The Winner's Kiss

Today's post is on The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkopski. It is the last in her The Winner's Trilogy. it is 484 pages long and is published by Farrar Straus Giroux. The cover has a beautiful young woman in a red dress looking over her shoulder at the reader with a sword by her side making the I in Kiss. The intended reader is someone who has read the first two books, likes historical fantasy novels, and very light love stories. There is mild foul language, implied sex, and violence in this book. The story is told from third person close of the two main characters moving as the story goes on. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Some kisses come at a price.
War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.
At least, that’s what he thinks.
In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.
But no one gets what they want just by wishing.
As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

Review- This was a perfect end to this series. I loved every minute of it. We pick up where the last novel left off with Kestrel being carted off to the sulfur mines far in the north. Arin is still being stupid and not trusting anything he feels. Kestrel trying to save herself but at the mine she dicovers how the empire keeps the slaves working and it is not pretty. But soon enough Arin gets his head out of his butt and goes to save her. Kestrel has changed because of what the empire did to her but Arin can still who she was in there. They go and the war truly begins. The war and the plot and the characters move very fast and before I knew it the book was over and it was beautiful. The world is still in trouble but Kestrel and Arin have a chance to make it better and be free. I loved everything about this trilogy and I cannot recommend it enough. I look forward to whatever Rutkoski writes next.

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.