Review: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

Warprize
(Chronicles of the Warlands #1)
by Elizabeth Vaughan
Publisher: Tor Paranormal Romance
Publication date: June 13, 2005
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Xylara is the Daughter of the Warrior King, Xyron. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to the warring Firelanders.

Before she was old enough for a marriage-of-alliance, Xylara was trained as a healer. She can’t usurp her brother or negotiate a peace–but she can heal the brave ones injured in battle.

But not only her countrymen are wounded, and Xylara’s conscience won’t let Firelander warriors die when she can do something to save them. She learns their language and their customs and tries to make them as comfortable as possible, despite their prisoner-of-war status.

She never expects that these deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. Xylara knows must trade the life she has always known for the well-being of her people, and so she becomes…

The Warprize

I can’t believe I’ve been sitting on this book for over a year now! Every time I went to read it, the blurb just left me feel blah, and I wound up reading something else instead. Had I known how amazing the story was inside, I would have picked this up and read it a long time ago.

Lara is a master healer and the daughter of Xy. She’s practically a princess to her people, but has chosen the path of a healer instead of going to court and behaving as a princess. Since she swore an oath to tend to those in need, she has defied her brother, the king’s, orders and has tended to injured enemy soldiers. There’s a warlord in the area who has been raging war on their people, and even though his people might be the enemy, Lara can’t sit by and do nothing. So, she sneaks into their tent every day and tends to their injuries. Which is how the warlord learns about her and decides to claim her as part of his negotiations with her brother. Before Lara knows it, she’s given away to a warlord as warprize, and whisked away to their camp. She might know their language, but she has no clue what their customs are or even how to navigate the new world she’s found herself in.

One thing that I loved about this book was Keir and Lara. I mean, Lara has it pretty rough since her brother practically hands her off to a barbarian in a deal for peace between their people. Then to end up at this camp full of strange people and seem to be a prized possession was confusing. However, she dug her heals in, learned their ways, wasn’t afraid to ask questions, and left her mark among the people. Meanwhile, Keir is this fierce leader who can go berserk one minute, but sweet the next. He seemed pretty levelheaded until you attacked him or his warprize. Any time Lara seemed to be in danger, he went crazy with rage in order to save her, but then would be tender towards her. If I’m being completely honest, and I hate making comparisons, their relationship and their circumstances reminded me a lot of Khaleesi and Khal Drogo.

This story isn’t just about Lara learning her new role as Warprize, there’s also a lot going on with the house of Xy and Keir’s people as well. There’s a lot of treason happening, a lot of attacks, and it just seemed that once you would start to get comfortable, something else would happen. It’s safe to stay that I was never bored while reading this book.

I really enjoyed this story. I wish my library had the other books in because I’m dying to get my hands on the next book. The author doesn’t leave this story on a cliffhanger or anything, but I’m so invested in Lara and Keir’s story that I just don’t want it to end yet! I’m not one to buy books (because I just don’t have the space for them), but it looks like I will be ordering the next two books online. Warprize was just so rich in the world the author created, so rich with the traditions of Keir’s people, and I just couldn’t seem to put the book down. I’ll be impatiently waiting for my books to come in the mail. 🙂