for the story line. Also, there were no glaring typos or word-usage problems to make me roll my eyes and wish for a red pen. The first 1/3 was excellent. And then the two characters started traveling together, and suddenly their conversations became stilted and awkward, and their internal monologues suddenly became a bit trite and more, "oh, I don't know what I should do, but s/he is just so darn hot that I can't help wanting to be around them a little bit longer!" By about 1/2 of the way through, it was pretty obvious that this was not a character- or even plot-driven story, but a hormone-driven one. The male lead was no longer a believable 23-year-old assassin/former henchman of an evil prince, but a 15-year-old Romeo that forced himself to step back because his Juliet's presence was so intoxicating that he couldn't keep adequate guard if they were to drop everything and make passionate love--but wait, aren't there people trying to kill us, and aren't your crippling migraines going to turn life-threatening if we don't do something about them soon? No, don't worry about it, we love each other (these hormones are love, right?); I'm sure things will work out just fine. This story was all the more disappointing because it had such potential, and completely failed to live up to it. If you want a convincing reformed assassin, check out Sicarius of Emperor's Edge fame. If you want a fantasy soap opera that caters to the teen Harlequin scene, then this may be the book for you.