Immortal Warrior – Lisa Hendrix
Book one in Immortal Brotherhood Series

Book summary:

Ivar Graycloak is a brave warrior, a man known for his strength and integrity. He is also a man with a terrible secret. Long ago he was part of a Viking crew cursed by an evil sorceress to live for eternity as were-creatures. An eagle by day and a man by night, Ivar has lived a solitary existence for over two centuries. Then the king orders him to marry.

Lady Alaida is everything a man could want in a bride-intelligent, spirited, and beautiful–and their wedding night is a balm to Ivar’s lonely spirit. Then a seer brings him word of a dark vision, one that makes Ivar vow to stay away from his lovely wife forever. But now that Ivar has sampled Alaida’s passion, her humor and warmth, he is enthralled. His traitorous body-his very heart-longs for that which he can never possess.

Lady Alaida may surprise him yet, though, for she has a power of her own-a power that will either destroy everything they hold dear or ultimately set them free . . .

I was excited to read this book because it is a paranormal romance set back in the late 1090’s – you don’t get many of those. Poor Ivo just wants a family and “normal” life, but every morning when the sun rises, he is turned into an eagle. After he marries Alaida, (and has very steamy sex:), he has to leave her in the morning so she doesn’t find out. Now I realize this takes place a long time ago and men ruled the roost, but he leaves EVERY morning before the sun rises. Obviously she starts to question this, Ivo does not want to tell her about the curse, and they get into an argument, but she relents and does not push the matter. She is portrayed as such a strong person I feel she should have been a bit more curious. After his friend, Ari, sees a vision in which his future children will also have this curse, Ivo realizes he cannot take the chance and have sex with her anymore. So after one night of marriage he says – hey wife…I will only be home at night, and no we cannot have sex, and yes I will leave you before the sun rises, and no, I will not tell you the reason for any of this. Do you think Alaida is just a bit frustrated? She has quite a sharp tongue throughout the book which I quite enjoyed.

This book will not make my top 20 reads of 2009, but I will definitely buy the next book (Immortal Outlaw – June 2, 2009). I loved Ari and Brand, Ivar’s friends who are also cursed. They made the story for me. There are also some great twists towards the end that really impressed me.

Rating – 3.5 Smex Stars
Lisa Hendrix’s website