Shannon C.’s review of Warrior (Time Hunters, Book 1) by Angela Knight
Sci-Fi romance released by Berkley 1 Jul 08

Angela Knight is one of those authors everyone recommends when suggesting erotic romance authors, but I’ve never read any of her books. And even though I made fun of the blurb when it came up for review over at Duckie Central, Gwen’s review made me eager to read it when Sybil sent me a copy.

The book didn’t work for me as well as it did for Gwen. It wasn’t that I had a hard time keeping up, not having read Jane’s Warlord. My major stumbling block was the fact that some of the sci-fi aspects of the world were more cheesy than anything else. (Warfems? Seriously? Why not just call them female warlords?) But once I accepted all the cheese, I enjoyed this book.

Jessica Kelly, the twenty-first century artist heroine, is remarkably resilient considering what she’s been through, snatched out of her time and place and brought to the future. I liked that she was assertive without being feisty, and while she will not make my top ten list of romance heroines, she did kick ass in her own way.

Galar Arvid, our temporal enforcer, was the kind of hero that a lot of readers seem to like but which leaves me cold. He is totally alpha, totally determined to protect his woman, and he demonstrates this at times by being patronizing. I thought he really should have listened to some of the things Jessica tried to tell him long before he actually did. That said, I bought the chemistry between himself and Jess, and I believed their HEA.

The plot is interesting, too, though I wasn’t sure what Ms. Knight was going to do to resolve it. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lot of people out to kill Jess and Galar, and I felt that the sections in their POV weren’t handled terribly well. Chapters also seemed to start and stop at random points, for no discernible reason. I also thought the book had an excess of secondary characters, some of whom are doubtless destined for sequels.

I’m not sure how to grade this. On the one hand, the plotting was uneven, and the characters weren’t memorable enough that I’ll be able to tell you much about them in a month or so, but at the time I was reading I was pretty much hooked completely, and I definitely think I’ll enjoy reading more from Ms. Knight if she finishes the series. That counts for a lot with me, hence the slightly higher grade.

Grade: B-

Summary:

In the 24th century, anyone can leap through time at will. To police the time jumpers, the Temporal Enforcement Agency has established a precinct in time. Galar Arvid is a genetically altered warlord and agent who’s been sent back to 2008 to save a pretty Atlanta artist from a Xeran time traveler who intends to kill her for profit. What Galar doesn’t count on is the powerful desire Jessica Kelly ignites in him. But could a romance between them work? A three-hundred-year chasm separates them and, even if they dart through time, there’s still a maniacal killer on their tails.

Read an excerpt here