TRAITOR SON is a fantasy novel about what happens after the war is won. Remin Grimjaw is both a hero and the son of a traitor. After service to the emperor that wants him dead, he desires three things: land for his duchy, the river for his own, and the emperor's daughter for his wife. He's going to make something of the land he fought so hard for, and build a noble house no one will be able to tear down. Ophele is the emperor's unwanted, uncared for bastard daughter and they have to make the best of an uneasy marriage.

TRAITOR SON is the story of Remin and Ophele's marriage and the start of the building of their new home. In some ways this story is kind of cozy and exactly the kind of thing I like--the nitty gritty of how to carve out out a new home from nothing, and how to build a relationship from a lot of preconceived notions. And much of the book worked for me, which is why I managed to read it in the course of a day.

Two niggles I had problems with were Remin's attitude towards Ophele--for much of the book he is pretty cold to her and emotionally stunted in general, and he does a lot of things that end up hurting her. I could have bonked him on the head multiple times. He does eventually come around and we see his reasons for it, but I wanted to hit him over the head a lot. He'd better spend the next five books in this series walking over broken glass for Ophele. And he needs to learn to trust and have faith for other people, not just for Ophele. He's got some more growth to go through.

My second niggle was Ophele's general naiveté and her youth, I guess is the best word. She's seventeen and a bit of a bookish mouse and very easily crushed by unintentional cruelty, which is relatable, and we understand why over the course of the book. But I kept expecting and hoping for her to stand up to him, to insist on being treated as an equal, and making him talk to her, for goodness's sake, but she never does. I think this was so apparent because once we reach her new home in the valley, there are no other women in the story at all. It is literally a huge settlement full of men. And as the remnant of an army, it kind of makes sense, but I REALLY hope the next installments have more women to provide their perspective to her. Miche filled the councillor role for both Remin and Ophele (and I LOVED his character) but boy I hope we get more women. I really hope we get more community building in general. I love stories focused on community.

There is also a subplot about monsters that felt a little inconsistent but we've got five more books to flesh that out.

Anyways, I had a good time and it was very readable, four stars!

Heat level: 4

This was a strong start to the Empire of the Stars series, it had everything that I was hoping for from the description. The overall feel worked as a romance novel in this world. The overall story worked with the characters and their world perfectly and thought it was written well. I enjoyed the way Melissa J Cave was able to create a story and keep the reader entertained. I’m excited for the sequel in this book.