Fast YA

 A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass

I really enjoyed this book; it was fast paced, easy to digest, and a good pallet cleanser. However, it's been a while since I've read a true YA book and I kept forgetting that it was YA so I was frustrated with some of the decisions that the characters were making. Annika and Lennox were destined for each other, having met as children and both left an impression on each other. Now, as young adults they are leading their people in different ways; she is the princess and he is the real power of his people, despite being kept down by the current ruler. She gets engaged to distant cousin to secure the throne and Nickolas is lame. While they are out starting their engagement tour of the kingdom Lennox is leading his first Commission with a team that he didn't get to pick, but that ends up having a lot of skills that he can use. His plan is to sneak into the castle and steal the crown to boost morale, but when presented with the opportunity to capture the princess, he does that instead. Nickolas abandons her. Annika and Lennox have some banter before she is put in the dungeon and left without a guard. She knows how to pick locks and is able to escape. Lennox and crew are sent to find her; she is hiding in a hollowed out tree and he finds her, gives her food and his cloak, says he didn't see her, and lets her go. She returns home and tells her brother and father of her escape. Her father sends three soldiers to parlay with Lennox's area and they think that they are setting up a peace accord. Lennox takes them to the sea and makes it so that one of them, Palmer, can escape and free the other two and then survival is up to them. The peace accord is really an attack. Both Annika's brother and father are injured in the battle. Annika and Lennox fight each other until a hurricane rises then they take shelter together in a cave (this is where I forgot that it was YA). While in the cave they not only call a truce but start opening up to each other and fall in love. Once the storm passes they return to their respective sides; Lennox's people are happy to see him (they weren't happy to see their ruler) and Annika finds out her father has fallen ill and her brother, who got shot with an arrow, names her regent and immediately falls into a coma. Palmer returns and gives his accounting of what happens. Annika sends him to Lennox and Lennox immediately defects to Annika. He protects her when his side attacks. Nickolas is killed. Her brother wakes up, their father dies, brother runs away with the maid, leaves a note naming her Queen, she finds a book that proves that Lennox is the rightful ruler of the kingdom. They FINALLY figure out that the way to solve all of their problems is for them to get married and unite the two people. Epilogue is a year later with her having just gave birth. I spent a lot of time yelling at the characters to just make better decisions, but of course they couldn't because 1)they couldn't hear me and 2)if they could hear me they wouldn't have listened because they were like 18-20 years old and therefore incapable of listening. Still, I enjoyed this book, despite the characters making ridiculous decisions that just made their lives harder.