Despite the title and the weirdly photoshopped cover, Her Warrior Slave is actually a very heartfelt romance between a man and a woman who are both believably grieving for their own reasons. While there isn't really a villain in this book, the conflict tearing the two apart was believable, and the two separately need to overcome their separate griefs to find true love.

Iseult is depressed because her baby son has been missing for over a year. All of her spare time is devoted to riding around to neighboring tribes trying to find him. Her betrothed Duncan half-heartedly joins her because the kid isn't his, and he wants her to start over. Other than this, he's pretty affectionate, but Iseult cannot warm to him. Even to Kieran, the hero of the story, she takes a while to soften up, which I appreciated it. I find it frustrating when the heroine is presented with a decent rival but then magically becomes entranced by the hero for no explicable reason. Here, Kieran's listening skills are what disarm Iseult and his utter devotion to her cause to find her son endear him to her.

For his part, Kieran is punishing himself for his baby brother's death. He sells himself into slavery and tells himself he must endure 13 weeks of bondage. Haunted by memories of Egan's death, Kieran distances himself from both his family and Iseult, but he's eventually pulled in by her. He genuinely wants to help her, and his helping to bring her out of her shell also eventually brings him out of his.

Overall, this is a very poignant love story that's a little slower paced and very emotional. If you're looking for a romance like that, then I highly recommend this book. ( )

Excellent. I know I should say a whole bunch more but that one word encompasses it all for me. I loved the story. Was surprised by how things played out. Totally loved the way things played out. It brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion, both happy and sad. And I loved that it had an epilogue. Rounded things out perfectly. This is a must read.
( )

Excellent. I know I should say a whole bunch more but that one word encompasses it all for me. I loved the story. Was surprised by how things played out. Totally loved the way things played out. It brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion, both happy and sad. And I loved that it had an epilogue. Rounded things out perfectly. This is a must read. ( )