Review: Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan

Warsworn
(Chronicles of the Warlands #2)
by Elizabeth Vaughan
Publisher: Tor Paranormal Romance
Publication date: April 4, 2006
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Lara is the Warprize

A powerful healer, she has sworn an oath of loyalty to Keir the Warlord, and his people. Now the Warlord and his chosen mate face enemies within the tribe and danger lurks on every hand as they journey toward Keir’s homeland.

When they reach a village marked with the warnings of the plague, Keir forbids Lara to heal the sick, commanding that she not risk her own life. But both Lara and Kier are strong of will and neither will bend easily, even for love; and when Lara disobeys, she pays the price: both she and Kier are plague-struck… and so is their entire encampment.

In the midst of the dying, Iften, a rival warrior, gathers his followers and challenges Keir for the right to rule their tribe. If Keir, weakened by the sickness, loses — he dies.

And so does Lara.

To save her love, her life, and her adopted people, Lara must find a cure for the plague — and fully embrace her sworn role as Warprize to her Warlord.

All I wanted was to read the second book in this fantasy romance and escape reality for a little bit. However, I soon learned that this book revolves around the plague. So, it turned out to not be much of an escape. I guess that’s what I get for diving right in and not reading the synopsis.

While this story does take a much slower pace, there was still a lot that happens. Between Keir’s second in command trying to take over, to Lara pretty much bringing the plague to Keir’s people, there was quite a bit going on. It kind of felt like one really long, Lara doesn’t listen, manipulates Keir into getting her way, and instead brings a lot of death and devastation with her. I get that she’s a healer and wants to help everyone, but girl come on, the plague?! I could understand if she stumbled on it and didn’t know what it was, but she does, and tricks Keir into allowing her and her guard to enter a plague ridden keep. Of course the people are beyond saving, she brings it back to Keir’s people and they start dying. I swear, the choices this girl made during this book astounded me. If I were Keir, I’d toss her back to her people and ride like the devil himself was chasing me back to my homelands.

Phew. Yeah, to say I had some issues with Lara would be an understatement. How Keir makes it out of this alive is beyond me. That woman is a curse, but I digress. While the main character may have annoyed me beyond belief with her selfish and childish ways, I still enjoyed the story. I enjoyed getting to see the dynamics change among Keir’s people as well as watching the plot thicken. I will still be tuning into the next book. I just hope Lara pulls herself out of her own little bubble and starts to realize the heat that they are in.

Previous reviews from Chronicles of the Warlands
Waprize