So you may have noticed if you look at my current reading choices that I am reading things outside of my normal comfort zone. Graceling, Shatter Me and now The Iron King are all books I would never normally read. It started with Graceling and has since become my own personal challenge. Every month I am reading a book that I wouldn't normally gravitate to. For February that book was The Iron King and what a great choice it was. A friend suggested I read it for this "challenge" and I took her up on it. At times I felt like I was reading Alice in Wonderland on crack and that I fell into a rabbit hole of crazy, but even with all of those elements the story really worked and by the end I was enjoying myself. So much in fact I ended up buying the next book in the series. I apologize for any spoilers you may find. I just couldn't help myself with this one. 
 The Iron King is about Meghan Chase who on the outside seems like a normal everyday teenage girl. She has crushes and an iPod and a best friend. She lives at home with her mom, step-father and half brother. The thing about Meghan though is she has never been the same since her father mysteriously disappeared. She feels invisible in her own house and really only feels that her best friend Robbie and her little brother are the only two that even see her. But when strange things start to happen and Meghan's brother goes missing she makes a choice to open her eyes to what she really is and the world she by right comes from. And when a stony prince enters the picture all bets are off for Meghan. Now she must fight not only for her brother and herself, but for everything she has ever known and hope maybe, just maybe to get the prince to melt his heart and take her into his. 
 Straight up what I liked most about this book was the push/pull of Ash and Meghan's relationship mixed in with the humor of Robbie. The book was pretty high fantasy to me so adding a "forbidden" romance was just the ingredient I needed for this story to work and suck me in. The immediate spark between Ash and Meghan was what great book romances are made of and the circumstances that lead to them being together at all were spot on. It dragged me in and held me. Add in the tension between Robbie and Ash, the potentially deadly search for Meghan's brother and the many obstacles in the way and I honestly forgot about the fantasy aspect of the book which like I said was pretty high for me. 
 I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I agreed to read this book. But what I found was a fantasy world with real situations and dilemmas that was beautifully written and interesting. It had strong characters, a strong plot, and a really strong forbidden love story with an ending that will leave you breathless and wanting more.