Book Review: Her Knight’s Quest by Alexis Morgan

Title: Her Knight’s Quest
Series: Warriors of the Mist, Book 2
Author: Alexis Morgan
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: review copy from publisher via NetGalley
Published: March 5, 2013 by Signet Eclipse

They are cursed by the gods, and war is their salvation. Love is their deliverance.

For centuries, five legendary warriors have braved their battles shoulder to shoulder. But now, they must divide and conquer as lone champions against evil.

Duncan, a scholar at heart, is drawn to an isolated abbey rumored to hold the answers to countering the terror unleashed by Duke Keirthan. Inside the cloistered walls lies the hidden collection of forbidden lore on dark magic. But the real key to the salvation Duncan seeks-both for the people of Agathia and his soul--is the abbess herself, Lady Lavinia. Hunted by the duke who seeks to harvest her powers, Lavinia knows Duncan wants to help her. But can she trust the tortured warrior with her secrets?

In the end, it is only by joining forces that they can save not only those they are sworn to protect, but each other.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Decent fantasy novel with a decent romance but too many side stories and characters to be an enjoyable read.

The Set Up: Lavinia’s family were murdered when she was a child and she took refuge in a nunnery where she’s lived since. Duncan is a Warrior of the Mist, an immortal fighter in the Goddess’s war against evil. Duncan is a scribe-warrior when he saves Lavinia from an assassination but her life will be in danger until the couple can figure out who is trying to kill her.

Why I Read this Book: I’ve read and enjoyed this author’s two paranormal series (Paladins of Darkness and The Talions) so I thought I’d try this series.

What I Liked: Lavinia and Duncan are both likable people who don’t play games with each other and that made this a decent romance. Both leads are mature and have lives long before they meet which I like. Their emotional and sexual intimacy is uncomplicated and combines for a decent romance without wowing me with anything too deep.

What I Also Liked: This novel will appeal to fantasy readers a lot. The elements are historical with castles, knights and nunneries but the mystical elements dominate the story and plot. Lavinia has untapped powers that develop in tandem with the plot and this is interesting. Duncan is an immortal warrior with an owl avatar and his mythos was also compelling. This author has a talent for world building that I enjoy.

What I Didn’t Like: I haven’t read book one in this series but half the book is a continuation of that story, at least I think that’s what it was since that plot was separate from Duncan and Lavinia’s plot. This revolves around Duncan’s fellow Warriors of the Mist and while I like them, their story clearly cut the novel into two different stories that converged at the very end. Every time I would get into one story then the focus would shift to the other story. Both Duncan and Lavinia’s story and the Warriors’ story were shortchanged because of this. This fractured the book and made me long to finish.

IMO: As much as I like this author I won’t be continuing this series.

J9’s Rating: