The Hedgewitch Queen, by Lilith Saintcrow, is set in a world that felt a bit like a magical three musketeers, but told from the point of view of an idealistic young royal who has to flee with her musketeers (or, in this case, the Queen's Guards) after a palace coup. The guards, of course, are led by a loyal, hot, mysterious captain of the guards.
Towards the beginning of the book, I thought I knew where it was going. Saintcrow uses some pretty familiar cliches, such as a magical jewel that proclaims the rightful ruler, hedgewitchcraft being less prestigious than court sorcery, etc. However, she ended up surprising me a bit towards the end. She manages to put in enough moral complexity that I'm still not sure how certain things will - or should - be resolved in the next book. Kudos if she manages to wrap things up with an HEA without resorting to a deus ex machina.
