General Winston's Daughter

Sharon Shinn may be one of my favorite YA authors. This novel, though it is set in a fictional time and place, has a Colonial-England era feel about it. Averie travels to Chiarrin to live with her father, the general of the occupying troops from Aeberelle. Averie is young, naieve, uninhibited, and completely likable. She is engaged to a young officer, Morgan Stode who is stationed in Chiarrin with her father. Another man in Averie's life is Ket Du'Kai, a Lieutenant who is Xantish by birth (Xan'tai is country also occupied by the Aeberians) but serving in the Aeberian military.

Averie is fascinated by Chiarrin culture and quickly adopts their style of dress. She loves their food and is intrigued by their religion. She throws parties and visits the marketplace and local festivals, all the time wondering if the native Chiarrins would be getting along just fine without the help of the Aebrian military.

As Averie navigates her feelings for Morgan and Ket, as well her disentigrating confidence in the superiority of her homeland, Averie has to decide how to be true to herself and still be a general's daughter.

General Winston's Daughter is a fantastically fun read. The romance is almost completely satisfying. It manages to bring the issue of colonialism and sort of "western" superiority to the table without being overly preachy. I can't wait till it comes out in paperback so I can own my own copy.