Love Triangle Done Right

 The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

I accidentally read the spin-off series first and loved it so of course I had to go back and read the original. This had me STRESSED! But in a good way. We have three main characters, but they read as five. That was an interesting way to keep the love triangle going while also keeping the suspense high. Lia is a princess and first daughter (but third child). She is being married off to a man she has never met, but that she assumes is old, ugly, and mean. On her wedding day she runs off with her personal maid and best friend. They travel to besties hometown, but they leave multiple different trails to make it harder to find them. Lia is being tracked by the prince she abandoned, her oldest brother and the rest of the palace guard, and an assassin from barbarian country. She and bestie take up residence in an inn, with the woman that helped raise bestie. And then she starts working as a tavern made. She loves it. Enter two hot strangers: Kaiden and Rafe. One is the prince and one is the assassin. But we don't know who is who and they don't know why the other is in town. Kaiden is blonde and Rafe is brunette. She likes Kaiden but has way more chemistry with Rafe. Then she realizes she has to go home and deal with some things so she and bestie head back. On the way, Kaiden kidnaps her. He is the assassin! They end up with a band of vagabonds and they rest, Kaiden expresses his feelings for her but says the country comes first so he has to keep her captive. In order to keep her safe he tells his fellow assassins that she has the sight, but she doesn't. However, one of the older women in the caravan helps her unlock her sight and she discovers a stampede before it happens. She uses that to try to get away, but Kaiden finds her. They make it all the way to the entrance to his home and Rafe is waiting there. He reveals himself to be the prince and that's where the book ends! I did not want to put this down and reading it at the end of the school year was torture because I couldn't just sit down and finish it! I cannot WAIT to read the second one!