This one worked much better for me than "The Taming of Mei Lin". With the characters, everything just fit together really well and I had no problems believing these two could be in love even after having just met formally for the first time. The end wraps up a bit too cleanly for my taste, and I was left feeling like I missed something because I have no idea what Ru Shan did--either to force himself into hiding then to get himself out of it--leading me to believe that this must be an off-shoot of another book that I haven't read yet. Overall I really enjoyed this story. ( )