THE WARRIOR

Author: Judith E. French ISBN: 0843953950 12/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER/Leisure
Time Period: 4th Century B.C.

In ancient times, tales were told of fierce warriors and the brave women who risked everything to love them. Alexander is one such man—the only son of Alexander the Great, he has a destiny to fulfill. But in the heat of the Egyptian desert, a beautiful slave girl named Kiara calls to his deepest desires. And for once, Alexander wants nothing more than to defy expectation and follow this willful beauty around the world. But deception surrounds the lovers on all sides. From the great pyramids of Egypt to the misty hills of Ireland, history awaits the one man brave enough to seize it. And the one woman bold enough to claim…The Warrior

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Alexander knows one thing and one thing only. He wants to go to Alexandria and marry his uncle's daughter, the beautiful Mereret. Little does he know that Mereret is as evil as they come. The Egyptian court is opulent and decadent—seemingly laying in wait to chew Alexander up and spit him out. Unfortunately, Alexander is the only person who doesn't see that. His loving parents try everything to dissuade him, but he is having none of that. He is stubborn and strong and makes his own decisions. He is an extremely sexy hero—one that can be hard and commanding, and yet we see a very soft side of him when it is concerning a woman he loves, such as his mother or his 7 year-old sister, who, by the way, is adorable.

Kiara is a wonderful heroine. I think this is the first time that I have liked a heroine even more than a hero in a romance novel. She is unselfish and loving, and will do anything in her power to get back home to the island that she was stolen from eight years ago. When she is given to Alexander as a slave, she sees him as a way out. She recognizes an inner strength about him and knows that he is the man that is going to help her; he is the only one powerful enough to be able to take her home. She helps him out of more than a few scrapes (Alexander can act as though he is invincible, at times) and earns his trust and loyalty, but not without first having taken leaps and bounds together to get her safely home.

THE WARRIOR is a wonderful novel to fill a long, sleepless night or lazy afternoon. Ms. French pairs a wonderful plot with unforgettable characters, making THE WARRIOR another great book to go on my keeper shelves.

Kristal Gorman