Warrior's Revenge

By: Coreene Callahan

Narrated by: Sue Pitkin

Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sometimes the only way to love - and redemption - is to make a deal with the devil. After the death of her parents, Lady Aurora de Marquise is left with no illusions. Stripped of her birthright and betrayed by her uncle, escape is her only option. With her life on the line, she narrowly avoids another murder attempt - only to run headlong into Lord Brigham de Mornay, a man most consider a monster. With her uncle's henchmen nipping at her heels, Aurora knows better than to trust a stranger - especially one as compelling as Brigham. Well-honed instincts urge her to flee before his abundant charm takes a nasty turn into aggression - and she ends up neck deep in trouble. Wary, but undeniably drawn to him, Aurora pits her will against his, challenging his authority every chance she gets. But when her uncle manages to track her, she is left with the ultimate choice - surrender to the man who now holds her heart or risk it all trying to escape again. Gritty and fast-paced, Warrior's Revenge brings to life the magnificence of the medieval age while exploring the meaning of honor, duty, and nature of true love.

©2013 Coreene Callahan (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

A little slow and inaccurate

The book started off strong but got really slow in the middle. I had to force myself to keep listening for several chapters, but then it picked back up. Something that got on my nerves a little was the use of modern slang and sayings for a historical story.

The narrator did a good job of putting emotion into the story, but the guys' voices were terrible. All the voices (girl or guy) were low, lower, and lowest. It was hard to distinguish them.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Enjoyed it

What made the experience of listening to Warrior's Revenge the most enjoyable?

It was your typical medieval romance but there were a few surprises in there and I found it entertaining. I liked the heroine just fine - I think her flaws were a result of her sheltered life and evil uncle. The narrator wasn't my favorite (didn't care for her accent and starts/stops in odd places) but she wasn't bad. Oh and the cover picture is weird since the hero was a baron and granted he was basically a war lord, but the descriptions mention tunic and leggings. Anyway, I thought it was a good value for the price I paid.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

good story

Any additional comments?

this book was a good read, the narrator's hesitation between every sentence was aggravating and distracting at first but I got used to it. I would have liked an epilogue but over all I enjoyed the book.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Really good historical romance :D

4-4.5 stars

This was a really good story. I liked Aurora and Brigham and was really drawn in to their story. It was interesting and engaging enough that I had trouble putting it down until I was done.

Aurora is a Lady but due to bad circumstances (both her parents dying) she's been taken in by her uncle who treats her like a slave. He and his wife find any reason to beat her and even make reasons so they have an excuse to do so. One night when it becomes clear that her death at her uncle's hands is close, Aurora decides she has no choice but try to escape. She escapes in the middle of the night with the help with her trusty maid, Nate.

Brigham is a Barron and a hard man with a vicious reputation. He's had to fight hard to be accepted because he was illegitimately born but he's made a good life for himself. He was married once but to a horrible woman that ended up dying and leaving him a widower. Brigham never intended to marry again, even to beget an heir. Things slowly change when he meets a feisty wench while he's on his way to a friend's wedding.

Aurora is travelling to her best friend's wedding, sure that she and her betrothed will help her stay out of the grasp of her evil uncle if she can just get there. She and Nate make their way together but at one point when Aurora is out alone to find food, she runs in to some trouble in the form of Brigham. He believes her a "light skirt" (aka whore) and wont believe her when she says she's not. With the constant threat of violence she's lived with over the past year, Aurora's first expectation is danger and when Brigham doesn't seem to be taking no for an answer she's afraid he'll force her and/or beat her. In order to save herself, she catches him unaware and manages to escape him by kneeing him in the groin and also steals his horse. Brigham is determined to find her and make her pay. Aurora is sorry for the hurt she caused Brigham but is too desperate to get to safety to let it stop her. Aurora heads to the safety of her best friend and gets to the keep in time for the wedding and is promised she'll be protected from her uncle. She's finally relaxing and checking out the stables when she meets up with Brigham again, who also is there for the wedding. Brigham is very surprised to see Aurora and is determined to make her pay for the harm she caused him. This starts a challenging time between them, as Brigham decides to try seducing Aurora and she tries not to be seduced. Unfortunately for Aurora, Brigham's touch tends to make her forget where she is or anything but wanting him to touch her more so she's at a disadvantage. She finds that avoiding Brigham works well but when he manages to track her down things go bad. They're caught in an intimate moment and Aurora is compromised and her reputation is threatened. Brigham ends up offering to marry her to solve things. Aurora doesn't want to marry Brigham but really has little choice in the matter, especially when her uncle comes to try to claim her and Brigham refuses to believe her uncle's lies or give her up.

Aurora isn't thrilled about her marriage, especially because she thinks that Brigham is only doing it because he has to and doesn't really want her. Little does she know that Brigham is feeling a lot more for her than he wishes and he is all for the marriage. They go in to the marriage with some mis-understandings between them but both are willing to work at things to make it work. Immediately after they're married, Aurora and Brigham head back to his keep. When she gets there, Aurora and Brigham spend their nights (and some points during the day) indulging in their physical relationship and she doesn't realize it at first but after about a month or so, she realizes that she's fallen for Brigham somewhere along the way. During the days, Aurora has a lot of work to do that keeps her occupied because the keep hasn't had a lady looking over things and lots of things need her attention. She's doing well but doesn't understand why a lot of the servants seem to have reservations about her. She ends up unexpectedly finding out about Brigham's previous wife and how horrible she was which leads her to understand some of the reasons that Brigham is the way he is. She admits her love for him, realizing he needs her to say it to him and she also realizes that he loves her in return but will probably never be able to tell her. She accepts this and is happy with her life and with Brigham. Things are going very well for them but danger does show when they're least expecting it and Aurora is kidnapped. Brigham and his men rush to find her, hoping to save her before she's killed. There's some stressful times but things turn out well in the end and Brigham is able to save Aurora before she's too hurt. Aurora and Brigham have some tender moments while he finally admits his feelings to her and they get their HEA back on track.

This was such a good story. I really liked Aurora and Brigham. They both had some moments where I was wondering what the hell they were thinking but overall they did pretty well and didn't have me wanting to smack them through my Kindle. I liked the historical aspect of the story, it didn't have a lot of historical details so I didn't really have to wonder if the story background was historically accurate or not. Overall, I really liked the story and I kind of wish this wasn't a stand alone, if it was part of a series I'd be reading the 2nd book in the series next. I'd recommend this story. Thumbs up! :D

* note - The narrator did a very good job on the audiobook. I liked her accent and thought it worked well for this story.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Wow! Love this!

Sue Pitkin, you did a great job. Just what this series needed a great writer and narrator. I enjoyed this very much and recommend it highly.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

SLOW!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Simply put, Aurora acts like a spoiled, arrogant, and selfish brat! Too often she was unreasonably angry with Brigham. Brigham has way too much patience with her! The story was much too drawn out.

Any additional comments?

I was disappointed because I loved her other books (Dragonfury).

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Classic Coreene

I initially got this book thinking it was a circle of seven book but upon listening to it for a bit I realized it wasn't. No big. It's your pretty standard His Rom formula. man meets woman, wants her, she resists, they get together then a baddy from her past kidnaps her and tries to kill her..yadda yadda.

Well worth a credit if you want some feel good action of a romantical (yes totally made up word) type.

Narration wasn't too bad (unfortunately, I have heard worse), some of the pronunciation drove me insane...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good story, extremely poor delivery

Would you try another book from Coreene Callahan and/or Sue Pitkin?

I would try another book from Coreene Callahan but definitely not if it were read by Sue Pitkin. The delivery was boring and even made absolutely no sense on occasion.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Warrior's Revenge?

I enjoyed the the first meeting of Aurora and Bringham.

What didn’t you like about Sue Pitkin’s performance?

The delivery was extremely slow. She also stopped or slowed down at odd times.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

A change in the reader. And maybe a little less "Authentic" speaking.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A rather slow historical romance

Started out interesting but fell flat after the first half of the book. Nice narration by Sue Pitkin but even she could not save this story overall. After hearing the expression "God's Teeth!" for the 30th time, I almost had to jump to a different book. Not recommended unless you happen to enjoy a very slow story. If you enjoy historical romance read Diana Gabaldon and start with Outlander - simply amazing.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Nice romance

Any additional comments?

The story was nice enough. The narrator was stilled and paused WAY too much in the beginning 9-13 chapters but then it was like she finally got into the story and read/acted it out better.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful