Destiny’s Star
April 6, 2010
Paranormal Romance
Paperback, 352 Pages
Berkley
Reviewed by Amanda
Our heroine is Bethral a fierce warrior charged with the protection of her young queen Glorianna.
Our hero, Ezern Silvertongue is a storyteller with a pain filled past. Bethral on a whim that she cannot explain saves Ezern from a life of slavery and certain death.
Bethral harbours a love for Ezern since the moment he looked up into her eyes while she was rescuing him from his slavers. Feeling that there is no way that he can ever feel the same about her, she chooses to watch him from afar in the castle. Ezern loves the beautiful Lady Bethral and not because she saved his life. He feels shame in being enslaved and that he poses a potential threat because of his rouge magic and he can’t control it despite the help of the high priestess Evelyn.
Our story begins with Bethral preparing to leave the castle for a few days, but before she can Ezern looses control of his magic and threatens to kill all that she holds dear. Bethral knows she only has minutes before Ezern’s rouge magic destroys them all. She convinces Evelyn to spare his life and open a portal far away and let Bethral take him somewhere he can’t hurt anyone. Evelyn opens a portal and Bethral with the help of her faithful horse Bessie manage to get him through just in time.
Gilla is on the plains tending her flock when out of nowhere a hole appears in the sky and two people and a horse fall through it. Her first instinct is to kill the intruders as her tribe decrees, but something stays her hand when she sees Ezern. When the elders of the tribe arrive we discover that Bethral was once of the Plains and therefore one of their own.
Bethral awakes after the fall to find herself gravely injured and in immediate danger, summoning her strength she manages to by Ezern and herself some time. She knows the tribes customs, and with an injury like hers it means death, but first she must ensure Ezern’s safety. But all is not well on the plains, the tribes are at war with each other and unknown to Bethral and Ezern they have an integral part to play in the war, one that will leave the plains forever changed. What ensues is a fantastical tale full of twists and turns with journeys across the unknown and the discovery and development of love between Ezern and Bethral while trying to stay alive.
Elizabeth Vaughan is a new to me author and one I most definitely will be looking out for again. Destiny’s Star was exactly what I was looking for at the time I was reading it I was in the mood for some good fantasy writing and this is definitely what I got. Although the book is classified as a Paranormal romance I would say that if you do not like fantasy writing/novels then this may not be for you.
Vaughan’s writing is rich and provocative. Her descriptions gorgeous, watching Bethral and Ezern fall in love and discover each others love and its depth was perfect. Theirs is a love strong and unwavering.
When I picked up Destiny’s Star I confess I found it really hard to put down again. For me the pace of the story was just right and I didn’t find that elements of the story dragged as sometimes can be the case in the fantasy genre.
I finished this book in the early hours of the morning, and I didn’t want the the story to end. But to my delight I discovered that this is not the case. There will be at least one more in the Warlord world where Destiny’s Star is set. I found Vaughan’s mix of Romance and Fantasy to be a perfect blend and the ratio of the two worked really well in this story. And in my honest opinion I think that this blend is the best that I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time, as I have often found there is often more time dedicated to fantasy than romance in this types of books.
My Rating is 4.5/5 and just a note, you don’t have to have read anything by Ms. Vaughan before to thoroughly enjoy this book. But be warned, you will want to.
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Thanks Amanda!
Nice review.
Book 3! I totally forgot about it coming out.
Hmmm… sounds interesting. will add it to my tbr list
*hangs head in shame* I still have to read WHITE STAR and actually have to buy this one. I'm a great fan of Vaughan's Warprize trilogy and found DAGGERSTAR left wanting :( Perhaps it was just a minor glitch because this book, going by your review, sounds like it has it all :) It's going on my next months order list!
When a book makes me not wanna put it down I take that as a great sign! Nice review! :o) Thanks!
Very nice review. I haven't read any of her books but I may have to mosey to store and get one. :)
I tried one of her contemporary romances, and didn't like that much, but I might have to give this series a try.
I've been dying for some good fantasy romance and I ALMOST bought this one at Borders the other day. Seeing your review makes me think I should have bought it. Did you read WHITE STAR (book 2) yet? I almost bought that one too because it sounded interesting as well.
I sincerely wish there was more heavily romantic fantasy, or more fantasy romance.
Wow this one wasn't even on my radar. Been awhile since I read fantasy *coughlordoftheringscough* – usually I'm more of a sci-fi romance vs fantasy but you've convinced me to give this one a go.
Great review!
Hi Mandi – this is a good series, but if you haven't read any others by Elizabeth, then please give her Borderlands trilogy – Warlord, Warsworn, and Warprize a try. They rank as one of my all time favorites and, to me, are even better! They came before this series and take place on the Plains.
I love this author (she is way under-rated, IMO) and have ordered Destiny's Star. Thanks for the great review!
This one sounds interesting. Is it bad of me to keep wondering if the horse was okay after the fall (yes, I know I'm sad)? Great review. Not all fantasy books capture my attention, but this one looks like it would be worth trying.
I've been interested in this one since I read Dagger Star and I love Vaughn's books in general. Thanks so much for the helpful review Amanda! :D
Thank you all for your comments
Leontine after reading this I really want to read the Warprize trilogy and it has totally moved up my list.
Jill I haven't read book 2 yet but I plan to just have to make space in the TBR pile first!
Melissa its not at all wrong to worry about the horse! I can confirm that the horse survives and all is well LOL
Hope anyone who decides to give this one a try love's it as much as I did!
I have this on my e-reader I wasn't a fan of the first book of the trilogy but I enjoyed White Star and from the sounds of it this one is good too!
Mandi another vote for me for the Warprize trilogy too. It's going to be rereleased later next year by Penguin and her new book War Cry will focus on Heath and Atira :D
I really hope the next one will feature Marcus and Liam if the focus is back on the original characters.
It's nice to see there's still some good quality fantasy novels out there! ;) Thanks for the fine review, Mandi. I look foward to giving this one a try!
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