Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers. (His Fair Assassin Book II)

My biggest complaint with the first book in this series, Grave Mercy, was that I thought it needed tighter editing and less white space.  Well, problem solved!

While the first book focused on Ismae, Book #2 is from Sybella's point-of-view.  She's from a horrible noble family, and is asked to return to them as a daughter of Mortain, trained as an assassin. She's serving as a spy to help save the duchess, but also rescues a knight that she eventually has feelings for.  But this isn't really romance.  They both enjoy killing, folks. Only people who deserve it, of course, but there is plenty of evil in these novels.

I LOVE books where the female main character kicks ass, and Sybella is great at it! Is it wrong that I felt like I connected with her emotionally? ;)

Not for tweens--plenty of realistic medieval warfare here, complete with the raping of women and graphic deaths.  Great for young adults and adults who like Game of Thrones though!