Judith‘s review of Tempting Rever (Zorn Warriors, Book 3) by Laurann Dohner.

Brenda spent four years trapped in an unhappy marriage. She is so desperate to start a new life somewhere safe that she has agreed to go to another planet with a handsome alien stranger. When he is killed, she finds herself in the home of a Zorn warrior willing to protect her until the fallen warrior’s brother arrives to claim her.

Brenda never believed in love at first sight until she gazed into the gorgeous blue eyes of Argis Rever. He’s tall, dark, sexy–the kind of guy she has always dreamed of finding–and already bound to another human woman. She could have lived with letting the man of her dreams slip through her fingers, except he isn’t happy–the horrid woman doesn’t even want him, and will never love him.

Brenda has lost a lot in her life but she’s not willing to lose the one chance at finding happiness with a man she has fallen in love with. She’s more than ready to start tempting Rever into finding his own happiness with her.

With more and more women becoming victims to spousal abuse, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could each find a way to start off a new phase of their lives on another planet with a sexy guy who cares about them? That is exactly what our heroine has chosen to do. Yet even now her life seems to contain more disappointment than satisfaction–she is once again finding herself facing a future full of uncertainty and questions. The good news: the planet where she has chosen to live is guided by the cultural norm that women are treated with care and respect–there are so few of them, and having a human mate is a sign of great status in this society. So Brenda’s hopes are high that her life is taking a positive turn.

Enter Argis Rever–a Zorn warrior and son of the leader of the planet society. He is powerful and influential as well as one of those guys that makes a gal’s heart beat faster. In addition, he is a person of honor who already has a human mate, and in spite of the fact that she is unkind, insulting to his culture, demanding and hurtful in her words and ways, Rever is caring, considerate, attempting to please her and find a way to make her happy. Won’t happen because she is just a really unhappy person on the inside. Brenda is immediately taken with Rever and their attraction is almost instant, but he is honor-bound to care for his mate, and she is honor-bound to go with the brother of the man she has agreed to marry. This unknown brother is a spaceship commander and won’t be able to “collect” her for a week, so Brenda is Rever’s guest and under his protection for these seven days.

Things get complicated, ugly with the other woman in the house, tense between Brenda and Rever. This story is really a metaphor of what societies could do to protect their women, but in many ways the values here are very conservative and traditional–almost like medieval times on planet Earth. It is fun reading and really a very pleasant love story between Brenda and Rever. All is not easy nor are there simple solutions to the impasse between them. There are binding rules and no apparent outs. Needless to say there are twists and turns, surprises and some events that really unexpected. Suffice it to say that the reader will not be bored. I think there are some writing cliches that get used a little much, and the animosity between Brenda and Rever’s mate goes on and on and on and on. I know that this is one way a writer builds the tension and I appreciate that. I was glad when it ended. I think the lesson in the way that this all plays out was, for me, that people are people–selfish, generous, noble, small-minded–in other words, there are both bad and good individuals everywhere, even in other cultures in the universe.

So fantasy readers and romance readers will find this interesting and a literary piece that is very enjoyable. I don’t think it is a novella that is a true heavy weight. But it certainly kept my interest and I felt it was a very good read. I give this work a rating of 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.