Trappings of fantasy veil a stock romance plot. Nineteen-year-old Danica is a shapeshifting hawk. Heir to the throne of an avian race, she hates the generations-old war with the serpent people that has claimed so many of her kin. Her worst enemy, the dreaded, but sexy, Zane Cobriana of the serpiente, proposes a peace treaty bound by a marriage between them. Though Danica mistrusts Zane, how can she refuse the chance at peace? Despite their racial differences, Zane and Danica find each other physically appealing. Is their attraction enough to overcome centuries of hatred? Though the fantasy is strained, Danica’s (PG-rated) love story, which follows the plot of conventional adult romance, is enjoyable for that genre. (Fiction. 13-17)
