'Warlord' by Elizabeth VAUGHAN

From the BLURB:

Lara of Xy and her Warlord, Keir of the Cat, have been through much together. Lara abandoned her lands and people for love of him. She adopted his ways and learned of his tribe. Together they have faced plague and insurgency -- and despite these struggles, they have known happiness and joy.

Now they face their most arduous task: Keir must take Lara into the Heart of the Plains, and introduce her as the Warprize to the warrior-priests. She must be tested--questioned, examined, watched--and must find favor with the warrior-priests and the tribe's elders before they will confirm her as a true Warprize.

But in Lara's heart there are doubts--for what if she is found wanting? Will Keir give up everything he knows to be with his Warprize?

The final book in Vaughan’s trilogy.

‘The Chronicles of the Warlands’ reminded me a little bit of Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ series. There’s no time travel, and Vaughan’s series is nowhere near as epic as Outlander – but on a smaller scale the two series have a few things in common. An outsider follows her warrior lover to his homeland. And both female protagonists are ‘healers’ – persecuted for their peculiar ways by their new adoptive people.

In this final book Lara finally sets foot on Keir’s firelander homeland. It’s a very different community than the bricks and mortar Lara is used to – Keir’s people live in tents, and as if their living establishments aren’t strange enough – their customs are utterly bewildering to Lara. Keir’s people are open with their sexuality (and homosexuality, a bizarre concept to Lara) they walk around naked if the mood suits them and take multiple lovers unless bonded. Keir’s people also have very different ideas of family – firelander women are expected to birth no less than five babes before being allowed to join the army. They do not raise their children, but leave child rearing to the designated ‘theas’ (nurse maids) of the village.

Vaughan has created a fascinating world, and it is interesting to read all of the minute details of these foreign people. It’s still a bit frustrating that Vaughan doesn’t give anything away as to whether or not the trilogy is set in ‘real time’ or alternate universe, but that can be forgiven because the world she’s created is so vivid and compelling. I’m a bit concerned about the cover of ‘Warlord’ however, proclaiming it to be ‘Paranormal Romance’. I really didn’t read anything paranormal – except perhaps for the Warrior-Priests of Keir’s village who supposedly use magic to heal (in actuality they pass out magic mushrooms to make their patients hallucinate). The only other way this could be even remotely paranormal is if Vaughan did mean for her trilogy to be set in an alternate universe – but since that is never explicitly stated, I really think the ‘paranormal romance’ tag is misleading.

The good news about ‘Warlord’ is that Vaughan gets a little bit more confident in her sex scenes. She actually uses the words ‘nipple’ and ‘impale’ a few times. Hallelujah! It took her 3 books to get there, but Vaughan did eventually write details of Lara & Keir’s sexual encounters.

‘The Chronicles of the Warlands’ is only a trilogy, which I am a bit disappointed at; especially because Vaughan doesn’t tidily wrap up the series. There’s no ‘cliffhanger’ per say, just lots of loose ends and questions unanswered. For one thing, in ‘Warlord’ two secondary characters are given romances – but as Vaughan draws the book to a close there is no follow-up to those relationships, which is beyond frustrating!

One of the most fascinating things about ‘Warlord’ was the revelation about the firelanders attitude toward family and child rearing. Lara is adamant that she will break with fireland tradition and raise her own children. There is also the fact that firelanders have to have five children before being allowed to join the army – men have to impregnate at least five times, and women birth five times. However, Lara never asks Keir about his five children, which seems to be a HUGE couples conversation they just skipped over.

And it would have been nice to have details about how Lara intended to overcome fireland tradition and raise her own children – it seems like that would have been a compelling fourth book?

Despite my grievances about the ending, I did really enjoy this final book and would highly recommend it.

4/5

Warprize REVIEW

'Warsworn' by Elizabeth VAUGHAN

From the BLURB:

A powerful healer, she has sworn an oath of loyalty to Keir the Warlord, and his people. Now the Warlord and his chosen mate face enemies within the tribe and danger lurks on every hand as they journey toward Keir's homeland.

When they reach a village marked with the warnings of the plague, Keir forbids Lara to heal the sick, commanding that she not risk her own life. But both Lara and Kier are strong of will and neither will bend easily, even for love; and when Lara disobeys, she pays the price: both she and Kier are plague-struck... and so is their entire encampment.

In the midst of the dying, Iften, a rival warrior, gathers his followers and challenges Keir for the right to rule their tribe. If Keir, weakened by the sickness, loses -- he dies.

And so does Lara.

To save her love, her life, and her adopted people, Lara must find a cure for the plague -- and fully embrace her sworn role as Warprize to her Warlord.

This is the 2nd book in Vaughan’s ‘The Chronicles of the Warlands’ trilogy’.

There’s quite an upheaval in this book. Lara and Keir’s relationship is put to the test; by their own actions, and the growing resentment of Keir’s soldiers who are disgruntled at their lack of bounty after such a long battle.

The plague storyline has Vaughan killing many beloved secondary characters, but the fast-paced, gripping plot more than makes up for the heartache.

Vaughan still has a problem with writing sex scenes. The good news is that Lara and Keir are far more open with their affections in book 2. The bad news is Vaughan still stumbles through intimate scenes, and at one point she describes an orgasm thus; “we both cried out, shattering into a thousand bright pieces of pleasure”. Urgh. She does get a little bit better, letting Keir use innuendo frequently and with teasing affection for Lara, but the actual logistics of such scenes still fall-short.

Still, the book supplies romance in spades. Lara is put to the test as she realizes the weight of her decision to leave home and follow her Warlord to unknown lands. But there is never any doubt that she made the right decision; her and Keir’s love for one another is palpable, and even without overly steamy sex scenes Lara and Keir sizzle in their scenes together. Vaughan explores their relationship in depth in ‘Warsworn’, and the stakes are heightened as they pledge themselves to one another amidst the death and destruction plague brings.

Bonding binds two souls, and as with all bindings it can cause pain as well as pleasure. Where once one mind and body worked together, now so must two mesh. This is more of a challenge than the fiercest battle, for a battle lasts but hours, but the work of a bond is constant and never-ending.

I really loved this book. Despite quite a depressing plague plot, and the death of a few beloved characters – the pace is fast and furious, the romance sizzles and there is a delicious build-up to the third and final book

4/5

Warprize REVIEW

'Warprize' by Elizabeth Vaughan

The kingdom is Xyron is under attack by the Firelander Warlord. Supplies are running out within Xyron’s borders, the Firelanders are pushing through their boundaries and everyday Xylara tends to the wounded. Xylara, ‘Lara’, is half-sister to the current Xyron king – and though a Daughter of the blood and Xyron princess, Lara considers herself a healer first and foremost. She does what she can for wounded Xyron and Firelander soldiers alike.

As the battle rages on, and it becomes increasingly obvious that Xyron will have to either fall or surrender to the Firelander Warlord, negotiations begin. As apart of the peace treaty the fearsome Warlord, Keir, demands Lara as his Warprize.

Lara, understanding that she can bring an end to her people’s suffering, agrees to be slave and whore to Warlod Keir.

‘Warprize’ is set in an ambiguous era. Vaughan never confirms whether the book is set in the past, future or in a fractured timeline/alternate universe. The setting has a ‘Holy Crusades’ feel to it, with Medieval atmosphere. The timeframe isn’t really that important – since war is timeless, but as a reader you may be slightly frustrated trying to figure out the stories point in time.

At first I was thrown by Keir and Lara’s romance. Because I hadn’t pegged Keir as the books male protagonist. He doesn’t appear until chapter 2 or 3; before which Lara has met and cared for another wounded Firelander soldier whom I thought was going to be her love interest. I was initially a little disappointed that this solider, Simus, wasn’t Lara’s fated warlord. I liked him, aesthetically, because he is a big black man and Lara interestingly enough has never seen a dark-skinned person before. Simus turns out to be one of the best secondary characters I’ve read in a long time, and despite the fact that I did come to like Keir, I was still a touch disappointed that Simus wasn’t the stories hero.

I was at once swept up in Keir and Lara’s romance, but also somewhat disappointed in it. On the one hand, their love is epic - their union brings peace to the Xyron lands and the romance takes place amidst heated battles. It has a ‘Troy’ feel to it (think Brad Pitt and Rose Byrne’s Achilles/Briseis). There is bound to be sparkage when a fearsome Warlord takes a virginal princess as his sex slave. But for all the potential eroticism such a storyline conjures, Vaughan falls surprisingly short in the sex scenes. I don’t mean to sound like a sex-crazed reader, but Vaughan really shied away from anything above a PG13 rating. I was doubly shocked and disappointed at Vaughan’s reluctance to write sex scenes because there was such build-up to Keir and Lara’s coupling. I thought for sure, with such a sweet build-up, combined with an inherently erotic plot, that Vaughan would really let loose with the sex scenes – not the case.

I was swept up and over his shoulder. The move made me squawk, but I doubted that the noise could be heard above the noise of the crowd. He started to move. Through the soft cloth, I could hear his men chanting his name. I squirmed, but the cloak had me pinned, unable to move my arms or see anything.

Then I squirmed for another reason. His hand was on my buttocks, its warmth burning through the cloak. There was a caress, and then a soft swat… a warning to keep still.

I stopped squirming.

The hand stayed where it was.

Despite the lack of gratuitous sex (damn!) I did feel satisfied with Keir and Lara’s romance. Because it is undoubtedly, romantic. Keir is that gruff and rough Alpha hero that I love to read about – but with Lara he reveals his soft side. There’s a big plot twist toward the book’s end that sheds a whole new light on the Warlord/Warprize relationship, and its reveal makes the entire plot all the more heart-stopping and romantic.

I was really happy to discover that the other two books in Vaughan’s ‘Chronicles of the Warlands’ also follow Keir and Lara’s journey. There are at least three other Alpha males in ‘Warprize’ who could have potentially carried their own narratives; but I am relieved to know that Keir and Lara’s epic love story continues in ‘Warsworn’ and ‘Warlord’. Because the ending to ‘Warprize’ definitely leaves their story open-ended – it’s not a cliffhanger exactly, just a promise that there are more adventures in store for these two.

I went into ‘Warprize’ thinking it would be a sexy, romantic read. Well, it was and it wasn’t. The sex is seriously lacking, despite a steamy plot Vaughan shies away from explicit sex scenes that would have been entirely befitting the story. But, there was plenty of romance. Keir and Lara have an epic story, and I am pleased to know that it continues through two more books. I will definitely be reading ‘Warsworn’ and ‘Warlord’ ASAP because (despite the lack of sex) this was a great story.

4/5