Review: An epic historical romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2013
An epic tale of a timeless and forbidden love, a story I thoroughly enjoyed reading.The battle is over and while it raged Dacian, Roman and Saxon legions clashed. Blood and death are everywhere surrounding the fields of battle. As the surviving men gather around King Ilias, they discover that there are still dangers around. And since one of the warriors is badly wounded they must split up, one to take Bastisza to a healer for help and others to go to Livonium to help while he battles two forces, the Romans and the Sarmatians. Livonium is the father of Oriana and her husband is, Kahn, the King of Sarmatians and he is on his way with an army for battle.Zyraxes is a warrior that has always been in love with Oriana, they grew up together, yet her father made her marry Kahn to gain peace between two kingdoms, however a horrible turn of events has everyone believing that Oriana betrayed her husband and father by giving birth to a monster therefore her brothers were killed and her father and husband have turn against her.When Zyraxes and Galtys reach Livonium, they are appalled to see the fortress in disarray as the King Livonium is inconsolable about his sons and does not have the will to fight the two armies that are coming his way. Zyraxes has to talk him into fighting for his people. As they wait for the mourning period to be end and are readying for the fight, Zyraxes finds a woman stealing from the medicine room. He recognizes her at once as Oriana's slave Thera. He finds out that Oriana is very sick, they escaped Kahn's palace and are hiding in the forest. Zyraxes is a healer and grabs his medicines as he heads off to help.As Zyraxes tries to save Oriana, he must also keep her hidden from her father as well as help train the solders to fight an impossible war. Allies arrive to help fight and secrets come out that may change the life that Zyraxes has always known. The dangers increase as we head toward an exciting, page turning conclusion.An amazing story told entirely from Zyraxes point of view, which is unusual for a historical romance. I actually enjoyed the man's view for a change as you get to see why he loves her and what he feels when he thinks she is lost to him. His voice is somewhat stilted since he is a warrior and does not show much emotion, yet he does feel deeply for Oriana and he expresses his thoughts to the audience. Oriana is hard to get to know, as you do not hear her voice, you only get glimpses of her personality. She does tell him that she does not know how to love, yet he is the one she chooses when she wants or needs someone. Zyraxes and Oriana seem good together however they are not alone much and this is more like an epic historical novel than a typical romance.I really enjoyed the secondary characters, King Ilias is great as a leader and I enjoyed seeing Nerva by his side throughout the story, Galtys is a fun sidekick for Zyraxes and I like his personality. I even enjoy Thera and her stoic brother Priam as they are truly loyal to Oriana. The difference in this love story is that it almost seems one sided, Zyraxes has been in love with Oriana forever yet she was raised not for love but duty and never really looked at him that way and still is not sure if she can love. However I believe love is there as any true romance reader would.Review posted at Ramblings from a Chaotic MindReceived copy from author for an honest review