Reviewed by Cindy

TITLE: The Barbarian’s Vow

SERIES: Barbarian Duet book 2

AUTHOR: Keira Andrews

PUBLISHER: KA Books

LENGTH: 316 Pages

RELEASE DATE: November 4, 2021

BLURB:

He claimed an innocent prince—and surrendered his heart.

Cador only married a pampered prince from a faraway land to save his people. He never expected he’d grow to respect Jem. He never expected to find comfort with him. He never expected to want him with a fierce passion.

He never expected to fall in love.

Now Cador must secure his people’s future and win Jem’s heart. For without it, he has no future at all.

The Barbarian’s Vow by Keira Andrews is a gay romance fantasy featuring enemies to lovers, an age gap, forced proximity, first times, and of course a happy ending. This is the second and final action-adventure romance in the Barbarian Duet. Wed to the Barbarian must be read first.

REVIEW:

Jem has grown a lot since he left his homeland with his barbarian husband. Now his heart is being torn in two because he fell in love with a man whose betrayal is unforgivable…he thinks.

Cador has learned some things as well. His loving and kind-hearted prince has shown him that there is more than one way to be strong.

It’s not often that I like a sequel better than the original, but this book is one of those rare happenings. Jem and Cador captured my heart as much as they captured each others and the second part of their story was a breathless journey for me.

Jem has such an innocent heart so the lies he’s been told send his whole world spinning. When he finds out that the husband he came to love isn’t the only one not being truthful, he starts to understand that maybe the sheltered world he grew up in didn’t prepare him for everything it should have. As a member of the royal family, he has to put the fate of his people above his own happiness and comfort but his mother the queen failed to teach him that.

Cador is a man who’s love for his family and his land is everything. Unlike Jem, he’s always known that his own happiness came second to doing what needed to be done to save his people. But his little prince teaches him that there are more ways to do the right thing than what he’s learned from his father and brother.

The author has brought a very interesting world to life. So many little details that make it come alive for the reader, from the names of birds and trees to the descriptions of the two very different lands that our characters live in.

Another thing I appreciate is that the world Jem and Cador live in doesn’t discriminate against same sex couples or any of the members of the LGTBQ community. Everyone just lives in this world together and while bias and bigotry do exist, it has nothing to do with sexuality. I found it very refreshing.

Watching these two men grow as human beings was amazing. By learning to see the world through each other’s eyes, Jem and Cador find their way to each other and become the leaders their people need.

My favorite side characters were Jem’s sibling Santo, and Cador’s sister Delen. Both are strong characters in completely different ways and they support their brother’s when they need them the most.

I can’t find one thing to complain about with this story. It does exactly what it is meant to do. It took me on a journey that reminded of me of Bertrice Small and her Skye O’Malley series. It twisted and tore my heart until finally healed it and gave me the happily-ever-after I craved. There are plenty of perfectly written smoking hot sexy times to be enjoyed, but I liked that the sex didn’t fix everything for them and they they actually had to work through their troubles with words.

This story embodies all the very best things that I loved about the “bodice rippers” I pour through when I was younger and I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

Now, lets go see what else Keira Andrews has written, shall we?

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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