Lord of Rage
Princess Breena had been dreaming of her warrior lover when she was ripped from her Elden castle and thrown into a strange, dangerous realm. Lost and alone, she prayed for survival and vengeance for her stolen kingdom. She found both in a woodland cottage…in a dark bear of a man.
The golden-haired beauty had eaten his food and slept in his bed when Osborn found her. Though he wanted to awaken his virgin princess to carnal pleasures, Breena wanted more—including his warrior skills. Skills the once-legendary mercenary had long buried. Now Osborn had a choice—risk his life or deny his princess her fairy-tale ending.
Breena is definitely out of her depth. Not only are her parents dead, but she's all alone in an unfamiliar place. And to top it all, she has two contradictory impulses that her parents imprinted on her: Survive! and Avenge!. Luckily for her she's not alone - her dream warrior (or lover as she calls him in the privacy of the night) is there. But Osborn refuses to get involved.
Osborn's childhood had been great, up until the night that his entire family and hell species, was brutally slayed. He swore vengeance on the kingdom on Elden and it's royal family. But survival was his first mission. He had to do a lot of things that wounded his soul so that his younger brothers could survive. He accepted his fate, such as it is. But then he met Breena, and his entire world changed.
I like the premise of the book, the kingdom in jeopardy, the royal heirs scattered around, having to fight for their birthright and their people. And the entire Goldilocks and the Three Bears theme - not a one I see often, and I did enjoy it.
Unfortunately, I didn't like the book that much. Mainly the problem is in Breena. I know her entire life was turned upside down, but I simply couldn't understand her. I admire the fact that she wanted to help her people even though nothing in her life has prepared her for it. When she failed to convince Osborn to help her, she made him teach her how to fight. But I kept thinking what's the point of it. I would've understood if she wanted to learn it so that she could protect herself, but no it's all for the revenge. If she led a rebellion her people wouldn't need her to fight, the need a leader, a planner, or at least a figurehead. And I was surprised to find out that she had memory loss, it didn't feel that way, didn't she think of her family, kingdom and being a princess a lot?
Osborn is an OK hero. A berserker with a lot of heart. He spent most of his adult life taking care of his brothers, true sometimes he was bad at it, he tended to be overprotective, but still an admirable feat. He comes across as a gruff, unfriendly, sometimes down mean guy, but he's such a softy inside. When he went to the village and bought all the stuff for Breena... *Sigh* The only thing that was marginally wrong is the entire revenge deal, it was just way too neat, the bad guy confessing it all, leaving Breena and Osborn with no obstacles to cross.
So, to summarize: I like Osborn and the theme, but Breena is simply to unlikable. I have a hard time giving a book a higher rating when the heroine annoys me, double standards I know, since I mostly don't mind the heroes being stupid, but unfortunately:
Rating:
2 stars
*ARC provided by NetGalley*