- Title: A Warrior's Promise
- Classification: Adult Fiction
- Genre: Historical Romance
- Format: Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Avon; Original edition (April 24, 2012)
- ISBN-10: 0062034669
- ISBN-13: 978-0062034663
"What do you want with me? How long am I beholden to you? Where will you be taking me? Will we be going far from here--"
"Stop!" Bryce snapped. "You're a bit of a thing that not only needs feeding but help in growing into manhood."
"And what?" Charles halted in his tracks. "You expect to make a man out of me?"
Bryce peered down at him. "That's exactly what I intend to do."
He kept walking, and Charles had no choice but to follow, with only one thought in mind.
There was no way this mighty Highlander would ever accomplish making a man out of Charles, and for a very good reason.
Charles was actually Charlotte, a woman!
Charlotte had fallen on desperate times. Her father had been taken by King Kenneth's men, and she was left alone. Terrible things can happen to a woman on her own and desperate times called for desperate measures, and so Charlotte took on the persona of Charles, a down on his luck street urchin. She was determined to rescue her father, but she couldn't do it on her own. She wasn't faring so well when she crossed paths with Bryce, and she had almost gotten herself caught in a life of servitude due to a situation created out of a desire to eat. For coming to her aid Charlotte is indebted to Bryce. Now she only needs to convince him to help her rescue her father.
Bryce is on a quest for the 'true' King of Scotland. He is one of four men raised as brothers, one of whom is the 'true' King. Each has his own mission and Bryce's is to gather information from a spy in King Kenneth's court. When he comes across a boy who seeks his help in avoiding capture, he sees something of himself in the him and decides to help him. While the two travel, the boy reveals his wish to rescue his father. They strike a deal to help each other with their individual missions. He never suspected the plucky young lad was concealing a secret nor that their fates would be so closely intertwined.
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Charlotte is smart, loyal, fearless in battle and, because of her unusual upbringing, has more freedom than most of the woman of her day. Her father treated her as an equal and he taught her much. Bryce was set in his mission and had decided a relationship with a woman would be out of the question until the 'true' King was on the throne. By not revealing she was a woman, Charlotte learned a lot about Bryce and managed to wedge her way into his affection before he learned the truth--that she was, in fact, a woman. When the secret is revealed he has to come to terms with new feelings such as protectiveness and attraction. For Bryce is an old fashioned guy, and he was raised to believe woman weren't meant to fight that they were the weaker sex. Charlotte was like no woman he'd ever met. While he initially believes you should, "let no woman have your heart until you're ready to give it." He soon discovers love can't be planned, it just happens.
Overall, this one gets a 4 out of 5 roses. It was a fun and lighthearted story that had a wonderful blend of romance, humor and drama mixed in. This was the first book of the series I've read, but I hope to read the first two books soon. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one earns a FAN rating--the temperature in the room seems to have suddenly gone up a couple of degrees and a fan would be nice.
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