Rebel and Stranger by Zoe Archer

Paranormal

I just finished Rebel and Stranger, the last two books in the Blades of the Rose series.

 Rebel introduces Nathan Lesperance and Astrid Bramfield.  Nathan is a Native attorney in Canada and Astrid is a former Blade of the Rose who retreated to the Canadian wilderness after her husband Michael died in her arms.  The Heirs have activated the Primal Source.  One result is that all magic has become much more potent.  When the Heirs capture Nathan he uses magic he did not know he had to escape.  Astrid finds him alone and confused in the wilderness.  They have to depend on her skills to stay alive and ahead of the Heirs.

Stranger brings Gemma Murphy, female reporter, and Catullus Graves, inventor, together.  Gemma senses a great story and has followed Catullus, Nathan and Astrid from Canada.  When the Heirs see her with Catullus he has to protect her from harm.  Their attraction is immediate but has to be put on hold while they try to find a way to stop the Heirs from fully activating the Primal Source.  This is the final book in the Blades of the Rose Series and look for some interesting characters out of history and mythology.

I admit I liked the first two books, Warrior and Scoundrel, more than I liked Rebel and Stranger.   The characters in all of the books were great and the plot moved in all four.  I though the first two books were more action driven than the last two.  Even so I recommend the series.  I would start with the first book, Warrior, and read the series in order.

Zebra published Rebel and Stranger by Zoe Archer in 2010.

I purchased Rebel from Borders and Stranger as an ebook from Barnes and Noble.  

Warrior, The Blades of the Rose by Zoe Archer

Paranormal Romance

I love historical romances and find I also love the combination of paranormal and historical romances. Warrior by Zoe Archer is that combination. Set in the late 1800’s, Warrior is the first book in the Blades of the Rose series. Captain Gabriel Huntley has retired from the army after years in India and returned to England to find a job, a wife and start a family. As he leaves the ship he goes to the aid of a man being attacked by several other men. Even though they beat off the attackers the man is mortally wounded and as he is dying he asked Gabe to go to Outer Mongolia to finish his mission. There he meets Thalia Burgess who is like no woman he has every met before and learns of her mission to protect a magic artifact. The two clash but have to work together to keep the world safe from The Heirs, people who would use the magic to gain world domination.

Warrior has a good plot that flows seamlessly, well-developed characters, great dialog, magic that makes sense in the context of the story as well as an interesting historical background about a place most of us know little about. The next two books in the series, Scoundrel, Rebel are already out and the third Stranger, will be released in December. I will be adding all three to my library in the near future.

Zebra Books published Warrior by Zoe Archer in 2010.

I think purchased Warrior from Amazon.