A barbarian/captive princess romance done well. The world is coming to an end...
I was extremely reluctant to try Elizabeth Vaughan's adventure/romance Warprize (too little romance to be a proper romance novel, too much romance to be an adventure novel. It makes me think of a woman-centric take on those pulpy novels from the turn of the 20th century).
Our heroine, Xylara, is a princess of a medieval-type kingdom but, more importantly, is a skilled doctor. She is getting plenty of work - her kingdom is at war. Eventually, the capital itself gets besieged by fierce barbarians known as 'Firelanders,' led by a fearsome warlord who's been sweeping all lands before him. Despite the orders of her horrid brother, the current king, Xylara tends to the enemy wounded as well. Eventually, the king decides to surrender and the barbarian warlord demands Xylara as a war prize. Xylara's brother is only too happy to get rid of her and Xylara decides to go along with it in order to get peace for the people. She expects rapey times or human sacrifice, but instead she finds herself treated with respect, gets involved in setting up a medical practice in the barbarian camp, and is shocked to discover the warlord (who is the foreigner she met while treating the prisoners. Note to self - if one's kingdom is besieged by a barbarian horde, take time to have encounters with foreign-sounding hottie. That might be your way to becoming barbarian queen) has no intention of forcing his attentions on her. Too bad someone(s) are trying to kill her and the warlord, to disrupt the peace.
The set-up - a fantasy medieval-type world where the heroine gets claimed by a victorious 'barbarian' warlord as a prize from a defeated kingdom, had sooooooo many ways in which it could go wrong or plain horrific. But I was craving a pulpy romance and it had a hella lot of recs, so I decided to take a chance. I am so glad I did! I loved it to bits and have already got parts 2 and 3 of the trilogy on my kindle.
First (and I can't believe that I even have to state it, but such is the world of romance novels), there is no raping or forced attentions of any kind. Second, the hero is hot and alpha without being a bastard and heroine is competent and level-headed without having all sorts of Mary-Suish abilities (she is a very competent doctor but is not skilled in fighting or similar). There is also plot and adventures. Plus, while the world-building isn't particularly amazing, it's competent and is certainly something different from the tired "sexy Duke loves impoverished but genteel heroine" trope that annoys the hell out of me.
Anyway, very fun.
Not really related as the hero of the book above seems to be normally endowed, but is having dudes with two penises a new thing in fantasy romance/erotica? I've ran into two books with that set-up recently, from two different authors, and am very very boggled. For the love of my sanity, stop with that, authors! Every time you do it, it disrupts anything you are trying to achieve and just makes me laugh like a maniac.
Our heroine, Xylara, is a princess of a medieval-type kingdom but, more importantly, is a skilled doctor. She is getting plenty of work - her kingdom is at war. Eventually, the capital itself gets besieged by fierce barbarians known as 'Firelanders,' led by a fearsome warlord who's been sweeping all lands before him. Despite the orders of her horrid brother, the current king, Xylara tends to the enemy wounded as well. Eventually, the king decides to surrender and the barbarian warlord demands Xylara as a war prize. Xylara's brother is only too happy to get rid of her and Xylara decides to go along with it in order to get peace for the people. She expects rapey times or human sacrifice, but instead she finds herself treated with respect, gets involved in setting up a medical practice in the barbarian camp, and is shocked to discover the warlord (who is the foreigner she met while treating the prisoners. Note to self - if one's kingdom is besieged by a barbarian horde, take time to have encounters with foreign-sounding hottie. That might be your way to becoming barbarian queen) has no intention of forcing his attentions on her. Too bad someone(s) are trying to kill her and the warlord, to disrupt the peace.
The set-up - a fantasy medieval-type world where the heroine gets claimed by a victorious 'barbarian' warlord as a prize from a defeated kingdom, had sooooooo many ways in which it could go wrong or plain horrific. But I was craving a pulpy romance and it had a hella lot of recs, so I decided to take a chance. I am so glad I did! I loved it to bits and have already got parts 2 and 3 of the trilogy on my kindle.
First (and I can't believe that I even have to state it, but such is the world of romance novels), there is no raping or forced attentions of any kind. Second, the hero is hot and alpha without being a bastard and heroine is competent and level-headed without having all sorts of Mary-Suish abilities (she is a very competent doctor but is not skilled in fighting or similar). There is also plot and adventures. Plus, while the world-building isn't particularly amazing, it's competent and is certainly something different from the tired "sexy Duke loves impoverished but genteel heroine" trope that annoys the hell out of me.
Anyway, very fun.
Not really related as the hero of the book above seems to be normally endowed, but is having dudes with two penises a new thing in fantasy romance/erotica? I've ran into two books with that set-up recently, from two different authors, and am very very boggled. For the love of my sanity, stop with that, authors! Every time you do it, it disrupts anything you are trying to achieve and just makes me laugh like a maniac.