Review: The Sword Dancer by Jeannie Lin

 

17164160The Blurb:

The Thief Who Stole His Heart

Sword dancer Li Feng is used to living life on the edge of the law—a woman alone in the dangerous world of the Tang Dynasty has only her whirlwind reflexes to trust. She will discover the truth about her past, even if that means outwitting the most feared thief-catcher of them all…

Relentless, handsome and determined, Han sees life—and love—as black and white. Until he finally captures the spirited, courageous Li Feng, who makes him question everything he thought he knew about right and wrong. Soon he’s faced with an impossible choice: betray the elusive sword dancer he is learning to love, or trust his long-disregarded heart and follow her to dangerous, tempting rebellion..

 

The Review:

I have been hearing good things about Jeannie Lin’s novels for a long time, so when I discovered that Bokon offered the Mills and Boon edition for 1.99, I snapped it up.

And I am really glad I finally read it.

The book was set in Tang China, and from the start I was sucked into the setting. It was very detailed, and felt believable. I really liked how the history and upheaval was woven into the story, adding another detail to the setting.

I enjoyed following Han’s and Li Feng’s adventures. It was interesting to see how it changed, from the beginning when Han’s thought she was involved in a theft, to later on as they started to get to know each other. I also liked how it was slowly revealed that nothing was as simple as it looked like, and how in the end Han’s and Li Feng’s goal were both solved by them cooperating with each other.

Their romance developed slowly, and was sweet and touching.  What I liked was that even if they changed, the characters still remained true to themselves.  The romance had its rocky parts, and I’ll  admit that I wondered how on earth they would end up together. But I am happy to say that Ms Lin solved it in a clever way.

That said, the romance was the weak spot for me in this book. It was sweet, but there were times when the chase felt more important than the romance.

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The Particulars: Historical Romance, Harlequin, available as e-book ( and maybe in print)

The Source: Purchased at Bokon

The Grade: B