Amazon Companion

Amazon #1

by Robin Roseau

Maya Softpeace is a schoolteacher from the oceanside village of Gallen's Cove in the world of Morehama. Gallen's Cove is a peaceful village, except of course during winter gales.

But one day, the peace is broken by a band of Amazon women, who round up the villagers. "This village has broken our centuries-old agreement," the head Amazon explains. "We keep you safe from the demons that would overrun this world, and for that, you must tithe to us so that we may be free to keep the demons at bay." And tithe, it turns out, includes fresh Amazon recruits.

Maya finds herself the most unwilling of recruits taken away from Gallen's Cove, and soon finds herself bound to Malora, the Amazon queen, as her companion. Maya, a schoolmarm at heart, struggles with the Amazon life and finds herself failing for the first time in her life, failing to fit in to the new lifestyle expected of her.

And then Maya meets her first demon.

This is a fantasy novel of 142,000 words.

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, LGBT, Romance, Lesbian Fiction, Paranormal, Lesbian Romance

562 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 28, 2013

About the author

A writer by avocation, Robin has a renaissance interest in many areas. A bit of a gypsy, Robin has called a few places home and has traveled widely. A love of the outdoors, animals in general and experimenting with world cuisines, Robin and partner share their home with a menagerie of pets and guests, although sometimes it is difficult to discern who is whom.

Reviews

[Sherab · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like it one bit. I'm sorry but I didn't. I almost put it down more than once but I kept reading hoping that somehow, something would happen that'd convince me that it would make sense in the end.
I found the story, the characters, the plot... disturbing and annoying at the same time. The Amazons appear to me like an abusive bunch, with a tiranical social organization, and the relationships between warriors and companions are one like master-slave. I hated it. The companions are to be punished if they break the rules, the have to serve their warriors and attend all their needs. Ok, they don't have to become lovers right away but they have to let the warriors “touch” them to “comfort” the warriors souls. All because the warrior are so brave and make great sacrifices to keep the land free of demons...

I couldn't get to understand why Maya falls for the Queen. Why after being so angry, and upset and all of her speeches about having been kidnapped, tied up and mistreated and dragged by force to be a present for the Amazon Queen, and forced to become an Amazon (which apparently she doesn't want to be in any way), she always caves in and forgives Malora. I tried. Hard. That's why I kept on reading in spite of being annoyed beyond words.
Oh, yes, Malora is very kind, and loving... in private (though this is also arguable, to me looks more patronizing and condescending than anything, but...) Because in public she is just a bitch. Do I make myself clear?

What's all about punishment? There's always to be a punishment. And, is it really amusing to punish somebody by dyeing her hair pink? It could seem like a silly punishment, but it's humillianting to me, I don't find amusing making somebody a clown in front of everyone. Well, I don't find punishment amusing, and much less necessary. There's a lot to talk about this, I think, but let's leave it at that.

I was also very disturbed. What is this thing about fourteen (or so) years old girls to be serving and letting themselves be touched by another women sometimes almost twice their age? (at least Maya wasn't underage but still...). They are slaves, for god's sake, slaves. They are not free to leave, they are not free to speak their minds (that would be disrepectful to their warriors and would be punished for it... oooh ,punishment again), they are not free to do with their lifes what they want... they are not free, period.

And the last part.... all that absurd interaction with that... demon? I'm sorry but that was stupid. I didn't understand the point of it. What was all that supposed to tell us? That Maya was not that faithful, submisive, sweet little companion that the author wanted us to believe she was? Well, if this is the case, then everything makes even much less sense.

I'm sorry for spoiling the fun but I am very disappointed with this book.

[Arn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Pros
■ Amazons!
■ Some really engaging fantasy related ideas I hadn't quite experienced in this form/mix
■ I love long books
■ Great characters - leads and secondary also
■ I like the author's writing style
■ Slice of life

Cons
■ Unfocused - In the middle, it felt more like a lesbian summer camp rather than a story about Amazons fighting Demons.
■ Plot holes - What little there is of world building I really like but I'm left with so many questions. Plotholes were avoided because not a lot is explained in detail and there still are some anyway.
■ Rushed ending - the demon part was too good for it to be so short and consequences of the situation were almost completely skipped
■ The relationship went from "I've liked only men until now" to "Kiss me now and make love to me!" The thought process there wasn't explained at all even though they spent a lot of time together for the relationship to be valid.
■ Fade to black sex scenes. I was so ready for some hot and wild Amazonian sex and I didn't get any. :(

There's a lot to like in this book but it also has many issues I couldn't just simply ignore. But overall I liked Amazon Companion, it was a nice change of pace from the regular lesfic. I'm starting her other series on weres because I like how she writes and The Madison Wolves seems to be the main series for her. I hope it'll be at least just as good.

[Musa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing I want to say to the author is - Please can we have a sequel???

This is my first book from this author and I am so pleasantly surprised that I am checking out her other books. The book is extremely well written that you feel hooked after reading the first chapter, and you're completely sucked into another world. I can't believe I've finished the book in one sitting and almost through the night knowing that I have to work today!

As to the story, I am not going to give away the plot, but I like it for the fact that it doesn't go along the usual stockholm syndrome formula. You'll see each of the characters develop as the chapters and time goes by and their journey from being enemies to loving each other.

If there is going to be a sequel, I'd love to see more of Nori. The book left hanging where Nori still need to find her companion and I'd really love to know her story.

I'm strongly recommending this book!!

[Bib · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading this book, I cannot shake off shadows of Lara and Michaela. There is a strong resemblance between Maya vs Michaela and Malora vs Lara. It probably is because I could still remember the Fox series well. For this reason, I will delay reading other works by this author within these few months, I hope that he/she will come up more creative characters. Nevertheless, if I hadn't read the Fox series first, Amazon Companion would have been a fantastic book.

[Manhattan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional read and truly creative

I don't get to say I just read an amazing new book that's truly original too often. This book surprised me as I wasn't sure whether I would like it. I don't like it, I love it.

This coming of age story has a magical twist that doesn't involve Harry Potter or even the demons in the book; it comes from the depth of the characters. It's love, pain, separation anxiety, fear, mental and physical stress, and learning how powerful you truly are -- even if you're just a school teacher from a fishing village in a camp full of hardened Amazonian warriors.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series and have been dragging out competing this book because I thought I'd have to say goodbye to this lovely cast.

Robin, thank you for the well written unique story full of such passion and fire.

[Nyki Mancera · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing 🥲

One of the things that I love about this author is the telling of stories. I like the fact that the telling of stories in different times, settings, circumstances, situations, and foibles the characters has are never ending.

Who couldn’t love a Maya? I went through each and every emotion she had. But I was most scared and worried when she met the “invisible.” What was happening to her chilled me.

I did see similarities of Malory with characters form Seer, Madison Wolves, Blood Slave and etc. how could anyone resist her? I had come to love and care about those that violated Maya Softpeace. But, boy did she have fire deep down in her soul!

I can’t wait to read the next in the series. This book kept me on edge and anxious. I hope I can make it through the series intact.

[Thu Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting

I noticed some inconsistency here and there other than that this was an interesting read for me. I had to read some parts over and over again until I could picture what was being described. I have been reading late at night so my mind is a little slow keeping up in the imagination department. I did at one point almost quit reading around the point where maya and the demon started interacting. I’m glad I kept reading. Off to the next book in this series

[Zayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took awhile for me to get into this one, and I'm a huge fantasy nerd myself, but this just took a while to get into things. It is a page-turner with lots of great action scenes but also great slowed-down parts where they're taking their time and she actually builds the story in a very easy way to follow.

[Jackie Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

I found this book intriguing. Maya is a stubborn person who needs to see for herself to understand the lives of others. When she learns this, her life changes and she is awesome.

[Melissa Blagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A twist for the Amazons

Well written. It evolved easily. Although the main character was a bit annoying at first. All in all a great read!

[Celina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know how I feel about this one but I am sure I am not into how it ends.

[Milena · Rating 4 out of 5]

an enjoyable ride!

An enjoyable ride! Maya certainly learns a lot and helps the Amazons. It was a crazy ride when we meet the demon.

[Ale · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Rox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the concept of this story. I enjoy a good adventure/fantasy lesbian story. What better way to delve into one than with lesbian Amazons! What promise this story had! A young village school teacher forcefully taken from her home to end up being the Queen's companion. She'd have to endure harsh training to possibly fight so called demons she's never seen nor believes in, solely based on the word of a group of people she does not trust. As you can see, there was so much potential for this tale.

I REALLY wanted to like this story, several things bothered me, the overly detailed descriptions of practice fighting scenes and lengthy conversations between the characters about placing bets on their warriors for competitions, and what each person was willing to wager. On and on it went and it was exhausting after a while so I just skipped ahead. Another irritating thing was the grammatical errors. For example, Nori, Malora, and Maya were having a conversation and whenever Nori spoke at times, the text would read "said Maya," when it was clear that Nori was the one speaking. I encountered this in at least two chapters. Also, the words the author used like "cute" and "ass." I just find it hard to believe that Amazon people would say, "she touched my ass." Too much of the words used were modern language context. I'm not sure if this was suppose to be an historical or period story, but even if it wasn't, those terms don't fit with this story's tone. Something else that bothered me was lack of character description. Why don't we know what any of the Amazons look like? Queen Malora has short blonde hair, that's it? Her age was likely mid 30's? We don't know!. There were no other real descriptions of the characters to differentiate them from one another. We are left to assume that Maya Softpeace looks Native American? Maybe? And that is just because of her name! Lol. This author was not descriptive enough about her characters to give them much substance, with the exception of Maya and Nori who came off stronger than even the queen. For some reason, she made those two characters jump off the page. Otherwise, the characterization was weak.

If your expecting sex in this book, you may be disappointed. This is not much of a romance, this is more of an growth/adventure story and while romance builds slowly between the two main leads, the sex is only mentioned, referred to, or implied, not described in any detail or with passion, simply glazed over. I am not saying that this had to be filled with gratuitous sex, all I am saying is where is the passion? The connection between the leads that makes it electrifying? My lesbian romance MUST have detailed sex at least once. Hell, if the author writes well enough, I don't even need to have a story with sex. This author unfortunately does not write well enough for me to not care about the lack of sex. I kept hoping this book would get better as it went along, soon I just started counting down the chapters until the end. It only really got exciting when Maya first sees the demon, then the story just gets more interesting after that and of course it happens toward the end. The ending was the best part, Maya redeemed herself and she grew, but still the story ended abruptly. It ended as if it was being left open for a sequel, which I'm sure could happen since some issues were left unresolved. The author had a great idea, it just was not developed well enough to fly and lacked so much that could have elevated it to more. I don't feel like I read the same book as all the others who have given this 5 stars.

2.5 stars for a good concept and ending. Only 2.5 stars for grammatical errors, weak characterization, lack of proper development of the idea, and just being left with the feeling that it could have been more.

[moxieBK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this awhile back.....

I like Amazon/Warrior Women stories a lot. There doesn't need to be much plot to them for me to devour them. Having said that, and the fact that it was awhile ago that I read this, I really enjoyed the story.

I had read some reviews voicing concerns about events taking place in the book, but considering the time these events took place (alternate reality, as it were,) this didn't bother me. I'm just reviewing this now, because I still remember things in the story; it's thread still excites me. I have it in my "to read again pile," which says a lot.

I will also say that even though this is a Book One in a trilogy, this book stands on its own nicely. In fact, I really have no desire to finished this trilogy. I previewed the other two books and they don't hook me like this first book did. Unlike other trilogies I've read, there is no cliffhanger, that I recall.

Overall, a rather enjoyable, (albeit long,) story. I don't normally read nearly 600 page stories.

Aside: I don't care one whit about this author's gender issues.... misrepresentations or not. We all have our gender discoveries to make, many take a lifetime to resolve. Far be it from me to judge from afar without walking in someone else's shoes. I buy books that I like for content. I don't care if it's a ghostwriter, a straight man writing as a lesbian, a f2m, m2f, transgender.... Or any other gender I missed. Reviews should be about books, and author's style; they should not be direct attacks on said author's person. And full disclosure: I was born a woman; and, yes, I am a lesbian. I do not read most books mainly for the sexy bits. I absolutely believe you can be straight and write good gay/lesbian dialog. Love and emotions are universal. /rant

[Nka300 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is been on the bootom of my to-read shelve for a few years now. Since i've run out of compelling choices and i seem to have had more luck finding good books for the last week, i made the choice to chance reading this book. I have to say that i'm quite pleased. It's a great story and i have the suspicion that three books is not enough for this serie.

In the past i liked books about amazons, but i've outgrown this theme for 10 years, which is the reason i couldn't muster enthusiasm for this story for the last couple of years. Everytime it would tease me to choose it, but when i was seriously contemplating reading it, i always decided to search for other novels.

I have to say that i haven't been dissapointed yet about any of Robin Roseau's novels, they are al good and addicting. This is also one of them, the description of the story may seem harsh, but it's quite sweet.

The world building was done quite nicely, the characters were interesting and the story was in my opinion unique. The suspense was great, it managed to geet my tension up and the (fight)/training scenes were also great, It could keep me on edge. This book It's definitely worth your time.

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most original plots I've seen in a dog's age. Young woman is kidnapped from her seaside village because the village has failed to give a tithe in about two decades. The Amazons are desperate for new companions because no one believes they are fighting demons anymore. It's part "Taming of the Shrew," part "Alien" and part romance that doesn't blur the plot.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story

amazing to see the characters well written and with such strong beliefs.
the unity in this book for women is an amazing one.
though difficult ideas of the plot maybe hard to grasp it was well were and shows the love between women as friends and lovers.Remarkable!!!!

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

so what if it's written by a man. I liked this book and may even get the next two. there were definitely flaws in the editing, which made me want to stop reading early on. I sure am glad I got through it

[charles clayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

🔥♨
This was one very hot 🔥and steamy♨ lez book !💞 . Full of drama of the wet ⛲ and juicy 🍉 kind !😍 . Guaranteed to get your juices flowing !💞
🌈🔥♨ .