Originally Published: 10-25-18
Warrior is the 1st book in the Blades of the Rose Series by Zoe Archer!
This book is the beginning of the 4-book series. And I found that you do need to read all of the books, and in order to be able to really understand the background plot that spans the whole series.
This is the one that starts us out by introducing Captain Gabriel Huntley and Thalia Burgess.
But first, some #bookdetails that will help you to know more before you read!!
This book is a full-length novel, with no cliffhanger. And while there’s a back story that spans the whole book, there’s a plot for this book as well. And that plot gets solved by the end of this book.
There’s a bit of swearing that happens as well as crude words used in some scenes.
This is a fantastical story based as a historical romance. It’s listed as a paranormal romance, but I found that it’s filled with more magic than paranormal stuff. Things like spells, shamans, ancient legends and magical artifacts that give powers to the user.
The book is called Warrior because Captain Huntley is a soldier, a warrior, that’s needs a cause throughout his life. Any other type of life would not be enough. So the cause that he’s stumbled upon with Thalia is exactly what he wants and needs!
This story is based in 1870s in Mongolia. So we get to learn about the customs and cultures of that time period.
Now about the story:
Gabriel, being a man of integrity and honor, intervened when he saw a man being beaten. And then he takes up this man’s mission, to deliver a message in person, even though it happens to be far away.
And because this book is based in the 1870s, Gabriel has to travel from England to Mongolia by boat, which takes him months to get there.
And there, he meets Thalia Burgess, who happens to be the daughter of the man that the message was intended for.
After delivering the message and gauging their reactions, he knows something’s afoot sticks around to see what’s going on.
And a good thing he did!
Because Franklin Burgess had broken his leg, he couldn’t go after The Source like he knew they needed to. So Thalia goes in his stead. And that’s where Gabriel follows her. And by the time he catches up with her, and a manservant, he thwarts an attack on their lives.
He promises to help them get to where they need to go and protect them while they get there.
And because this is a romance, the attraction between Thalia and Gabriel is quick and intense. They fight their attraction for the first half of the book, but then they realize that they can’t any longer and give in.
Yes, these scenes are detailed and there are several to watch out for. And despite the fact that this is a historical romance, there’s crude words that are used.
Do the scenes fit with the era and the time period? Yes and no. It’s a romance, so scenes are included, but she was raised more openly than the England of this time. So while she may be an Englishwoman, she was raised in Mongolia after the death of her mother, she’s more “modern” for the time period.
You see, Franklin Burgess is a member of a secret society, the Blades of the Rose, that protects the world’s magic against the evil, Heirs of Albion, that wish to harness the power for their own gain, to have England as the sole monarch of the world.
And while Thalia was raised knowing about the Blades, she wasn’t yet one. And while wanting to become one, she knows that she must prove her worth to become one. She also wants to protect her father.
At first, she doesn’t tell him what’s going on. It’s only after being chased by a storm and seeing magic for himself that she shares the truth with him. He finds that this new cause just might be what he’s looking for. For he had just resigned from the army and had gone home to England to figure out what his next step would be.
And when he encountered the man being beaten, he was honored bound to deliver the message.
What he didn’t anticipate was beautiful Thalia. She’s everything that he didn’t know he wanted in a lady.
So for the whole of the story, Thalia and Gabriel race across Mongolia following the clues that they find. With the help of many entertaining and interesting characters they find more clues as well as able to interpret the clues. And they find The Source in the most unlikely of places.
Along the way, both Thalia and Gabriel explore their newfound love and what it means. That includes several scenes as well.
After they’ve found The Source, they know that they must return it to it’s rightful owners, who happen to be at an ancient monastery.
And it’s at this monastery that we are introduced to rest of this glorious cast of characters. Here’s where we meet Bennett Day and Cattullus Graves and some others that have come to the monastery to fight the Heirs that have followed. They want to the Source for themselves.
This small group of Heirs consist of Henry Lamb and Jonas Edgeworth. Lamb is a vicious man who will do anything to get what he wants. Jonas is the son of Joseph Edgeworth, a prominent man in the Heirs’ inner circle.
There’s a final battle, at the monastery, that shows and challenges both of their strengths. And of course, the Blades win, but not without losses on both sides. Lamb is killed and Jonas is left only a portion of what he once was.
And while Thalia and Gabriel declare their newfound love, and decide that they must be together. They both are inducted into being Blades!!
And this leads us directly into book 2, Scoundrel, where we get to know Bennett Day and the one lady that he can’t stop thinking about. Even if she is the daughter of their greatest enemy!
Check out the other books in the Blades of the Rose Series:
