The first part of the book was boring and cheesy... there, I said it! I'm sorry but I didn't like it at all. Too much "My love", "My prince", "My lady"... 
 It picked up after the 50% mark and THAT was a relief. For a moment I thought a good series had been ruined. My only concern is the Emperor: he is behaving like a villain with no motives other than "evil antagonist is evil". 
 I lied... I have another concern: the love triangle is completely pointless in this story! It adds nothing and bothers a lot. 
 Either way, I still love this series and I'm diving right into the fourth book