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World of Hetar #5
The Shadow Queen
Mourn me but briefly.
Then find your destiny, Lara, my love, my life.
Now let me go.
With those words, the spirit of Magnus Hauk, Dominus of Terah, leaves his body—and thus the fate of a nation rests upon the faerie woman Lara's shoulders.
While Lara's son Prince Taj is well loved by the people of Terah, he is too young to rule, and Lara must obey Magnus's dying command and govern in his stead. Thankfully, she has a powerful ally in Prince Kaliq of the Shadows, though never was there a more seductive friend or foe. Yet some in Terah still believe that a female must never wear the crown…and Lara and her daughters will face old enemies who escaped the wrath of Magnus but are not yet finished with their schemes for power and revenge.
Then find your destiny, Lara, my love, my life.
Now let me go.
With those words, the spirit of Magnus Hauk, Dominus of Terah, leaves his body—and thus the fate of a nation rests upon the faerie woman Lara's shoulders.
While Lara's son Prince Taj is well loved by the people of Terah, he is too young to rule, and Lara must obey Magnus's dying command and govern in his stead. Thankfully, she has a powerful ally in Prince Kaliq of the Shadows, though never was there a more seductive friend or foe. Yet some in Terah still believe that a female must never wear the crown…and Lara and her daughters will face old enemies who escaped the wrath of Magnus but are not yet finished with their schemes for power and revenge.
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
91 people are currently reading
657 people want to read
About the author
Bertrice Small
216 books1,130 followersBertrice Williams was born on December 9, 1937 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, the daughter of Doris S. and David R. Williams, both broadcasters. She studied at Attended Western College for Women and Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. On October 5, 1963, she married George Sumner Small, a photographer and designer with a History Major at Princeton. They had a son Thomas David. She lived on eastern Long Island for over 30 years. Her greatest passions were her family; Finnegan and Sylvester, the family cats; Nicki, the elderly cockatiel who whistles the NY Mets charge call; her garden; her work, and just life in general.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
December 6, 2009
A continuation of book 3 (The Twilight Lord) as book 4 introduced a new world & storyline and took place outside of Hetar/Tehran. About 15 years after book 3, a wonderful bringing together of plot & politics. At book 5 in a series, usually things are getting stale, but I found this book to be fresh in it's dealings with the politics & light vs. dark themes. I'm completely surprised to be delighted with a Bertrice Small series again as I'd given up on her books long ago because she kept telling the same story over and over. This fantasy/sci-fi world seems to have given her some new directions to take her writing in, in terms of plot (but not so much in the romantica aspects of the story which is classic Small in it's frequency and sameness - she has a few standard tableaus that she recycles, at this point making them a combination of dull & comical.).
As for the conclusion of the book, it does not end with a feeling of finality at all, leaving plenty of room for a book 6.
As in my copy of book 4, there were small grammar & wording errors throughout that a good editor should have found & corrected. Sloppy IMO.
Looking forward to book 6.
As for the conclusion of the book, it does not end with a feeling of finality at all, leaving plenty of room for a book 6.
As in my copy of book 4, there were small grammar & wording errors throughout that a good editor should have found & corrected. Sloppy IMO.
Looking forward to book 6.
August 15, 2017
It's been a long time since I've read a Bertrice Small novel; I lost interest when she insisted on beating the Leslie/O'Malley clan's stories into the ground. I came across this, remembered vaguely that she'd written a fantasy series, said "what the hell" and started reading.
It's "Skye O'Malley" with magic. And it's SUPER dirty. Small manages to cram in threesomes, foursomes, orgies, BDSM, incest and quasi-bestiality before the book's halfway done. I'm not disgusted--I'm sort of impressed, actually. So why the low rating? Because all the characters repeat the action ENDLESSLY. The faerie heroine's husband (a king) gets fatally injured, but before he dies he insists that the heroine be regent for their son, which is a first. So the heroine repeats this to every character again. And again. And again. That's just the start. It's not a bad story, it's just very badly told and frankly a rickety frame on which to throw the porn. Small wasn't dumb; she knew why people read her books and she gave them what they wanted, but here even the sex gets boring. God rest her soul, she wrote some of my favorite guilty pleasure novels ever. This isn't one of them.
It's "Skye O'Malley" with magic. And it's SUPER dirty. Small manages to cram in threesomes, foursomes, orgies, BDSM, incest and quasi-bestiality before the book's halfway done. I'm not disgusted--I'm sort of impressed, actually. So why the low rating? Because all the characters repeat the action ENDLESSLY. The faerie heroine's husband (a king) gets fatally injured, but before he dies he insists that the heroine be regent for their son, which is a first. So the heroine repeats this to every character again. And again. And again. That's just the start. It's not a bad story, it's just very badly told and frankly a rickety frame on which to throw the porn. Small wasn't dumb; she knew why people read her books and she gave them what they wanted, but here even the sex gets boring. God rest her soul, she wrote some of my favorite guilty pleasure novels ever. This isn't one of them.
February 26, 2013
This one was amazing, she's a true gem, the world looks so amazing. magic does exist
July 22, 2018
Good Read
The book is a good read. Although there were a couple of times that the story dragged along. Overall I liked the book. The book gives you enough information to read this book and understand the backstory. Although of course, it you read the previous books you will have a more complete understanding. I didn't like the ending. It reminded me of the way the Sopranos ended. The only saving grace is, there is another book in the series . I hope the final book of the series ties up all. the loose ends. I gave it four stars because I didn't like the ending. In conclusion, the was a good book. A good story and trademark Beatrice Smalls steamy love stories
I recommend this book. New readers as well as old timers like me. I've been reading her since The Kadin.
The book is a good read. Although there were a couple of times that the story dragged along. Overall I liked the book. The book gives you enough information to read this book and understand the backstory. Although of course, it you read the previous books you will have a more complete understanding. I didn't like the ending. It reminded me of the way the Sopranos ended. The only saving grace is, there is another book in the series . I hope the final book of the series ties up all. the loose ends. I gave it four stars because I didn't like the ending. In conclusion, the was a good book. A good story and trademark Beatrice Smalls steamy love stories
I recommend this book. New readers as well as old timers like me. I've been reading her since The Kadin.
May 5, 2018
Spoilers ahoy!
Okay, so Lara gave birth to the K twins so that no one would know which one was supposed to be the true Shadow Lord. The Shadow Lands are thrown into chaos, the twins are separated, people are taking sides as to which one is the true Lord. Fine, got that part.
So when the twins are adults, and their half-sister has sex with both of them, she asks Kolgrim what the "deformity" on his love rod, manroot, whatever you want to call it, is. He replies that it's his lesser rod and it proves he is the true Twilight Lord.
Wait...really? REALLY? If it was that easy, why didn't anyone ever think to check the twins for this "deformity?"
Okay, so Lara gave birth to the K twins so that no one would know which one was supposed to be the true Shadow Lord. The Shadow Lands are thrown into chaos, the twins are separated, people are taking sides as to which one is the true Lord. Fine, got that part.
So when the twins are adults, and their half-sister has sex with both of them, she asks Kolgrim what the "deformity" on his love rod, manroot, whatever you want to call it, is. He replies that it's his lesser rod and it proves he is the true Twilight Lord.
Wait...really? REALLY? If it was that easy, why didn't anyone ever think to check the twins for this "deformity?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2020
These books keep me entertained.
Lara has a lot of kids. lol. Teenage girls are a handful. When her daughters talked back to her about being jealous, I myself wanted to go through the pages and faerie slap their ass.
Cam should have been killed off with his parents, but then again he was needed to fulfill a destiny, stupid mortal.
I am extremely happy that she is back to banging Kaliq, they NEED to end up together by the end of this series!!
Great installment, her life is moving along, can't imagine what is left of her destiny.
Lara has a lot of kids. lol. Teenage girls are a handful. When her daughters talked back to her about being jealous, I myself wanted to go through the pages and faerie slap their ass.
Cam should have been killed off with his parents, but then again he was needed to fulfill a destiny, stupid mortal.
I am extremely happy that she is back to banging Kaliq, they NEED to end up together by the end of this series!!
Great installment, her life is moving along, can't imagine what is left of her destiny.
August 24, 2022
This was very good. This one is about Lara and one of her great loves of her life. She takes the time here to raise her children, who will play a big role in the future of Hetar as we know it from the books. There is a sad part ad felt bad for Lara as she just is getting to the point that she wants this journey to finish so she can lead a simple life. Great action. Recommend.
July 26, 2023
I started reading Bertrice Small novels 35 years ago starting with Skye O'Malley. Those books were a little racy ,. This is the first Hetar book I have read and it makes Skye look like Little Miss Muffit. If you are OK with extreme erotica, this is the book for you. It even makes 50 Shades of Gray tame. I enjoyed the story of Light ove Dark.
March 2, 2020
A lot of dry pages
I have read the 4 books before this one... Every other page was nothing but the same sex scenes.. It got boring to the point of me skipping over every time I came across it... Even the children were sexually active
I have read the 4 books before this one... Every other page was nothing but the same sex scenes.. It got boring to the point of me skipping over every time I came across it... Even the children were sexually active
January 1, 2019
Just couldn't get into it. I've read legal disclaimers that were more enticing.
March 19, 2019
Missing You...
I loved this book! Bertrice Small is one of my favorite authors! She was a great writer and I miss her!
I loved this book! Bertrice Small is one of my favorite authors! She was a great writer and I miss her!
October 19, 2019
Great book great series
This whole series is awesome. I couldn't put any of the books down grade A 100% worth the time to read
This whole series is awesome. I couldn't put any of the books down grade A 100% worth the time to read
March 16, 2021
sad and powerful not what I expected!
July 8, 2021
I really liked the story in this one.
March 2, 2017
The Shadow Queen
Definitely hard to put down. The fairie Lara is pulled in all directions. She is able to conquer the bad. Bertrice Small is amazing
Definitely hard to put down. The fairie Lara is pulled in all directions. She is able to conquer the bad. Bertrice Small is amazing
April 1, 2021
It's review time 🎧
Warning ⚠️:
Narrator score🎧 ;
Level of steam🔥:
Level of anxiety and sadness0😱😢:
The book itself📖:
Warning ⚠️:
Narrator score🎧 ;
Level of steam🔥:
Level of anxiety and sadness0😱😢:
The book itself📖:
April 12, 2010
Lara is back at it with her destiny and the drama that goes with it. This book has very adult content and should not be read by teens and youth. This is the 5th book of the series and it was as good as the previous ones. Lara and her crew never disappoint. Her husband Magnus dies in a freak accident and her 13 year old son must take over as Dominus. Lara is the Shadow Queen while he learns and matures. As usual, she has to juggle being Shadow Queen alongside the fact that one daughter runs away to marry a man Lara hates. The eldest daughter returns to her people to live and find a husband, enter cousin Cam. He is son of the brother and sister in law that killed Lara's first husband. Also enter the twins she left in the Dark Relm. As well, there is the magical daughter and twin to Taj, the Dominus, who is forever in trouble with her magic and impatience. Oh yes, Kaliq is back in Lara's life. I do like that part because he is the perfect mate for her and he is immortal like her. She has already had two dead husbands, so she needs someone powerful and difficult to kill. The book moves fast and is at times unpredictable but always finds it way back to a sane place for the reader. Loved It!
March 24, 2016
This was fucking awful, even without the florid, ridiculous description of a penis as, alternately, a love rod or manroot. Man. Root. I shit you not, here's some quotes:
So...yeah. That's as far as I made it into The Shadow Queen. Even if the descriptive language wasn't beyond atrocious, I would've quit soon, anyway, as the writing was painful in just about all aspects.
Kaliq licked at the sensitive flesh. Then he sucked upon it, and groaned as she drew even harder upon his love rod.
"Do not milk me dry, you faerie witch," he told her. "I would release my juices into your hidden garden, beloved."
Her head swam with delight as his manroot filled her. Her heated passage enclosed him tightly as he probed her strongly.
Lara's last memory of that moment was the triumphant sound of his voice shouting, and the feel of his creamy love juices rushing forth to cool her heated passage.
So...yeah. That's as far as I made it into The Shadow Queen. Even if the descriptive language wasn't beyond atrocious, I would've quit soon, anyway, as the writing was painful in just about all aspects.
May 15, 2010
This was not as good as the previous one's. I liked the first one Lara and the Twilight Lord. The Shadow Queen really sets the future of Lara's son and daughters. Taj is meant to the the new Dominus and is guided to do so by Lara. Marzina is the one I hope Bertrice Small writes about in another book. She is the sister to the twilight lord's son's Kolgrim and Kolbein. I do think the way that Kolgrim and Kolbein's story developed was well written and will set the picture for the next book. Prince Kaliq is still a big part of Lara's life and I do hope they have a happy ending. The book is a good read, has much character development and ends ok. Can't wait for the next one.
May 10, 2016
This is the first book in the series that I read; it's interesting but can be overwhelming sometimes with the amount of people and things thrown at you (which may not be so overwhelming if I had started at book 1...which is on its way)
Like most of Small's books, I find the characters compare lovers. 'I loved so and so but I haven't loved them like I love you' kind of bS that just irritates me. But other than that, decent enough to pass the time by.
Like most of Small's books, I find the characters compare lovers. 'I loved so and so but I haven't loved them like I love you' kind of bS that just irritates me. But other than that, decent enough to pass the time by.
August 15, 2010
Bertrice Small is not a good writer. For years I have read her historicals mostly for the one deviant sex scene she always included.
Now Bertrice has accomplished couple of great feats. 1) She has discovered her niche in fantasy erotica. 2) She has snuck erotica into my local library. They don't seem to realize that her genre has changed a bit!
Now Bertrice has accomplished couple of great feats. 1) She has discovered her niche in fantasy erotica. 2) She has snuck erotica into my local library. They don't seem to realize that her genre has changed a bit!
April 23, 2016
Another fantastic Hetar book from Bertrice Small. I just can't get enough of this series! Plenty more new adventures for Lara to navigate through fill this book. Lara's life changes drastically from where it left off previously but the book is no less wonderful. Eagerly devoured the entire book and desperately waited for the 6th to come out.
June 8, 2009
I was wrong to think I could read a Beatrice Small book again. Flipped through this one enough to get what's going on, but all the characters seem superficial. They don't have enough depth to care about what's going on around and to them. Or so it seems to me, anyway.
December 4, 2009
I have not read the series in a while and stumbled upon the 5th book in the Hetar series and I really enjoyed it. I became familiar once again to the characters in teh book and was introduced to some new ones. I hope there will be more to the series.
March 5, 2016
I don't really love these Land of Heter books, but I do enjoy Bertrice Small's writing -- especially the sex stuff! About like the previous ones in this series.
May 12, 2014
The next book in the historical romance series, "World of Hetar" ... excellent!
Warning: Book contains hot sex!
Warning: Book contains hot sex!
September 16, 2009
great Beatrice Small book
April 9, 2011
Good story. This is probably my favorite Hetar book because of the love story between Kaliq and Lara. Kaliq seems much more... well, human (as much as possible, anyway) in this book.
September 25, 2011
the world of hetar filled with ordinary humans and those with magic and the fae. complex politics. interesting heroine.
May 29, 2012
Wow, First of all, I am really sad that Magnus had to die. I liked him more than Vartan. Lara has to teach Taj all he needs to know. Read this book-Don't skip out on it! It was fabulous.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews