The Warrior [Mass Market Paperback]

The Warrior begins with the hero, a Norman knight under King Henry, arriving at his new home awarded to him by the king for his loyalty and performance on the battlefield. The former owner of this castle keep has been accused of treason and the king has therefore given the treasonous lord's property to Ranulf, our hero. Expecting opposition from the former lord's daughter and vassals, Ranulf has with him a large number of knights and soldiers, faithful to him and in his service. We first see Ariane, our heroine and the daughter of the former lord, contemplating fighting off Ranulf and his men or opening the castle to them. Ariane is in a very difficult position. She does not believe that her father is treasonous and she has been betrothed to Ranulf, the new lord, for five years.

Ranulf is truly a magnificent hero even if he is pushy and has a driving need to always be in control. He is the typical Alpha male and all one could dream up for such a hero. Adriane is very well written, assertive and a little rebellious. She tends to be a little too mouthy at times but Ranulf actually deserves much more ill treatment than she gives him.

One of the things that really sets this book above others is the amount of interaction between the leads. This book exceeds 400 pages and at least 350 of those pages involve the leads in direct or indirect communication. To keep someone's interest for that many pages when the primary story revolves around the leads' relationship is truly remarkable. Page after page, we read delicious dialogue between Ranulf and Ariane. He sometimes borders on abuse but it is somehow leveraged with other interaction that just adds pleasantly to the tension without him actually abusing the heroine. Sometimes he is the hero you love to hate. You can't wait for him to get his just rewards for mistrusting or mistreating Ariane. When he finds he is wrong about her again and again, you just feel such victory that he is getting a little of his own treatment.

This book, as mentioned previously, reaches a little further than most romance novels do into the ill treatment of a lady. I cannot say more about this treatment because it would give away too much of the storyline. Although Ranulf's treatment of Ariane could be considered cruel or possibly abusive by today's standards, I don't think it exceeds the actual treatment medieval women had to tolerate. And please note - this ill treatment is not at all extreme or even a little kinky. Ranulf and Ariane fight a fantastic battle of wills that is absolutely the best of the best. You don't have them caught in the usual "I treat you like I hate you but in secret really love you" scenario. They are both exceptionally written characters that have a lot to work out in themselves and eventually, with each other.

In addition, the story line is just really good! There is no time spent on silly misunderstandings and this is definitely not formula writing! There are interesting plot twists and we get to know several secondary characters well. The secondary characters are not boring. We see the issue of trust as the core of this story.

Nicole Jordan is one of my favorite authors. My choice of romance novels has evolved into choosing well-written stories with non-typical plot lines and tender romance. I want the lead characters well developed, mature, and spending time together. Although sensuality plays a part in a book selection, it is not necessary to have many sensual scenes. Jordan's writing is highly sensual compared to most romance novels. However, as I have chosen to leave behind known sensual writers such as Susan Johnson, Robin Schone, Bertrice Small and Thea Devine, I still love to devour a Jordan book. I believe her writing is excellent and she does not allow the sensual scenes to drive the book as I perceive these other authors usually do. I rate this book about a 4.5 out of 5.0 for the sensual scenes (please see More About Me for rating guidelines).

This is my second time to read this book and it is the first romance novel that I have read more than once. I had no inkling that I would be so enchanted reading this the second time (it had been over a year since my first read). I did not want to put the book down and found that this is not a fast read. Those four hundred plus pages are small print with no wasted space. You cannot skip hardly a paragraph. You find yourself laughing, weeping, and cheering for the underdog and more! It is an emotional book to read and one for the keeper shelf...