My Lady Mage (Warriors of the Mist #1) by Alexis Morgan

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Content: Some pretty detailed sex

A cursed destiny. A band of warriors. And one troubled kingdom.

It is whispered in Agathia that the legendary warriors of the mist-cursed by the gods-can be summoned only when a champion is needed and the cause is just. Gideon, their captain, knows this to be the one path that will lead his men to redemption-lest they face an eternity of damnation.

Years have passed since anyone has journeyed to the river's edge, but times are desperate. Oppressed by a cruel guardian whose dark magic threatens to destroy her people, the beautiful and courageous Merewen calls upon the bespelled warriors. In Gideon she finds more than a champion, and in his arms, more than protection. However, their enemies are fighting with a power darker than anything than they imagined, and should Gideon fail, she will lose everything she holds dear-including her heart.

 

I've had this book for many years and always put off reading it for something else. This was mainly due to the fact that it had such mixed reviews on Goodreads. I finally decided that I needed to just go ahead and read it. 

In the beginning I was pulled into the story very quickly and I liked the characters and the overall plot a lot. However this is a fantasy-romance, and those can be really hit or miss with me. If the book happens to swerve into the romance novel lane too much then it usually doesn't work out so well for me. What I mean by that is, there are fantasy-romances that are fantasy that is romantic. Amy Harmon's fantasy stories come to mind here. Then there are fantasy-romances that are fantasy stories written to support a romance. Some of which feel like they are constructed solely to prop up love making scenes. This one felt more like the latter, which is a shame because the fantasy elements of this story were very compelling and I loved the idea behind the river warriors. 

This could have been a really good fantasy series had the focus been more on that aspect of the book and less on romance novel stuff. Unfortunately instalove and too much description in the sex scenes kind of ruined this book for me, although I still enjoyed the fantasy elements enough to give it 3 stars. I've decided not to continue on with the series.