Legacy (Legacy #1) by Cayla Kluver

     I noticed his eyes. They were blue, sharp and intense. Despite the youthful glows of his suntanned face, his eyes were cold and unfriendly, suggesting he had great experience in the world and was now expecting the worst.
In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair.
      When the palace guard captures and intruder—a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy—Alera is alarmed…and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.
     In this mystical world of court conspiracies and blood magic, loyalties will be tested. Courage won't be enough. And as the battle begins for everything Alera holds dear, love may be the downfall of a kingdom. (Goodreads)


Legacy was nothing I expected it to be, but I found it to be even better. The environment and royalty setting was wonderful and the characters were icing on a delicious cake. I loved, loved, LOVED Alera, from her name to her strength and opinionated personality. Hytanica was such a stiff, man's world type of place and it needed a woman like Alera to shake it up.
     The male love interests made for a pretty awesome love triangle, too. Steldor is the king's only first choice for marriage to Alera and he is quite handsome, but his ego is so big that the might not fit. It seems, at first, that he has no chance with Alera until it becomes known that Alera is the only person who can disarm him. Narian is a Hytanica born who was kidnapped as a a child and returns as a dangerous Cokyrian. He is very quiet and has endured much harsh treatment as a child. He treats Alera like an equal and listens to her and makes her feel special.
     The romance of Legacy was my favorite part, but it certainly was not all that was going on. My sympathy for Alera grows throughout the book as she is forced to marry for duty and not love. As she battles her heart and carries the weight of her kingdom. The worst part of Legacy was no doubt, the ending. It is an awful, tortuous, cliffhanger and Allegiance, the next book, will be much awaited.