The Thief's Gamble by Juliet McKenna

A pretty entertaining book. In the The Tale's of Einarinn series. This page has a pretty good summary of the plot: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9749.phtml

I liked that the female protagonist was not a princess, is not hidden royalty, isn't romantically atwitter with -Does He Love Me, I Will Die Without Him- thoughts. She's more like a male in her, ahem, relationships.

There is a kidnapped person, he's one of their band...which allows the band to rally round and decide to find him. A common theme in fantasy but he's not a prince or a prince who doesn't know he's a prince, he's just a minor Mage.

And his rescue isn't what one normally finds in this type of book either.

The book ends with the Livak (the female protagonist) finding her partner in crime after leaving the banded company of Mages. There are 5 other books to this series (yay) so who knows if the partner adds to the band or if Livak is having to go at new adventures alone.

Good read, 495 pages so there is lots to keep you entertained. Warning the font is extra small (like size 9) so wear your reading glasses! I found myself so engrossed that I read it in one day, but it did tire my eyes.