I've read one of Sydney's works before and I knew from that that the writing style is fun and whimsical and I was ready to jump into this one as well.

I particularly like retellings that are inspired by Shakespeare, and this one has a nod to Twelfth Night that was rather adorable. Kel and Isabel are twins in a generic fantasy land, and both of them have at various times felt constrained by societal pressure that they can each put aside when they have impersonated the other.

The problem comes in when Isabel decides that she will not be engaging in her arranged marriage at the last minute, and Kel is forced to step in and impersonate her in her absence.

The affection that grows between Kel and Dare is some of my favourite slow burn that I've read. It's honestly perfect. Kel worrying about what Dare would do when he found that Kel was actually not his sister but a man was present, but didn't come with overwhelming angst. As I said, stories by this author tend towards whimsy more than anything else.

I did enjoy this light and fluffy short.

I love fantasy romances and I love m/m romances, so I decided to give A Deceptive Alliance a shot. I'm glad that I did. Overall, I enjoyed it. Kel and Dare are great characters, and I like the fact that they had a chance to get to know one another *before* falling into bed. My only complaint is that their road to happily ever after was a bit *too* bump free: I would like to have actually seen the bandit attack, for example. It was a refreshing change, though, to discover that Dare's father was a decent and fair-minded man, rather than a tyrant.

Recommended to anyone looking for a quick, sweet, and sexy romance.

At this point, when I see a new queer fantasy pop up on NetGalley from NineStar Press, I’m requesting before I’ve even really registered it! So far it seems to be working well, because A Deceptive Alliance is a wonderful fluffy fantasy romance which I absolutely adored.

This book is so sweet. As I said in my review of Daughter of the Sun, I really feel like there’s a gap on my shelves when it comes to light-hearted, character-centric fantasy that just makes you smile. Oh, and if it features queer romance, then so much the better! A Deceptive Alliance fits perfectly into this niche – it had me beaming throughout as the story unfolded in such a lovely way. This is a story that plays heavily with tropes – arranged royal marriage that turns out to be a love match, twins disguised as each other, royalty playing at being commoners – but it feels fresh and fun, and I think this is due to the warmth with which our POV character, Kel, is written.

Kel’s only trying to help his twin sister out, but somehow, in covering for her pre-wedding jitters, he finds himself dressed as her and taking part in her pre-marriage vows. Then, before he knows it, he’s on the road, travelling to his new kingdom, where he’ll meet his new husband – who’s expecting Isabel, not Kel. Sure, they look alike. But how is this going to work? Well, there’s a whole lot of awkward, and a whole lot of romance, as Kel starts to fall for a dashing young man in the travelling company…

Ah, it’s so wonderful to read about Kel and how comfortable he is with his sexuality! Same-sex relationships aren’t really accepted in his kingdom, but he still seems confident in who he is, and has very little angst about his preference for men. Most people seem to know about it on the downlow, and still accept him, because he’s a kind and nice guy. He’s willing to wear Isabel’s clothes to help her out, but he certainly doesn’t prefer them – I thought, upon reading the blurb, that it might turn out that he preferred to identify as a woman, but that’s not the case. Kel is definitely cis. This obviously creates some conflict, because it would be a lot easier for him if he could just stay in feminine clothing all the time and pretend to be Isabel!

Dare, the chap that catches his eye (and whom, spoilers, you can instantly tell is also in disguise), is so charming and fun to read about. I loved his snark, and I loved that he really seemed to understand Kel from the get-go, even before he realised he was a man. I loved the scene where he explained that he’d been trying really hard to fall for ‘Isabel’ because if she wasn’t a woman she’d be perfect for him, so the revelation of Kel being a man was such a relief. So cute. Watching their relationship blossom is adorable, and I was rooting for them so hard! They’re just utterly shippable and cute together. The ending actually made me squee out loud, when they actually manage to pull their Happy Ever After off! This is true fairy tale romance right here. It’s just adorable. I’m actually smiling writing this review, is how lovely this book is.

Look, gay relationships in literature are so often fraught with misery and and angst, and it’s wonderful to read fluffy, fun, happy stories, especially in the genre I love. Oh, this book just made me so happy. Go read it, okay?

Five out of five stars!

This was a somewhat short yet sweet romance. I really enjoyed the fantasy elements of the relationship between Kel and Dare being accepted so easily. There wasn’t much drama, which I like in a story because things tend to get awkward in those cases. I’d read more from this author.

(Warning for transphobia)
On the surface, A Deceptive Alliance should have been everything I wanted. People in disguise, a runaway bride, an accidental romance, all of that is totally my thing. Unfortunately this book was absolutely PACKED with transphobia. I hear it's supposed to be fluff, but there was nothing fluffy about it to me.

The love interest Dare makes repeated attempts to "prove" that his new bride (the main character in disguise) is really a man so that he can be allowed to be attracted to him. It would have been so easy (and much less offensive) to acknowledge the possibility that Dare was bisexual. But no. He even goes so far as to mention that he's had nightmares about Kel having breasts and is visibly relieved when he sees Kel naked and can confirm that he's a man. There's no mention of the possibility that Kel could be a trans woman or nonbinary. He looks like a man to Dare so he is assumed to be one without any input from Kel. At one point Dare also suggests that Kel stop dressing "as a woman" since they're both uncomfortable with the disguise and instead... pretend to be nonbinary to avoid suspicion about their relationship? I'm not sure what that was supposed to accomplish. Kel would still be misgendering himself and... I'm just really confused about how that was supposed to be a better option.

The rest of the book is spent setting up minor conflicts and then immediately knocking them down, sometimes even in the same chapter they were introduced. Again, fluff is not my thing so to anyone who enjoys that kind of thing you will definitely find it here. I couldn't get past all the absolutely unnecessary transphobia from the love interest.

This is a well-written book, with wonderful characters, twists and surprises that make you gasp and smile, and ultimately a nice piece of fluff with a happy ending. I'd love to see more from this author--and more of these characters--in the future.

While I don't usually like the arranged marriage trope, I did like the twists that Ms Blackburn used. Specifically, a male sibling dressing up as his twin sister to save a marriage alliance. If you love Mulan and She's the Man, then you'll love this story.

A very sweet story that'll make you laugh and smile.

Very intriguing read. I enjoyed the writing style. I just wish there was more to the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This was cute, but like some of the other reviewers, I think it felt a bit rushed. So much of the conflicts in the story were resolved really quickly so it didn't really feel like there was much at stake. If the book had been a little longer and given more time to those, I would have enjoyed it a little more.

I will admit I have a soft spot for the historical gender bender genre, but I think this is a great addition to the genre. I found this book to be well written and fun. The pacing was good and nothing felt overly rushed or unnecessarily drawn out. I will admit I would have been more content without the epilogue. There was time devoted to explaining why they didn't need a baby so having one suddenly in the last chapter seemed unneeded and in my opinion made it seem like the talk before of it not being necessary was just lip service. I also found the part where Darin first meets Kel to be a little strange with how it seemed like he hadn't thought about using a different name at all. It seemed a bit of a heavy handed way to let the reader know early on who he was. I would have enjoyed a little more suspense as opposed to knowing as soon as we met him that he was actually the Prince.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this novel!

Title: A Deceptive Alliance
Author: Sydney Blackburn
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Released: 12th November 2018
Publisher: Nine Star Press
My Rating: 4 stars

As soon as I read the blurb, I was intrigued immediately. Kell and Isabel are twins, they trade places with each other a lot, but Kell gets more than he bargained for when he has to impersonate Isabel on her wedding day to a prince, and then journey to another land.

I really enjoyed this novella. While it is short, I didn't feel like it was too rushed, I liked the pacing and the world building was great. This was extremely fast-paced, as soon as I started I read in one sitting, I couldn't put it down!

What I really loved was the romance between Dare and Kell. The development was great and I loved the twist that happened about halfway through.

Overall, while it wasn't perfect and had some flaws, I would definitely recommend giving this a go if it sounds like something you would enjoy!

The author describes her romances as “fluffy,” and if that’s what you are looking for in a book, they are usually good reads. I liked this one, but not as much as some of her others.

Unlike the other books by Blackburn I’ve read, this isn’t a contemporary romance but is instead set in a historical fantasy land. Lord Kel disguises himself as a woman and stands in for his missing sister, Isabel, in a proxy marriage with Prince Darin, whose family rules a neighboring kingdom. When his sister still hasn’t shown up by the time the wedding party is due to leave, Kel is forced to maintain the deception and travel with them, hoping that Isabel will eventually show up. On the journey, he gets to know Dare, the prince’s servant, and starts to fall for him, a dangerous thing to do as a man masquerading as a woman, and a married woman at that. What will Kel do if Isabel doesn’t come? And, if his feelings for Dare are returned, what will he do if she does?

I’m not generally fond of crossdressing as a plot point in romances, because writers often make it seem like it would be easier to do than it is. Full props to the author—Blackburn does acknowledge Kel’s discomfort and how hard it is for him to maintain his disguise. She also prefaces the book by admitting that fraternal twins would be unlikely to be so similar as to be able to deceive people. However, she apparently drew inspiration for the story from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and that’s not exactly something the Bard would have worried about.

One other thing I appreciated was that the author is careful to make the relationship between the lovers an equal one. With Kel married to a prince and stuck in a dress, a less thoughtful author might automatically assign him a subordinate role. But Blackburn actually includes Kel’s fears about assuming such a position and then shows how the two men negotiate a partnership that puts them on a more even footing.

Ultimately, I think what kept me from fully enjoying the book is that fluffy doesn’t quite work for me in a story involving a dangerous storm, a bandit attack, and the potential displeasure of a king at finding out his family has been deceived. Every time something bad happens, the problem almost immediately goes away, so there’s little tension to the story beyond Kel’s unhappiness and fears about his deception. Apparently, I’m fully willing to accept a lack of excitement in a contemporary romance (because, let’s be real, most of us live lives that are anything but exciting), but here I wanted more.

Still, I’d recommend this book for anyone who has enjoyed Blackburn’s other books or who is looking for a light romance to read.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
After his sister disappears hours before her arranged marriage, Kel has to quickly dress in her clothes as her stand in to prevent peaceful negotiations from falling. On his travels to the Prince’s kingdom, Kel is constantly waiting for his sister to be found and finds himself attracted to one of the Prince’s servants.

Please be aware that this story does contain explicit content between two men.

When I read the description, I was reminded of the manhwa Boy Princess. The tags the publisher had were twins, royalty, LGBT, and slow burn. I was interested to see how the story would unfold. The story really does focus on the romance.

The slow burn and the fear of everyone finding out Kel was a man felt a little short-lived. Kel has a very strong personality and it bleeds through even as he tries to act like his sister. While I enjoyed the story, I was not able to get very attached to the characters especially when the attraction seemed to be there from the start.

If you’re looking for short fluffy romance between two men with small world-building I would recommend this novella.

My rating: 3

This would have benefited from a higher page count, in my opinion. Everything was a little too rushed for my taste. But the writing is easy to read and flows very well and I enjoyed our main couple. After reading the author's website, they specialize in "cheesy, low-angst romance" that is classified as "fluffy" and that is exactly what this was (in a good way!).

This was absolutely perfect! My favorite genre is historical fantasy and this was extasy what I wanted it to be. I don’t want to give anything away, but Kel and Dare were just perfect! I loved the slow burn, and the fact that there wasn’t too much on screen sex. It was just enough. While there was a bit of drama, it wasn’t too much, which I totally appreciated in the end. I figured Kel was going to end up having to impersonate his sister indefinitely, but that was thankfully not the case. The ending was a great, But I’d love to see more of Kel and Dare in the future. This is going on my favorites list. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good historical fantasy and just a good love story!

I received an advanced reading copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading this story very much. Kel (the protagonist) was such a fun character to read, i especially loved reading about his struggles to try and disguise himself in women's clothing. Dare was also a fun character, and i loved he wasn't the usual surly kind of romantic interest. There are a lot of sexual scenes which should be noted too, although i never found them to be overly graphic or too frequent. It came across as just a part of the character's natural curiosity or as intimate scenes you'd expect from a grown couple in a relationship.

The book is very openly LGBTQA friendly right from the beginning, and stayed this way - something i was delighted to see for the first time in a novel. I found the story to be a light-hearted romance with some funny moments too.The story just flows in the way it was written, and i easily read it all in one sitting.

The reason i rated this 4 out of 5 stars is because even though i thought it was a very sweet and enjoyable read, it seemed quite short and there aren't really any surprising twists or conflicts that might have made the story even more engaging to me.

Overall, i would absolutely recommend this story to anyone looking for a fun, light-hearted story that is LGBTQA friendly, and who enjoys a happily ever after.