I can not believe I have not read this book before now. Aleria is a fencer, a very good fencer. She is not impressed with her mother's secondhand find of a new foil with a gaudy fake ruby attached at the end. But it is only for practice, so it will do. Aleria is a student, who has her first crush and her first date, but it turns into way more than expected. The build up in this story was long, but it paid off in the end, and I am glad there is a second book to pick up the tale.