Customer Reviews

Lords of the Var: The Savage King (Book 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Agent Ulyssa Payne (Lyssa) with the Human Intelligence Agency was sent to the planet of Qurilixen on a mission involving the Medical Mafia, now she is stuck on the barbarian planet until the Agency can retrieve her in about 3 months. While camped out in the forest she is captured by the Var, a handsome race of cat shape shifters. The newly crowned King Kirill of the Var and Lyssa share a instant attraction, but the king and his brothers were raised by their father who was a hard man that taught them to distant themselves from emotions and that they should not restrict themselves to just one woman. Lyssa was trained to keep her idenity a secret and going from orphanage to the strict agency, she also struggles with the new feelings she has to deal with. This is a good sensual romance that I enjoyed very much.

The Savage King starts where The Dragon Lords series left off.

Ulyssa, kidnapped and held hostage in a harem by King Attor, is an agent for HIA. But when Attor dies, King Kirill takes over. Kirill and Ulyssa both are bound by their duty, and neither wants a permanent relationship. The problem is, they can't keep their hands off each other.

I really enjoyed the Dragon Lord series, and The Savage King is a great start to the Lords of Var series. Pillow did a great job of making me really like Ulyssa. She was funny and tough, and very likable. Kirill was a hard man, but vulnerable at the same time.

Can't wait to read the next in the series.

Let me start by saying I discoved Pillow at Ellora's Cavern with The Maiden and the Monster and fell in love with her writing. I was looking forward to a untamed erotic read with this expansive series, but that wasn't to be.

Ever read a romance/erotica that has so many male characters you can just see the series coming at you from a mile away? This was such a series. We meet a bevey of princely brothers and the first brother is, of course, our first hero.

Enter the heroine. Thrust the two at each other--and that is Pillow's attempt at a plot. I hate to read erotica when the couple is a forgone conclusion. This entire series is like that--each prince finds his princess, without any conflict, good dialog, or even thought. It is a forgone conclusiont hat the hero will have sex with the heroine that Pillow stops even attempting to make sense of the courtship or the fact that any woman would have turned tail and run.

I was deeply disappointed with this novel. The erotica scenes were ok, but lacked any warmth...and worse yet, the plot that held the entire story together was silly. Add in that so many characters from the pervious series of Dragon Lords appear--well, it all got confusing and dull.

Ulyssa is an agent working undercover. While on a mission, she is captured by the King of Var and placed in his harem. She escapes and as she wanders through the palace she bumps into Kirill. Kirill is about to be crowned the new king of Var after the death of his father. Upon meeting Ulyssa, he is instantly attracted to her.

The men of Var do not fall in love. They do not submit to women in any way. Ulyssa will be nothing more than a mistress to Kirill. Ulyssa bows to no man and tries to fight her attraction to Kirill. They are able to come to an agreement about their mutual attraction, but Ulyssa discovers that her job as an agent must once again be her first priority even over her own feelings. With the fate of the planet riding on her shoulders, she must put business before pleasure. Through many uncertainties and hidden secrets, Kirill and Ulyssa have to choose their paths, will they lead to each other?

Kirill and Ulyssa are very hot together. When Kirill says "more," I squirmed in my seat. When he says it again and again, I melted. But they go from hot to cold so quickly it dampens the mood. Ulyssa is very independent and strong willed. Kirill was equally strong willed and dominant, so their head-butting is expected, however the story gets too
heavy with conflict. When Kirill and Ulyssa make love, they are tender and passionate. But they would quickly be at odds again. It took the romance out of it for me. I did enjoy the story because their world is so unique and interesting. Add to that, Kirill's brothers are just as sexy as he is. I found the ending very moving and heartfelt. Overall, The Savage King lacks depth but is enjoyable.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

The story takes off right where Dragon Lords left off, but instead of dealing with the dragon shifters it focus on the cat shifters that share their planet. The princes and their brides from the previous novels all make an appearance, so if you are new to the series I would recommend checking the The Barbarian Prince from the Dragon Lords series out before starting the Lords of Var.

The story focus on Ulyssa, or Gena as some might remember from the previous books, and the newly crowed king of the Var. She is a special agent, stranded on an alien planet, and he is a king who is not looking for love. They are pulled together through sexual attraction, and struggle to deal with their feeling they have for each other.

It's a good read, with fun new characters and a light tone though out most of the novel. It makes for a great start to the new series. The plot is somewhat predictable, but Pillow keep you interested. If you are into Pillow's work then you will no doubt love this.

STORY BRIEF:
Ulyssa is a government agent sent to the planet Qurilixen to stop a man with biological weapons. The threat appears to be over. While she waits to be picked up, King Attor kidnaps her for his harem. He dies within a day or so, before he can use her. His son Kirill becomes king. Kirill and Ulyssa start falling for each other. There is a lot of fighting and bantering going on between Kirill and Ulyssa. She plans to leave him when her spacecraft arrives.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I did not like the ways Kirill and Ulyssa interacted with each other. They both were difficult to get along with, but Ulyssa was worse. I didn't like her personality and attitude. She was rash, outspoken and reckless. Kirill made a minor comment, and Ulyssa took offense and punished him in an unfair way. When Ulyssa realized she liked Kirill, she started putting distance between them (my pet peeve #4, on my Amazon Profile page). They acted like they didn't want each other, and then they both assumed the other didn't want them. I was most angry with the vague communication conflicts described under Spoilers below. The underlying plot about two warring groups and a biological weapon threat was ok.

DATA:
Story length: 193 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 7. Total number of sex scene pages: 29. Setting: centuries into the future on the planet Qurilixen. Copyright: 2005. Genre: science fiction and paranormal romance.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
I was angry at the vague communication. For no good reason, Kirill sat next to an unattached harem girl Linzi at dinner, acting like he enjoyed being with her and flirting with her. When Ulyssa saw this she was hurt and decided she could never be with Kirill because he would desire other women. She left him and the palace. When they next see each other, she does hateful things because she believes he was with Linzi. He responds with bad feelings and words. Later on, he softens and tells her that he was never with Linzi. Ulyssa continues to lie to him about why she left. At one point, she started to tell him why, but they were interrupted. After that, she had a chance to tell him but she didn't. She planned to leave him even though she loved him. They didn't know that each one loved the other. I was angry and frustrated at the author for creating several conflicts based on vague communication and inaccurate assumptions (my pet peeve #1).

Great book from an awesom series. I am NEVER disappointed with this author (it is starting to get very expensive)

Lords of the Var: The Savage King (Book 1)

King Kirill became King once his father was murdered. His father had taught his sons to have many women therefore King Kirill was not looking for love. Until an agent comes to planet Qurilixion to look for a biological weapon that the former King had acquired.

Ulyssa was only there strictly on business. She was captured and eventually became King Kirill's lover. Many things happen and before she can realize she was slowly falling in love with him in denial, and tries many avenues of escape. King Kirill was also falling for Ulyssa as well. It was taught to have many women from his father but he couldn't--he only wanted her.

Fighting the ruling of his kingdom, the previous rules for women and fighting his feelings for Ulyssa, he had to make a choice and fight for it. In the meantime, he had to also convince Ulyssa to be his lover. That was hard.

Many hot sexy scenes. Many fights. This book is definitely a great start to the story of the Var's part of the planet.

GREAT READ as well as a GREAT SERIES to follow up from the Draig series.

A continuation of the wonderful world of Qurilixen. Just the right amount of subplot and sexy romance to keep a reader going. I loved this book and can't wait for the rest of the Lords of the Var to be challenged by their women.

Recommended. Writing is competent, story is strong, characters likable. Bought the rest of the Var series on the strength of this first book and have enjoyed numbers 2 and 3 over the weekend. One interesting note about these books is the way Pillow handles misunderstandings between the two leads. Usually, in most genre romance, when the male and female leads misunderstand each other, the author has a quick fix-up and then yet another misunderstanding. I found that Pillow undercuts that pattern by having believable misunderstandings that are then NOT resolved immediately, effectively drawing out the tension in the relationship. It was a nice change on the hackneyed formula. And, in spite of the emotional complications of the leads' relationship, she manages to keep the sex going in a fairly believable fashion, so the pleasure factor never dims.