So when I read the blurb of the first book, Grave Mercy , I was curious to see how it would turn out. And then when I got around to reading it, well...I GOT MY MIND BLOWN AWAY!!!! Come on, Assassin nuns= Awesome. It's next best thing after Ninja Mutant Turtles. 
 Then I found there was a sequel- time stopped (Hell, even the Earth stopped rotating around the sun), my heartbeat sped up and I pumped the air with my fists repeatedly. 
 The story starts out with Lady Sybella, one of Death's lethal assassins and d'Albret's daughter. She was assigned to report about d'Albret and his followers' doings by the abbess. Sybella, of course, hates it. So when she was ordered to rescue a prisoner from a dungeon (oh, my lovely Beast), she had no idea that her idea of an escape and her chance at true love had arrived. Taken along with Beast and his squire, Yannic, they travel to reach the duchess, facing enemies in their way and finding new allies. 
 Sybella is a kick-ass heroine. She doesn't lack in intelligence because she always makes the smart decisions. I remember Beast pointing this out to her in the novel. She kills when she needs to defend and protect the people she loves, but doesn't take her own sweet time while immersing herself in self-pity and guilt. She's wonderful. 
 So when I read about all the awful things that happened to Sybella- well, I felt deeply sad and overly emotional. But it was these very own things in her past, however horrifying they were, which helped mould what she is now: a clever, wonderful woman who would do anything for the people she loved. Of course, Beast sped the process along a bit. I am so glad that Sybella found him and fell in love with him. She deserved true happiness. And so does Beast. 
 I was actually quite nervous about how R.L. LaFevers was going to portray Beast as the love interest. From what I heard about what he looked like coupled with the fact that it was his very battle lust that made him such a valuable asset to the Duchess, it seemed very incredulous that he could manage to love somebody like Sybella. 
 Of course, I sorely underestimated him. How adorable and big-hearted is Beast? I don't care if he's "apparently" ugly, but I love him the way he is now. I've read so much about heroes being cold, distant, cocky, arrogant etc (apparently guys being rude to the heroine and acting distant to "protect" her is a huge turn-on) that Beast came as a relief. Yes, he might have gotten angry at Sybilla one time in the book, but that was in special circumstances. If I was in his shoes, I'd be furious. So, best wishes to the couple, Sybilla and Beast, may you have a wonderful, wonderful life, because, hell, you guys deserve it. 
 And then if the romance wasn't enough to turn me into a gibbering, hyperventilating idiot, there was also a plot. A real plot. A real plot with political intrigue. A real plot with political intrigue and a manic father. The storyline was great, it was carefully paced and it was original. 5 stars.