Sunday, May 31, 2015

Book review - Warrior's Surrender, by Elizabeth Ellen Carter - Red Moon Book Tours

Alright guys, we are bringing you a little something different today.  We have been asked to participate in a Blog Tour for a wonderful book.  I can say I am taking great pleasure in helping promote this book.


I do recommend it if you like historical romance. It has a little bit of everything in it for you, but I am getting into my review, and that is not how I roll, so I guess we should just get things going. I am going to give you my review, with the book's description and excerpt to follow.  Also, there is a give away, let me post that before the review.



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Book Description:

A shared secret from their past could destroy their future…

Northumbria, 1077. In the years following William the Conqueror’s harrying of the North, Lady Alfreya of Tyrswick returns to her family home after seven years in exile. But instead of returning victorious as her dead father had promised, she returns defeated by Baron Sebastian de la Croix, the Norman who rules her lands.

To save her gravely ill brother's life, Alfreya offers herself hostage to her enemy. As Alfreya gets to know her new husband, she finds he’s not the monster she feared, and their marriage of convenience soon becomes a bond of passion. But Sebastian is a man with a secret—one that could destroy him.

As a series of brutal murders haunt their nights, the man who betrayed Alfreya’s father returns claiming to be her betrothed. He has learned Sebastian’s secret and will use it to further his own ambition—using Sebastian’s own family—which will destroy Sebastian and mark him a traitor, and plunge an unprepared England into war with the Scots…
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Book Title: Warrior's Surrender

Author: Elizabeth Ellen Carter

Alright, so before I start anything, let me say I got this book in exchange for an honest review.  I can say that I enjoyed this book.  I have not read a historical romance in a while, and I can say this was a great journey back into that genre of books.

The characters are very strong and well developed.  They keep you engaged and in some ways you are always cheering for them when something happens.  They do keep you reading on, engaging you with each action they take.  I loved how the male and female leads in this book played well off each other.  It is always good when your love interests have real chemistry.  You can't have a good romance novel without chemistry.

The story itself was great.  I loved how you read the prologue and when you get into the book, the actions there come back into play.  It is always nice when you get a good back story that you can follow.  I can say it was a bit predictable, but that is not always a bad thing.I could see it coming.  I am trying to not give anything away because even from the get go you have things that factor into the rest of the story.

The side stories in this book don't take away from the main story and really they help move the main story along.  Sometimes in books you get the main story and the back stories have nothing to do with it and pull away from it, not in this book. This book flows well and moves from one part to another with no huge issues.  As with all books, some parts are a little rushed, but over all it moved well.

Pros: Well thought out story, strong characters, great themes

Cons: Some places rushed, some conflicts didn't feel fully resolved

Overall rating: This book is highly recommended!!

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Excerpt:

By the light of the fire she could see the abandoned chair. To see the second chair Frey must peer around the door. 

It too was empty.

Frey frowned. Did she doze and Sebastian slipped past her unseen? She took a further step or two into the room and looked.

The bed was…

Before Frey could complete the thought, she was grabbed roughly from behind and held firmly against a man’s broad chest. A large hand covered her mouth and suppressed an involuntary scream.
The man recognised her and relaxed but did not remove his hand.

“You picked the wrong night to slit my throat while I slept, princess.”

Sebastian’s whispered voice filled her ear. He held her still for long moments before speaking.
“Are you recovered? You will not scream?”

Frey nodded and shook her head in answer to each question and she was released, her heart pumping furiously.

“Do you suggest I pick some other night then?” she said, wiping her mouth to rid the sensation of his hand. 

Sebastian ignored her barb and poured a small measure of spiced wine into his goblet. He handed it to her and watched as she drank.

“Why do you assume the worst of me?” she asked.

“Habit,” he answered, arms folded across his chest. “Now tell me what you’re doing in my chambers while others sleep.”

“I have to speak to you.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows rose in surprise. It might have been scepticism, but Frey couldn’t be sure.
“And it couldn’t wait until morning?”

All of a sudden Frey’s courage left her and she wondered if her senses had taken leave of her too.
She was an unmarried woman, alone, late at night in the bed chamber of a man whose mere presence made her feel powerful sensations that she struggled to understand. What on earth was she doing?

She shook her head softly. 

“This was a mistake.”

As she turned to leave, Sebastian grabbed her wrist.

“It’s a mistake to not finish what you start.”


Bio:

A future with words was always on the book for Elizabeth Ellen Carter who started writing her own stories when she ran out of Nancy Drew mysteries to read when she was 10.

Using her mother’s Olivetti type writer with the italic keyboard, she spent endless school holidays making up her own stories and then using the Dewey Decimal System to arrange and categorize her bookshelf.

Somewhere around the age of 13 she determined to become a journalist and at 17 was awarded a cadetship to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

She covered news, council, education, health but had the most fun as the paper’s entertainment and features reporter covering film, TV and music.

Best of all she met her husband there and together they started a small award-winning media, marketing and advertising agency and now she works as marketing manager for an international organic skin care company.

In 2012, Elizabeth also returned to the keyboard to write stories (and laptops are so much better than manual typewriters).

Her debut, Moonstone Obsession  was shortlisted for the 2013 Romance Writers Of Australia’s Emerald Awards for unpublished manuscripts.

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