This is a slower paced YA fantasy romance. There is some danger, there is violence, but those parts are few. Mostly it's about releationships and politics and the coexistence of humans, fey & dragons on this island off the coast of Dark Ages Britain.Definitely a character-based, it's also at a slower pace. There are some revelations, but they are not exactly unexpected. Also, not everything is tied up in a nice bow. This leaves room for further adventures down the line, but if the next book is anything like this one, it will be some time in the future with the descendants of characters from this book. 
 That was another plus for me. I read Dragon's Keep quite some time ago. I wouldn't necessarily call this one a sequel, since it deals with the grandchildren of the MC from Keep, and it does stand alone fairly well. Both books deal with different issues. That said, if you need a kickass heroine who brings the fight, you won't quite get that here. That's not to say she isn't strong (and she does spend most of the book with a knife at the ready), but she isn't a warrior woman. Just a woman sick of being beat down.