I’m a you-know-what for barbarian stories, but this…

So I am a slut for tales involving the brute and his bookish bride.

But I had some issues with this.

In this tale, we travel to a fantasy historical land of a prosperous Narnia and the savage lands of Game of Thrones. Jem and Cador are opposites. Jem is a tender-hearted, spoiled, forgotten prince and Cador is a ruffian with no respect for other cultures outside his own.

See how this plays out?

Jem’s naïveté on how the world works is both his parents’ fault and his own for being so idle. His innocence honestly bothered me. It was explained well, yes, but still.

Cador from the start is disrespectful and dishonorable, from throwing away Jem’s books to treating him as barely a person.

I wish Jem had held out longer. He didn’t deserve to be treated in such a manner, so I rooted for him for not forgiving Cador during the ultimate betrayal (even if book 2 makes me eat my words because I become heavily disappointed with Jem and Cador’s relationship).

Cador was an arse, not sorry saying it. He blamed every travesty on Jem and treated him thus-so. The steamy parts of this book redeemed him, but at the same time, he deserved to grovel and beg for forgiveness he doesn’t in the slightest deserve.

The next book makes me feel “eh” about Jem and Cador. There is some OM drama in it which I love for Jem. He deserves to see someone treat him right for the start. 

Overall, this was a nice read and a reread. I did skim a few times since the descriptions become purple and lengthy.

3.75⭐️ rounded up.

💜