Poison Study

Yelena Zaltana is supposed to die. After killing the son of one of the highest ranked men in Ixia, the young woman finds herself in her prison cell when she is giving a once in a lifetime opportunity: She can live if she accepts the position as the personal food taster of Ixia's ommander. While her new position can be deadly, she accepts and soon starts her training with Valek - a man who seems cold and ruthless. But as time passes, she realises that there might be more to Ixia's history and politics and Valek bears these secrets. The gripping first installment of the 'Chronicles of Ixia' follows a female lead who has to be one of my all time famourites. Not only does she have a strong character, but Yelena is clever and genuinely likeable. That in combination of the chemistry between her and the male lead of the book, as well as the plot made it a fast paced and unique read. One that makes you want to continue the book series asap. Though this was one of her first books, Maria V. Snyder's writing is fluent and easy to dive into. The book itself is an urban fantasy novel which has to be one of my favbourite subgenres right now. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a longer series as the Chronicles of Ixia contains 9 books, split into three main stories! Poison Study is book one of the first one.