Returned Prince Fights Battles on Many Fronts

Prince Serge, the second son and prince of his land, awakens after a one-year coma to find that his younger brother has become king after the battle that placed Serge in a coma killed their elder brother, Lionus. Damien, the new king, feel guilty about taking what he sees as his brother’s position and offers Serge a new option: Marry their dead brother’s wife, Isabelle, and rule with her in her land of Barony. Serge has loved Isabelle for a long time but feels guilt about his feelings and doesn’t want to wed her, knowing that she had loved and still loves his brother.

Because of an old woman’s predictions about dire consequences and her own dreams, Isabelle after some waffling decides to marry Serge even though her heart belongs to Lionus. For a very brief time, the two are happy until Serge confesses his love for her. Isabelle does not react well to this and confesses her emotional quandary to her lady’s maid, which Serge accidentally overhears. Relations between them become strained for a long while they continue to have sexual chemistry.

But much more is going on in this book besides their personal problems. War threatens. When Serge goes off, Isabelle decides to join and train with a band of female warriors.

Will Serge and Isabelle resolve their differences? Can she–and he–move past feelings of guilt about their relationship? Will this queen of Barony fight alongside her warriors in the looming battle?

This was a page-turning read. The only part I didn’t like was that Serge and Isabelle were at odds for so long.

There were several things I loved about this book. I enjoyed the first part when Serge comes back from his coma. The author did a good job showing his disorientation and his struggles. He is haunted by the images of watching his brother be killed in battle as well as the mistreatment he had at the hands of the enemies. He struggles physically and mentally with his battle wounds, as well as mentally with the guilt for what he feels for Isabelle. Once they marry, he is blissful but just a little guilty until it all crashes around him when he overhears her. You could sense his despair at that moment. The author does an excellent job in the sections about the women warriors. It is so unusual to have female warriors in a romance in general, but I’ve rarely seen a whole regiment of them. It was lovely to see this band of strong women work together and fight with their queen beside them.

If you enjoy fantasy romance with strong female characters, you might enjoy this book.

Getting to Know the Dragons Before They Met Cheimon

If you read the other two books in the Winter’s Dragons part of the Harem of Season’s series, you’ll find this little book–which is mostly about the dragons’ lives before their arrival to the winter realm–a fun bit of backstory about Cheimon’s dragons. The three main chapters that take up over half of the book are each narrated by a different dragon; the author was able to give them each a unique voice. The first chapter shows their meeting as young hatchlings while the following chapters look at their other encounters as dragonets and then adult males. The epilogue, which is a substantial portion of the book, is told from Cheimon’s perspective.

I enjoyed seeing how the dragons interacted before they knew Cassia. It illustrates how much has changed since they’ve become the soulmates of the avatar of winter. The first chapter did a good job showing the learned prejudices of the different races of dragons that is so ingrained in draconic culture that young hatchlings are not immune. I found the epilogue to be particularly humorous. My goodness, what the dragons made her do in the bailey!

If you enjoyed the other books in this part of the series, you would enjoy this peek into the background of Cheimon’s dragons.

Jilted Bride Finds New Life in Magical 18th Century France

What a remarkably well-done book! We meet the heroine, Mia, as she is being jilted on her wedding day. Worse, her affianced has run off with her stepsister.

Mia is a tour guide in a French castle, and she has a great affinity for her Norse heritage. Having nowhere to stay now that her groom has run off, she convinces those at work to let her stay in the castle overnight until she gets herself sorted out. Not one but two people at the castle suggest she should wish on the full blue moon. She thinks it is silly but does anyway. She wakes up in 18th century France, thinking at first she is part of an elaborate modern-day war re-creation. As the plot progresses, she realizes that she is taking on some aspects of the life of the ancestor she was named after. She meets Lord Dumont, whose portrait back in present times she had often admired with some degree of longing, and their adventure to save themselves in this historical and mythical old-time France begins. Will they be safe? Will changes be wrought in the past that can change the future? What happens when Mia goes back to her time?

This book is told from Mia’s perspective. The author does a remarkably good job of getting inside her head, first as she goes through what could arguably be said is the worst day of her life (the near wedding day) and then through her harrowing adventures in fantastical 18th century France. Sometimes deep point of view is not done well by authors, who make it seem like too much navel-gazing or imbue it with too little action. Tina Glasneck is able to avoid both problems. What she did was create an exceedingly sympathetic character who felt real with her self-esteem issues, fears, and desires.

The book has some of the common issues with punctuation, grandma, and usage, but this did not detract from the story.

If you enjoy well-written fantasy stories with a touch of history written from deep point of view, you might find this book to be a good read.

It’s Not Easy to Be The Queen

I thoroughly enjoyed Book Two of Eva Brandt’s new Harem of the Seasons series. I enjoyed Book One, so I’m not surprised I enjoyed this as well. The dragons are still protective and sweet. Cassia/Cheimon is still her demanding, ruling self, with all the expectations due to a monarch that implies.

What makes this and the other book stand out is the author’s ability to convey humor very well especially through Cassia (which seems unexpected given her exalted status). The book starts with a series of improbable events that are humorous for those looking in but are trying (on a variety of levels) for the queen of the winter realm. The book starts with one of her Yeti subjects petitioning for help with a love triangle. Soon, her mates’ parents show up. Her dragons hadn’t sent word to their parents about the fact they still live or their unique relationship with the queen. The fathers are all quite undone when they hear about it; dragon males don’t have those types of relationships. A dragon mom soon reveals a universal human hope, asking about the potential for hatchlings!

This is a fun and humorous reverse harem read. I’m looking forward to the next books in this series.

The Avatar of Winter … and Three Man-dragons!

Strange things are afoot in the realm of eternal ice. When the queen of that realm, the avatar of winter, goes to investigate, she discovers three injured dragons have wreaked havoc on her land and her sister’s neighboring realm. The three dragons can shape-shift into men. Quickly, they swear to help protect her realm and repair the damage they’ve caused.

Cheimon is smart and sassy, an able ruler of her domain.  She is the first narrator of the story, and I like the way she conveys has an air of authority as she bosses her underlings around. The girl’s got attitude! It was fun to watch the switch over between narrators and see how the man-dragons viewed scenes quite differently than the queen. The man-dragons  were in competition before they landed in this realm, but now they decide to become allies in courting the queen.

I was not distracted by too many grammar, punctuation, or usage errors. I simply found this an enjoyable read because of the different narrators who had very distinct personalities. It was just fun!