Eh? I expected to love this book, because I love magic and love (fictional) thieves, but... not so much.

The setting was cool, but I quickly got tired of the heroine’s pining over the wonderful Prince Charming who bought her as a teen prostitute from a forced brothel situation to be his mistress (but didn’t lay a hand on her until she was of age and it was consensual, of course) and then dropped her like a bad habit after he found out her brother (and maybe she herself) was “demon tainted”—in other words, has magic. I was also annoyed by Prince Charming’s tween wife (whom he won’t lay a hand in until she’s of age, of course!) and her determination to destroy her rival, our disgraced courtesan turned scribe.

I think this is a pacing problem; there’s not enough reason for us to relate to (or not be actively annoyed by) our heroine’s pining, and then there’s too much pining and alcoholism and not enough action.

The actual crime bits were enjoyable. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to save the book for me, which ended up feeling like a set up for book two. ( )

Set in a fantasy genre that felt very historical; excellent plot and well-developed characters. I was immediately engaged with the story and wanted to keep on to discover more about the main character (Cataline/Romy) right from the beginning. I enjoyed how evenly-paced the narrative was and liked the unfolding suspense that didn't feel artificially ramped up or awkward.

Romy's brother irritated the dickens out of me just as the author intended! Immature teenager, oblivious to consequences: a tricky development to achieve a balance between a realistic teen persona and managing an artistically magical character trait. As well, Cate Glass adroitly inserted some adult aspects of selling children into prostitution. These passage were sensitively portrayed without lurid details and contributed to understanding the conflicted emotions in the backstory to the main character. I would comfortably class the book as suitable for the older YA reader as well as for adults who like historical fantasies.

I re-read this in 2023. Originally I rated the novel 4½ stars. Now I rate it 3½ — while my original reading was heavily influenced by that what happens next enthusiasm, this second excursion into the book was more sobering.

Romy's loyalty and adoration of 'the shadow lord' is so misplaced. This powerful man had her in his keeping through her very young girl to older teenager years (?) (it isn't clear), then banishes her right at the beginning of the story because of her brother's idiocy .
Sure, later Shadow Lord' trots out some payment for the dangerous activities that he asks of her, but that hardly alleviates the poverty she and her brother must endure (after being cast off by her lover).
All the while, it's as if she's somehow expected to become self-sufficient with no introduction to this independence, as if she should be loving her new 'freedom'. So yeah, I still like the character and the adventure, but the basis for the plot is on quicksand. ( )

This is one of the better books I've read in awhile - and I read a lot. I actually put the book down to do other things because I didn't want it to end.

The plot was wonderfully thought out, and just as I thought it could be described as a caper, I realized at the end it was more like something from "Mission Impossible."

I am looking forward to other books from this author. ( )

A good fantasy with steady momentum centering around the reluctantly discarded courtesan of the city of Cartegna's ruler. She and her brother are placed in a seemingly untenable position, but we watch her make it work and even triumph, with some pretty outstanding luck, but hey, she earned it, right.
I don't know why Carol Berg is writing under a new byline, but I'm glad I found this - and the sequels. ( )

This was a good read. It moved at a brisk pace, had some thoughtful bits in it, made it easy to believe in the intelligence of the characters who are supposed to be intelligent, gave me characters to like, portrayed character development (generally a key criterion for good stories), and so on. This was better than most books I give three stars on Goodreads; it just lacked any kind of deep insight, highly inspiring ideas, or other significance that could affect my life beyond the enjoyment of the tale and the appreciation for good writing. I don't recall a single flaw I noticed in either of the last two books I read (which mostly did not share each others' flaws at all, but both had significant flaws) that applies to this novel.

If this novel has a significant flaw that I noticed, it's that it very much felt like a series-y book through much of it. Even in series books, the best writing doesn't seem to have that series-y feel; rather, it feels either like a stand-alone book or (especially for later books) part of a larger story, where the current novel is just an almost stand-alone vignette selected from the whole.

My favorite part of this book is that it handled some (rarely managed) adult themes in an adult way, but did not belabor the fact it dealt with them. It feels like the work of a writer with some well-considered thoughts, and mature experience and observations of the world to inform her approach to such matters. I really appreciate that, including some realistic-feeling handling of the complexity of adult emotions. I don't have any particular comments to offer on the emotional states of the most immature characters, except to say that I don't think they annoyed me any more than the author intended.

I expect I'll read the next book in this series, and will keep an eye out for other books by this author (either under this pseudonym or previous name(s)) whose subject matter might catch my interest. ( )