Title: The Warrior's Gift
Author:
Bonnie Dee Summary: In Katya's world, villagers sacrifice their daughters as sex slaves for a sect of
warriors who keep their lands safe from invasion. When Katya herself is chosen as
a "bride", although she's always questioned the arrangement, she submits for the
sake of her family. She has no idea what to expect from the warriors, and not much
more idea when it comes to sex.
Blessedly, her Warrior, Turan, turns out to be a sweet, gentle giant of a man, despite
being raised in ignorance of anything but fighting and killing. He knows as little
about sex as Katya herself, but his primal passions burn hot.
Together they learn the pleasures of the flesh...and incite a revolution that changes
their world forever.
The Good: There's a lot to recommend it about this ebook. Dee does a wonderful job with introducing our characters and the society in which they live. Katya is the rare character in romancelandia, a feisty female character who is, you know, endearingly feisty and not too stupid to live. And, oh, Turan. I have a huge soft spot for the gentle giant archetypes, and Turan is a refreshingly nice guy with a wonderfully naive view of the world. And also, I do love it when we get a virgin hero in one of these books.
The Bad: The premise requires a bit of suspension of disbelief. I had a hard time accepting the fact that everyone lived under the strict control of the Guardians, who are basically the ones who train the warriors. Apparently, nobody's thought to revolt before Katya showed up, which I found a little strange. I also thought the ending wrapped things up a little too neatly and simplistically, which is too bad because the setting could have been a lot of fun if explored in greater depth.
My verdict: I do recommend this book. It's a quick read, with a couple of likeable characters. If it weren't for the things about the story's actual premise, it'd be an A book for sure. As it is, I'm still giving it a B.
ETA: I have no idea why my HTML foo sucks.