The beginning felt a little awkward to me and I will most likely read over it again to see how it feels a second time. After those first couple of pages however, I feel the narrative loosens up a tad, and it becomes very easy to get swept up with the characters and scenery and go with the flow of the unfolding story. I did also notice a few typos in chapter five, which I'm sure you'll wheedle out upon further proofreading. All in all, looks like it's going to be a jolly good read and definitely has me wanting more. I dare say you will see my name appear in your list on the right there once the holidays are done.