The Seamstress and the Sable Knight

If I were to pick a subtitle for this book, it'd be "Road Trip To Kill A God!"

[b: The Seamstress and the Sable Knight|24540072|The Seamstress and the Sable Knight|Mary Sneddon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421479852s/24540072.jpg|44141879] is a fun ride from start to finish as we follow Arianna as she gets pulled out of her normal life as a seamstress and thrown back into the past she'd tried to run from. Surrounded by friends that love her as much as she loves them and with a pair of sheers in her hands, Arianna's got all the tools she needs to fight fate and work through this whole prophecy thing that's also fallen into her lap.

The book's heart is in its characters, and the theme is love: Family love, friendship love, romantic love, and even the love of gods. And nobody loves more in this book than Arianna. She cares deeply for everyone and she wears her heart on her sleeve. Some of the best parts of the book is when she channels that love into strength to protect and care for the ones that mean the most to her.

And she's got the skills to back them up.

If you're looking for a female protagonist with autonomy, this is definitely the book for you. Arianna does everything she can to make sure she doesn't get too swept away with everyone telling her what to do. She makes her own decisions, right or wrong, and she owns them.

Arianna also serves as the glue that holds the rest of the cast together--initially. As the book progresses, everyone slowly goes from "I'm only here for Arianna" to start caring about each other as well. Her love is contagious, it seems.

Speaking, it's easy to fall in love with everyone else in this book. From our dashing lead Sable Knight Miridian Redgrave, to the skillful and snarky childhood friend (and thief) Raiz, to Arianna's oldest friend Nun Gertie, they're all wonderful in their own ways. They're joined together with the same passion: A love for Arianna. It drives their strengths and courage every bit as much as Arianna's affection does for them.

There's a lot of wonderful moments between each and every one of them in all sorts of combinations from cute and funny to heartbreaking. Full disclosure, when Miridian gives Arianna a needle case just like the one her mother had, I got teary eyed. Couldn't help it.

But it's not all about the characters (though that's my favorite part), as the plot is fun as well. There's lots of mysteries surrounding the prophecy and even Arianna herself. Why can't she cry? Why do people remember the events of her past differently when they all supposedly saw the same thing? Why does the goddess Shantriss want anything to do with a thief turned seamstress? Who is the Sable Knight Sir Efferite, and why does he want Arianna found so badly? Little bits of the story come to life one by one as the group travels from Arianna's home town through the country of Udillia to the original location of the War of the Gods to set things right.

And lots of monsters, action and adventure follow them every step of the way.

If you're looking for a fun, fantasy adventure with a lot of love and power, I highly recommend checking it out.