Review: The Heart Is The Greatest Treasure
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2014
Amy Rae Durreson has quickly put her stamp of ownership on the realms of M/M high fantasy and has done so in the most sublime way, weaving exquisite worlds from the threads of her imagination which are part magic, part inspiration, and one hundred percent enchanting.Reawakening is what I’ve high hopes will be the debut novel in a series set in a world in which the dragon king Tarnamell has awoken from a centuries long sleep only to find himself the lone being of his kind, without a horde to give him the strength he derives from their love and loyalty, and facing an enemy that gains his strength from the darker side of human nature. Tarn aims to claim the Alagard Desert and its people as his own, but ends up with more than he bargains for when he discovers the desert has already been claimed and the one claiming it has no desire to owe allegiance to a giant lizard.The way the author plays Tarn and Gard off each other is full of need and resistance and desire and resentment, with more than a little snark thrown in for good measure—it’s a contest of wills and patience and perseverance, and is a hero’s journey of a romance in which there’s more at stake than simply losing one’s heart to another. Love is a matter of life and death in this storybook land, and it all comes down to a battle of good and evil, a fight Tarn cannot possibly win without the ties that bind his heart to a horde.The secondary characters are every bit as rich in personality as Tarn and Gard themselves; they are brave of heart and noble of spirit and are prepared to lay down their lives for the greater good, to live and love in the way they’re meant, and to overcome the prejudice of those who would try to stop them. In the tradition of all the best legends, there are faith and trust and love, which are a hero’s greatest treasures. In the tradition of all the best romances, there is lust and longing and the desire to belong to someone, not to be owned but to be beloved, which are the beginnings of an immortal love affair, and it’s a message Amy Rae Durreson delivers beautifully in a ballad that held me captive, start to finish, and left me wanting so much more in the end.Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach Reviews