Sara’s life is boring and predictable. It’s also about to change. A startling use of cruel, inhuman power places Sara in extreme peril giving her only one chance to escape. Now she must overcome her deepest fears and resist her most powerful desires just to stay alive. In the struggle to conquer herself, Sara encounters a god of a man from a distant land who brings her to the heights of pleasure, beyond what she ever imagined possible. The fiery passion between Sara and the warlord, Arystan, is the material of legends. As their souls collide and lock in a tangle of lust and desire, will Sara resist her deepest yearnings and give up what she cherishes most so they can remain together forever? Can she break through Arystan’s battle-hardened defenses and reach his heart while helping him defeat the cruel enemy of his past on the battlefield? This steamy novel of love, warfare and passion will leave you on the edge of your seat with suspense.
I believe this is the author's first book and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The fact that it’s a new author and there were no reviews yet, I wasn't sure if I wanted to take the chance. I thought it would have been more of mythology kind of read, but either way I loved it. My eyes were glued to my book as the story unfolds. I would say the story is a mix of Paranormal, Time Travel, Historical, and Erotica with a bit of Contemporary if that makes sense.
Sara was with her friends having a night out when she awoken in the stone room. Her only way of escape is to overcome her deepest fears and resist her desires to stay alive. This is shown to her with the pool of desire and fear. Sara is then found and taken to a distant land not of her time as a slave. She is then chosen as a slave to service the warlord, Arystan, the leader of his clan. By this point, Sara remembers her name but not where she is from. Arystan, is a hard warrior who has a defense built up towards anyone. He himself knows that his use of women is to just take from them, then discard them. He starts to fall for Sara bit by bit while trying to defeat his enemy Bayuan in battle. In time, all will be reveal with Bayuan, Sara and Arystan.
I have to admit, while reading the beginning I didn't know where the story was taking me. I debated if I should stop reading. However, as I got into the story I became more engaged. I think for me personally my excitement begun when Sara was captured and her interaction began with Arystan. I enjoyed their sexual encounters, which is very graphic. I enjoyed so many parts to the story and it's storylines. Rainura was a great addition half way through the book. Rainura was jealous of the growing relationship between Arystan and Sara; she wanted Arystan to come back to her and her bed. She plotted to have her way, which gave us another twist.
Towards the end, it became even more entertaining for me personally, when Arystan came close to defeating Bayuan, but Sara became taken over by the chernyi tuman/ the black mist and he races to save the woman he loves with the time line to be with her. I loved it and the end was wonderful as well. Cheers to the author on what I think is a good read.
Storyline: GOOD Intimacy: Sex-citingly GOOD Enjoyment: GOOD
I believe this is the author's first book and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The fact that it’s a new author and there were no reviews yet, I wasn't sure if I wanted to take the chance. I thought it would have been more of mythology kind of read, but either way I loved it. My eyes were glued to my book as the story unfolds. I would say the story is a mix of Paranormal, Time Travel, Historical, and Erotica with a bit of Contemporary if that makes sense.
Sara was with her friends having a night out when she awoken in the stone room. Her only way of escape is to overcome her deepest fears and resist her desires to stay alive. This is shown to her with the pool of desire and fear. Sara is then found and taken to a distant land not of her time as a slave. She is then chosen as a slave to service the warlord, Arystan, the leader of his clan. By this point, Sara remembers her name but not where she is from. Arystan, is a hard warrior who has a defense built up towards anyone. He himself knows that his use of women is to just take from them, then discard them. He starts to fall for Sara bit by bit while trying to defeat his enemy Bayuan in battle. In time, all will be reveal with Bayuan, Sara and Arystan.
I have to admit, while reading the beginning I didn't know where the story was taking me. I debated if I should stop reading. However, as I got into the story I became more engaged. I think for me personally my excitement begun when Sara was captured and her interaction began with Arystan. I enjoyed their sexual encounters, which is very graphic. I enjoyed so many parts to the story and it's storylines. Rainura was a great addition half way through the book. Rainura was jealous of the growing relationship between Arystan and Sara; she wanted Arystan to come back to her and her bed. She plotted to have her way, which gave us another twist.
Towards the end, it became even more entertaining for me personally, when Arystan came close to defeating Bayuan, but Sara became taken over by the chernyi tuman/ the black mist and he races to save the woman he loves with the time line to be with her. I loved it and the end was wonderful as well. Cheers to the author on what I think is a good read.
Storyline: GOOD Intimacy: Sex-citingly GOOD Enjoyment: GOOD
I quite enjoyed this. Good writer, good story. Is more like a 3.5 star book. I tossed it up as I couldn't decide, but I don't think it's quite a four for me which means above average. I liked it better than a lot of other stuff I've been readng, so I decided it's somewhere in between.
**Received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.**
RATING: 3.5 Out Of 5 Stars.
Sara Aster wakes in a dark circular room, not knowing how she got there. After investigating it, she comes across three skeletons all dressed from different time periods and a circular urn in the middle of the room. When a mist appears and tells her that she is being tested and that if she passes the obstacles before her, she will be trained. The first test is to face her greatest fear... The second test is to face her greatest desire... And if she passes those she will have to face a final challenge of the mist's choosing... After she passes all these tests, the dark mist has its own agenda. It gain controls of her and sends her back in time to help it regain the life it lost... Arystan is a great warlord and is well respected by his men at arms. When he meets Sara during the annual festival, he chooses her to spend the night with. After that night, things change for him. He never met anyone like Sara and during the time they spent together in the next few weeks, they both learn about each other and they have an undeniable attraction. But other then knowing her name. Sara can't remember anything else. Like who she was or where she came from. And the biggest question being, why she is there...
I really enjoyed the story plot of this book. It was an interesting idea and different from anything I read before. It had a touch of suspense, action, romance, and supernatural themes. The author did a suberb job in making the story flow without adding unneeded fillers. She did an excellent job describing the areas that the characters were at. The villain was written really well, who had an undeniable arrogance and a know it all attitude. I like reading how everything turns out and how there was a happy outcome for the couple. Their was a few things in the book that I didn't much care for and that was the graphic sexual content, the crude language, and themes of rape, which I was really grateful that the author didn't really go into detail about. When I signed up to win this book, I didn't realize it had this content in it. So, if you don't care about these things, then you will definitely enjoy reading this book.
** I received this book through Goodreads First Reads. This in no way affects my review. **
Steamy Romance. Sexy Alpha Male. Mystery. Do you need more? Well, this book delivers more.
Granted, I was a bit confused as to what was happening, especially at the beginning of the book and with the switching point of views...I wasn’t entirely sure where the book was going to take me, but I quite enjoyed the ride!
Sara is a loveable main character and I would not have been as strong as she was in the same situation. Okay, she might have had memory loss to make it easier but still. She was incredibly brave and I really liked her.
Arystan is someone who is used to getting what and who he wants, whenever he wants, all the time. Though Sara did throw a curve ball at him. I really liked how he (somewhat) softened around her. She gave him his humanity back. The tension between these two characters was amazing. Arystan starts to see her as more than just a woman he can claim. She surprises him in more ways than he ever thought possible.
The idea and creativity of this book are actually pretty brilliant. I have yet to read anything like this. The world building was okay, but I would have preferred if it were a bit more fleshed out, same goes for all the paranormal elements. I still have a lot of questions as to what was happening, how it all happened…but nevertheless this was a very enjoyable novel, which you will read in one sitting. Filled with a passionate romance, a suspenseful plot with a lot of action and a satisfying ending.
For Erotic Readers out there this one will be a tasty, naughty treat. The main character is a throw back to the era of Alpha male takes what he wants, when he wants, beats on chest. Arystan is the all alpha male, who in the not so distant past is a Douch bag, luckily for us we don’t see the Douch bag run rampant on anyone and he does manage to grow. Sara on the other hand is strong but a wimp when it comes to her family and her jerk Fiance.
Temple’s world building is pretty good, though at times I did wonder if we were in another world rather then the past. I think that I would have liked another world and I could have done with out the weird time people, spirits or whatever they were. I wanted more of Arystan and Sara getting to know each other. I had no problems with the flow of this book and it entertained from front to back. The hanky panky scenes were pretty hot, though not as nasty as some Erotic tend to get. That’s ok with me. Sex scenes shouldn’t be thrown on top of each other just to fill the pages.
My only real complaint would be the ending. I just don’t see that working out so well for Arystan. Just saying, but overall a good book.
I really wanted to like this book - and probably would have if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. I made it 4 1/2 out of 5 1/2 hours and just could not bring myself to listen to another minute of such terrible narration. Not only did the narrator sound completely bored, but so many times he didn't even stop to pause in between scenes. Instead he continued reading as if the book was written in one giant never-ending paragraph. Also, he sounded like Ben Stein and I sort of expected him to start saying, "Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?"
The story started out a little strange and I couldn't really figure out where the plot was going. Once Sara and Arystan met though I really started to enjoy it. I will probably re-read this some time, just not in audio form.
I was excited to win this book as a First Reads selection, including a personalized note from the author. To start off, the book is very nicely bound with high quality paper and a nice cover. If I were rating the quality of writing, I would probably give it 2 1/2 stars, but I'll concentrate on what I did like about the book. Paranormal time-traveling romance is one of my guilty pleasures, and as long as the story is good, I don't judge the writing too harshly. The main characters in "Warlord" are likeable, and Arystan is hot! The story was intriguing, the romance between Arystan and Sara was fiery, and even though there were a few holes, it kept my interest all the way to the end.
Strange mists abduct 25 yr old phd defying parents for the first time in her life and make her face her worst fears (marrying the man her parents chose for her) and her greatest desire (hunky guy wearing skins). Then when she passes the trials to become a 'guardian' she is thrown into the past programmed to kill the mist's enemy who happens to be the same hunky guy of her greatest desire. Random jealous lady with crush thrown in. Together they make history happen again as it should. He reappears in present day as hunky rich guy...
This has got to be a favorite of mine! The only thing I don’t like is the ending because the book ended! I wanted to stay in this world and know more! I’ve since tried to find more out about the author and it’s like she just disappeared... so strange! I have a few of her books I really enjoyed! I noticed that the kindle version of this book is no longer available on Amazon. What happened? Did they drop her s as an author? I’m so lucky I bought this kindle book when I did!
Liked this one quite a bit; different than a lot of books out there. It has an actual 'action' story aside from the smex scenes, which was interesting, and some time-travel, magic, etc. It's not part of a series at this point (too bad, IMHO), but I have just purchased her other book at`Amazon (and downloaded the free prequel to that one).
Well written and no proofreading/editing issues that I saw.
I liked this story because it made me think what is my greatest fear and desire? Would I pass if tested? Though I'd like to think I would, but who really knows. I enjoyed the build up of the characters and how they grew as the story progressed and the explanations of why they were that way to begin with. Well written I'd reread this book.
A novella that mixes fantasy, time travel, erotica and romance. The fantasy and time travel aren't developed (and this makes the story a little more difficult to swallow...), but the romance is nice and correctly-paced.
This was a goodreads giveaway. It was a short read with time travel elements, which I did enjoy. The continuity between chapters could have been better; it seemed a bit choppy.
This is a passionate tale between a warlord and a time swept scholar. It was a good read. I just think it ended too soon. I was looking forward to more drama.