From Booklist: "Cass’s immensely readable debut novel is a less drastic Hunger Games, with elaborate fashion and trappings. The fast-paced action will have readers gasping for the upcoming sequel."

I have read the whole <a href=https://amzn.to/2Z30jQn>Selection series</a> by Kiera Cass. Cass's stories have great narrative drive—they keep you turning the pages. From the publisher: "Kiera Cass is back with a glittering royal romance sure to captivate her legion of loyal readers and lovers of courtly intrigue alike. When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she's grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king's attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true. But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine."

Cass's stories have great narrative drive—they keep you turning the pages. From the publisher: "A sweeping stand-alone fantasy romance from Kiera Cass, author of the bestselling, beloved Selection series. Kahlen is a Siren—bound to serve the Ocean by luring humans to their watery graves with her voice, which is deadly to any human who hears it. Akinli is human—a kind, handsome boy who’s everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. Falling in love puts them both in danger… This star-crossed YA romance is sure to captivate readers who grew up loving The Little Mermaid or fans of Jennifer Donnelly’s Waterfire Saga."

Imagine The Bachelor meets Cinderella meets The Hunger Games, although Cass says her real inspiration came from Queen Esther of the Bible: she married a king, but what if before she met him she was in love with the boy next door? Cass's stories have great narrative drive—they keep you turning the pages and were excellent beach/travel reads for my daughter and me.