Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughan

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?

I am sooooo tired, and it's all Ana's fault!

Actually that's probably a little unfair, but only a little. In the last few days Ana has posted her reviews of the first two books in this series. As I was reading her review of Warprize, I was reminded that despite the fact that I really enjoyed the first two books in the series myself, I hadn't yet got around to reading the third and final book, Warlord. Forty five minutes of unpacking and repacking the bookcase (I really need a new bookcase!) and I had Warlord in my hands. I read a little bit of it on Saturday night, but it was really Sunday night that I lost lots of sleep - I just could not put the book down until I was finished...which happened to be well after 1am in the morning...on a school night!

I guess that it's pretty easy to tell that I enjoyed this book!

If Warprize is the story of Keir coming to Lara's homeland and claiming her, and Warsworn is the story of their journey towards Fireland and with each other, then this book is about Lara's struggle to be accepted as Warprize, because not only does she have to be claimed by Keir, there is also the not so small matter of being accept by the Elders Council.

Keir and Lara are separated as Lara travels to the Heart of the Plains where she must face the elders and answer their questions. This will be her last chance to return to her homeland, and be free of this situation that she was basically forced into if she wants to. Unfortunately though, some of the events of their journey have already reached the ears of the elders on the winds, and her welcome is far from warm. Lara must convince them of her suitability and her willingness to be the Warprize, and both Keir and Lara must try to figure out what will happen if she is not accepted, or if Keir is deemed to have failed in his role of Warlord. Along the way there is danger, discovery and romance.

I cannot tell you enough how much I enjoyed this whole series. I am definitely going to be reading more from this author! Dagger-star...here I come!

Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan

Lara is the Warprize

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.

I tend not to move directly from one book in a series to the next, but I was sufficiently intrigued when I finished Warprize that I did pick up Warsworn the next day to keep reading Kier and Lara's story. Please note that there may be SPOILERS for Warprize in this review!



Having come up with a way to still be with Kier without jeopardising her country, Kier and Lara begin to travel back to his country, where she must be accepted by the elders as the Warprize. The journey itself is yet more of a learning curve for Lara as she begins to understand the rules that dictate the life of the Firelanders - a people that she had long thought uncivilized. It turns out that although their ways are much different from her own, there are very distinct rules to protect individuals privacy and as to how challenges to leadership can be made.

The book opens with Lara suffering from sore feet after the events where she basically gave herself up to Kier as the Warprize. Whilst they are travelling through her land on the way to Keir's homeland, he demands as his right the homage of the towns and people within Xy, so when they get to a town and the necessary homage is not forthcoming, Kier interprets it as an act of disobedience. Ready to declare war, Lara puts a stop to it when she realises that by shooting at Keir's warriors the town was not declaring war but rather trying to warn the people off as they have contracted a very virulent form of plague in their town.

As a healer, Lara knows that it is her role to go and provide whatever assistance she can, despite the risk that she puts herself and those that accompany her. When, despite all the precautions she takes, she catches the plague, she believes that her life is over, but Kier gives every resource he can to trying to save her, even though they still remain far away from the main camp to try and prevent the spread of the disease. All their precautions were in vain though, as the main camp does become infected, and soon, instead of dying honourable deaths in battle, the warriors are dropping from the disease, including some of the people who they value highly within their inner circle. Many within the camp take this as a sign from the gods that there is something amiss and soon Kier is not only fighting for his people, to try and protect as many as they can, but he is also is being challenged in his position as Warlord.

Once again, this was an excellent read. In fact, I rated it as slightly better than Warprize. I have had both of these books on my bookshelves for months, and it is definitely a case of me wondering what the heck I was waiting for now that I have read them! I have now ordered the next book in the series. Hopefully I will get to it soon and not leave it languishing on the shelves as I did for the first two!


Other Blogger's Thoughts:

Romance Rookie

Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

SHE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN HER PEOPLE AND HER FREEDOM...

Xylara is the Daughter of the Warrior King, Xyron. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to the warring Firelanders.

Before she was old enough for a marriage-of-alliance, Xylara was trained as a healer. She can't usurp her brother or negotiate a peace--but she can heal the brave ones injured in battle.

But not only her countrymen are wounded, and Xylara's conscience won't let Firelander warriors die when she can do something to save them. She learns their language and their customs and tries to make them as comfortable as possible, despite their prisoner-of-war status.

She never expects that these deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. Xylara knows must trade the life she has always known for the well-being of her people, and so she becomes...

The Warprize

I bought this book, and the second book in the trilogy, over a year ago, presumably based on seeing a review or something somewhere. They have sat on my bookshelf for all this time, looking very pretty. I heard some renewed positive feedback about them in a best of 2007 list, and decided that I really should give them a go. When I decided to sign up for Naida's Romance Reading Challenge this book caught my eye, so I added it to my challenge list, and the rest, as they say, is history.

For the first 50-100 pages I have to confess I was pretty underwhelmed by the book, but after that...whoa! I ended up staying up until 2am to finish this book (you know, the whole "I'll just read one more chapter" business, which ends up being "well...there's only two more chapters to go. Might as well finish it tonight"). Part of the reason for being underwhelmed I think is that I was reading it at night and so, being really tired, I was only getting through two or three pages at a time before I needed to put it down. That wasn't a factor on Sunday night apparently!

Xylara is a member of the royal family of Xy. Her half brother Xymund is ruler of the small country, which at the opening of the book is under invasion from the Firelanders, under the leadership of the Warlord. What makes Xylara quite unusual within the royal family is that she is also a Master Healer, pledged to always do anything she can to assist those in need. When the people in need are enemy soldiers who have been captured, she incurs the wrath of her brother (there were already some issues in the relationship anyway) but it is a consequence that she is prepared to take.

She begins to learn more about the strangers, including some of their language and customs, and in the process of trying to assist them she meets a stranger in the market who knows where she can get hold of some kavage, a drink that the Firelanders love (that sounds suspiciously like coffee). Little does she know, the stranger is Keir, Warlord of the Plains.

As Keir comes to the castle to receive his dues as conqueror of Xylan, he names his price - he wants Lara as his Warprize. For her, this means leaving behind those she loves, and her life of healing to become slave - a high personal price to pay for the safety of her people. By tradition, the warprize can accept nothing that is not from the Warlord and so she is reliant on Keir for food, clothing and shelter. It is some surprise to her to find that her Warlord is the man from the market.

Lara must learn the strange ways of a people who appear to be less civilised, and definitely tend to be more act first and then think later kind of people, but as she gets to know and understand at least some of their ways she begins to appreciate more of their strengths. And it is only after some time that she begins to understand exactly what it does mean to be the Warprize.

Keir and Lara go well together. Keir is that always attractive combination of strong and ruthless, but also can be tender and gentle when necessary. He is willing to make changes to the way that his people live in order to find a lasting peace with the lands that he has conquered, and is willing to deal with any internal opposition that he might have. He demands, and receives respect from everyone. Lara is prepared to stand up to Keir when she needs to, even if there are times when she has to somewhat grudgingly concede to allow him to do whatever is necessary to protect her from danger.

There is a good cast of interesting secondary characters from the incredibly loyal but demanding assistant Marcus, to the guards, to Gils, the young boy who volunteers to learn some of Lara's healing ways.

I think that this is one of those series which are being marketed as romance but where we are going to have to wait for the third book in order to be sure of a Happy Ever After, but if the other two books are as good as this one, then it will be a fun ride!

Book 1 in the Romance Reading Challenge down.....4 to go!

Romance Reading Challenge

Have you started thinking about what your reading goals are going to be next year? I have, and one of the things I have been thinking about doing is joining in some of the challenges that are going on around blog land. I decided very early on this year to resist the urge to join in because it is enough of a challenge for me to manage my library list usually, but if the challenge can fit in with my other reading goals, then I might join in!

The first one I am joining in on is the Romance Reading Challenge that is being hosted by Naida.

Now, I read a fair proportion of romance as it is, so what I wanted to do is tie it in with some of my other reading resolutions. One of these will again be to try and read some of the books that I have gone and spent my hard earned cash on but haven't yet read! In order to complete the challenge you have to read (and review!)5 books next year, so below is a list of five books that I have bought, but still haven't read yet, despite the fact that I really, really want to! Believe me when I say that there are plenty of other books that I could have chosen from for this challenge too!





The Huntress by Susan Carroll - I was so excited about this book coming out in June 2007. Still haven't read it!











The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick - I have loved the two books that I have read by Chadwick and so want to now start working my way through her backlist. I was so excited when I won this on Ebay because it is a book that is a bit hard to come by at this point in time, although from what I understand this book, and the two that follow it, are going to be reissued soon.

My review is now up here.








Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan - I've actually got both this book and Warsworn here to read.

Review now up here








Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter - The first book in this series was the first book that I finished in 2007. Despite having preordered this, still havent read it!

My review is now up here












Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas - What exactly am I waiting for?

Review is now up here









I'll have one book in reserve as well...just in case!





Lover Unbound by JR Ward - Shhh! Don't tell anyone but I had this one preordered as well and haven't read it yet.