Ah, love. It changes us. Not only did it prompt U.K.-born, Canadian-raised author Amy Alward to take her new husband’s name, it also seems to have influenced her writing. As Amy McCulloch, Alward published two YA novels, The Oathbreaker’s Shadow and its sequel, The Shadow’s Curse, a desert-set fantasy-adventure duology packed with action, intrigue, danger, and lots of boy-reader appeal.

There’s adventure and danger in Alward’s latest effort, but if the pink-hued cover isn’t enough of a clue that we’re dealing with a different beast, the book’s opening scene involving 18-year-old Princess Evelyn adding the finishing touches to a love potion ought to make it abundantly clear.

Our heroine is Samantha Kemi, a teenager apprenticed to her grandfather, a master alchemist. Though Sam is drawn to the idea of studying potions at university and one day working in a synthetic-potion lab, she is bound by tradition and a feeling of responsibility to carry on the “old ways” her grandfather teaches her, eschewing unnatural ingredients, and eventually taking over their foundering store.

When princess Evelyn accidentally consumes the love potion and consequently falls in love with her own reflection, a Wilde Hunt is called, summoning all alchemists to try to create a cure. A long-standing grudge between Sam’s grandfather and the royal family prevents him from joining, but Sam, a gifted and intuitive mixer, knows her success in the search may be the only way to salvage her family’s fortunes.

The strength of the novel rests squarely on Sam’s first-person narration, which is rife with self-deprecation, humorous insights, and a good dose of snark. The requisite love triangle between Sam, the princess, and the intended target of the love potion adds a bit of realistic angst, and secondary characters – including Sam’s best friend, Anita Patel (also an apprentice alchemist), and her ingredient “Finder,” Kirsty – are vivid in their portrayal. But this is Sam’s show all the way.

Alward may have taken a softer, more feminine approach to this first novel in a planned trilogy, but her heroine is still kick-ass enough to satisfy readers looking for more than a simple tale of princesses and magic.