Originally Published: 07-18-2018
Book Summary
Immortal Warrior is the 1st book in the Immortal Brotherhood Series by Lisa Hendrix.
This is a great start to a new series!
This series is about a viking crew that were cursed to become half man, half beast!
It all starts with Ivar Graycloak. He’s an eagle by day.
This story is set in Old England in 1096 AD. So the story has customs and language of that time period.
The men were part of the viking crew that invaded several hundred years before so this small band of men have been around for a long time.
And they are getting tired of their monotonous lives and when Ivar gets the opportunity to own lands and have a wife, he takes it despite the risk that it is to all of them.
So that’s where Lady Alaida comes in. She’s the lady of the manor and the granddaughter to Gilbert Tyson. The king of England, William Rufus, son of the Conqueror, gave Alnwick estates to Ivar (he calls himself Ivo de Vassey in this story).
Ivar asks his friends to help him. Brand and Ari. Brand is the one that turns into a bear each day. And Ari is the raven each night. So they help with the running of the manor despite the fact that they never see each other.
There’s an instant attraction between Alaida and Ivo. But after he beds her the first time, Ari has a vision of a baby changing into a bird and scaring Alaida. This causes Ivo to basically leave Alaida alone despite the appearances that he puts on.
So his not having a intimate relationship with her plays a part of the story. He’s insanely attracted to her but he doesn’t want his curse to be passed onto any child.
But they stay because they are tired of running. They also stay because she gets pregnant and they then must protect her and pray the child does not have the curse.
So the story is filled with longing between the characters. With the every day things that their lives hold. And Ivo and Alaida come to love each other despite never telling the other.
Along the way you meet Merewyn. She’s the local healer to this small village and she becomes in intricate part of the story and I think will play a role later on when Brand’s story actually comes.
She comes to know their secret and agrees to help them for when the babe comes.
This then leads us to the exciting ending of this book.
Sorry, some spoilers here!!!
Cwen hatched a plan to make their lives even more filled with torment, or at least Ivar’s. But Mother Earth sent Merewyn to help these men and to give them hope.
With Merewyn’s help Alaida is able to break the curse because her love for Ivar is true. It also helped that the amulet was found. And because of both, Alaida was able to break the curse and they lived happily ever after.
I found the majority of the book to filled with despair and sadness behind the comfort that they found with the people of Alnwick, that Ivar found with Alaida.
But after the curse had been broken for Ivar, Brand and Ari take that knowledge with them to find the others.
So when you start to read book 2, Immortal Outlaw, you find that they now have hope. Hope enough to carry them forward in the years ahead. Hope enough that the other books in this series are based in hope now and not despair.
I enjoyed this story. It’s well written and pulls you into the character’s lives to enjoy the times they had.
You also are sucked into the wanting and waiting for the other’s stories as well. So now, I, along with many others, impatiently wait for the rest of this series.
