LE Bryce's writing is beautiful. Her characters grab a reader's heartstrings, and the setting is wonderfully exotic yet oddly familiar. I have enjoyed a couple of the authors other stories with her signature Middle Eastern flavor, and something about this one called to me. Only after I finished it, I wish I had never read it.

This story had an unhappy ending. A really unhappy ending as far as I was concerned, and the story was also sad to begin with. Suryo has been promised as a "bride" to Alasson because of a foolish oath their fathers made before they were born - while drunk no less.

Slight spoiler ALERT: As a result, they must marry for a year and then Suryo will be forced into the priesthood and Alasson will gain Suryo's birthright. The men obviously develope feelings for one another, only love didn't conquor all and I felt cheated. The epilogue, which follows up 2 decades later simply rubbed salt into the wound. After I finished, I thought about this story a long time. I felt so sorry for the two lovers, but especially Suryo. His life was literally destroyed, and that is not the way I want to feel after reading what I thought was romance.

If you enjoy Bryce's stories of unlikely love overcoming great obstacles, you won't find that here. If you want realism, this story has it in spades. Though I didn't like this story, I highly recommend readers try her other work, such as "The Golden Lotus." ( )

In a fantastic world (very similar to a medieval era) Alasson and Suryo, the boys, were betrothed before their born. Suryo's father has sworn in front of the gods that he would give his first born to Alasson, he has never specified his first male born, and so now to accomplish the gods, Alasson and Suryo has to marry, if only for one year. But they have to consumate the marriage.

Alasson is only worried of the mockery of his brothers, instead Suryo fears what he will do when the year is over. A normal life for him will be impossible. But time pass and Alasson and Suryo see their friendship becomes something more and discover that it could be love also between men. But the end of the year is near...

This is a rather sad novel. Maybe very true, for as true could be a fantastic tale. But L.E. Bryce has not allowed herself to see through the story with pink lenses glass. And also in the end will leave you with some questions, cause a simple answer wuld be not faithful to the rest of the story.

So I have to say that, in a rather short story, she has managed to create an enthralling story and even if I'm the pink lenses glass type, I have to admit that this is one of the few story that has positively strucked me lately.