Warrior by Zoe Archer

“And what are these paragons called, who safeguard the world, and save England from herself?”

Before she even spoke, he knew that everything was about to change. And change forever.

“The Blades of the Rose.”

With the Blades of the Rose series, Zoe Archer has given us a fabulous new world. With characters that captivate and situations that are exciting and action packed, Warrior is a cross between Indiana Jones and The Mummy. Trying to fit this into a single genre is difficult because this story is fantasy, historical romance, action/adventure and steamy hot goodness all rolled into one.

Captain Gabriel Huntley of the Thirty-third Regiment witnessed a brutal attack, and tried to intervene. In the end the victim, Anthony Morris, died, but not before he in turn saved Gabriel’s life. Anthony’s dying request is that Gabriel deliver a compass, and a message, to his friend Franklin Burgess - in Outer Mongolia! Far away, true, but did Gabriel really have a choice, though? After all, Morris had just saved his life, but still… Outer Mongolia? But then Morris pleads, “Please. You must deliver the message to Burgess. Thousands of lives at stake. More, many more.” Gabriel knows there’s no way around it, he has to go – his honor and the debt owed to a dying man demanded it. Then, three months later when the message is delivered, he realizes that his journey hasn’t ended, it’s only just begun.

Thalia Burgess would like nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps and be accepted into the Blades of the Rose, a secret society whose members devote their lives to making sure that certain magical artifacts never fall into the hands of The Heirs, another secret organization who would use the powers held by the artifacts to gain control over the entire world. But she’s not so sure about this Gabriel Huntley who came all the way from England, bringing news of Anthony Morris’ death, and isn’t interested in accepting his help, in fact, she wants nothing to do with him at all.

After delivering the message to Burgess and his daughter, Thalia, Gabriel is even more curious about what it all means - the significance of the compass and the cryptic message. He’s offered his help, but it’s clear to him his help isn’t wanted. But why let a little thing like that stop him? Gabriel decides he’s going to help, whether the Burgesses want him to or not, and it’s a good thing for us he did, because the story that follows is so, so good and I would have hated to have to missed it!

Gabriel and Thalia are great together! I love strong, independent heroines, and what makes this even more appealing is that Gabriel comes to recognize her strengths and doesn’t get all alpha/caveman and refuse to let her use them to help find the priceless, magical artifact before The Heirs get to it first. The story – their journey – had me sitting on the edge of my seat, anxiously following along as they discovered more and more about The Heirs, the artifacts, and even themselves.

Warrior is a fast paced, exciting introduction into this series, and I’m happy I decided to give it a try. It’s not the kind genre mix that I usually find appealing, but Zoe Archer has created a world so interesting, so captivating, that I can’t wait to read the next books, Scoundrel, Rebel and Stranger, and see what lies in store for the Blades of the Rose.

4.5/5 stars.