Gwen’s review of Immortal Warrior (Immortal Brotherhood, Book 1) by Lisa Hendrix
Historical paranormal romance released by Berkley 4 Nov 08

This was an interesting book for me.  It’s a historical (medieval) paranormal romance – something I don’t read very often (not sure why that is).  And it’s an author I’ve never read before.  The mythos in the book is unfamiliar to me – I mean, I know who Odin, Thor, Loki, and Freya are, I have actually read some of their legends, but that’s about it.  So this was relatively new ground for me.  Turns out I’m glad I took the chance on this book. 

The hero and heroine were solid, three-dimensional characters who stayed true to themselves and their motivation throughout the book. No quick cop-outs (love that). The secondary characters were solid and interesting. The villain(s) were interesting and didn’t get too frustrating with Teflon-like abilities to shuck responsibility – hate it when the bad guys don’t pay.

It wasn’t a perfect novel – it was quite slow in spots.  However, if I just rolled with it, I enjoyed it, even if I did skim paragraphs here and there. It was a good solid yarn with few surprises but a very nice romance.   The story had some good action – when there was some.  There was lots of interesting historical details in the book, but that wasn’t what slowed it down; that was more due to how the story evolved than anything else.

The book’s main, and unique, premise is the hero and eight other Norse warriors are cursed by a witch to take the form of an animal either all night or all day – different animals and diurnal or nocturnal periods for each man.  You can imagine the complications this brings to a relationship.  “I love my husband, but he’s just a bear all day long.”  (::snort::  sorry – couldn’t resist)  The next few books in the series should be interesting now that the characters know how to break their curse.  This lack of knowledge really sucked some life out of the main relationship in this entry.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who thinks they need a change from the average paranormal romance.  And if you’re looking for a promising new author in the genre, this is the book for you.  I’ll definitely be looking for the next book, Immortal Outlaw, coming June 2009.  There’s no indication on the author’s site what she’s going to call this series.

Grade: B

Summary:

He came to England in search of treasure. Two hundred years later, he’s found her…

Ivar Graycloak is a brave warrior, a man known for his strength and integrity. He is also a man with a terrible secret. Long ago he was part of a Viking crew cursed by an evil sorceress to live for eternity as were-creatures. An eagle by day and a man by night, Ivar has lived a solitary existence for over two centuries. Then the king orders him to marry.

Lady Alaida is everything a man could want in a bride-intelligent, spirited, and beautiful-and their wedding night is a balm to Ivar’s lonely spirit. Then a seer brings him word of a dark vision, one that makes Ivar vow to stay away from his lovely wife forever. But now that Ivar has sampled Alaida’s passion, her humor and warmth, he is enthralled. His traitorous body-his very heart-longs for that which he
can never possess.

Lady Alaida may surprise him yet, though, for she has a power of her own-a power that will either destroy everything they hold dear or ultimately set them free…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series: