After listening to Kiss of Deception on audiobook, I was a bit apprehensive of carrying on with the series. I gave the first book 4 stars, so I wasn’t apprehensive because it wasn’t very good, I was apprehensive because I wasn’t sure where Mary E. Pearson could have gone with the story that would have taken up 2 more books. However, I’m really glad that I decided to carry on with the series as I have ended up loving the characters more than before.

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save Lia’s life, her erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar’s interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: There’s Rafe, who lied to Lia but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be savages. Now that she lives among them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country… and her own destiny.

Like I said at the beginning of the review, I listened the entirety of this trilogy on audiobook and I absolutely loved it! It’s pretty much a full cast, so all of our main characters have their own voice actor and I think that the narration is brilliant. The voice actors put so much passion into their reading of the books and it makes the story come to life.

“I walked up to Griz and poked him in the chest. “Let me make this perfectly clear to you. Though some might seek to make it appear otherwise, I am not a bride to be bartered away to another kingdom, not a prize of war, not a mouthpiece for your Komizar. I am not a chip in a card game to be mindlessly tossed into the center of the pot, nor one to be kept in the tight fist of a greedy opponent. I am a player seated at the table alongside everyone else, and from this day forward, I will play my own hand as I see fit. Do you understand me? Because the consequences could be ugly if someone thought otherwise.”

― Mary E. Pearson, The Heart of Betrayal

This book is so much more intense than the first book. I know that the element of surprise has gone due to who is the assassin and who is the prince, but the plot itself is way more intense with the Komizar but I was slightly disappointed that the Komizar is just another good looking bloke. *rolls eyes* really? But when it comes to Lea, Rafe and Kaden, there is so much amazing character development. All three of them undertake big transformations which I thought was brilliant.

In The Heart of Betrayal, we are also introduced to a new character perspective: Pauline. I can’t really say whether it added anything to the overall reading experience to be honest. Her POV sometimes felt unnecessary which was a shame because I DO like Pauline’s character, but maybe not for her own POV.

One of the things that I did want (and didn’t get) in this book was more politicking between the Kings and more exploration of Venda. I know we had the Komizar and Lea go on a little bit of a trip round Venda, but it would have been nice to have even more exploration of the politics, the rules, the people… Because well… we ARE in Venda for pretty much the entire book!

Overall this was a great second instalment in the series. I love the audiobooks and the narrators, I love Pearson’s writing style and I love the worlds. I can’t wait to start listening to The Beauty of Darkness and see what happens!