Customer Reviews

The Warrior Trainer (Stones of Destiny, Book 1)

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

 

 

I adore books about medieval England, and I love having strong female characters who take charge of their own lives. The plot of The Warrior Trainer appealed to me for many reasons, and I deliberately ordered this book vs happening on it by chance in a store.

You have Scotia, a woman who was "bred to fight". Her family for many generations has been training Scottish warriors. It is always the women in this family who are known for their skills. Scotia is 25 and she knows it is her duty to breed the next daughter in line to take over the training. However, few men arrive for training now and none appeal to her.

Along comes Ian, an orphan who has been sent by his foster father to be trained. There is a menace in the land - four horsemen from England who are ravaging the villages - and Ian needs Scotia's training to be able to defeat them.

All of this would normally be a just about ideal setup for me. I love the scenes of the characters fighting with words, emotions and blades all intermingled. I love the "rationale" behind why she wields a sword, and why Ian accepts it.

But there were several issues which for me kept this book from being a five star book, despite the much-mentioned "American Title Contest" win. That is certainly a great contest, but it is not the Pulitzer Prize. To say a book must be perfect because it won a contest does not make a lot of sense.

First, although Ms. Russell's background includes editing, there are numerous grammar issues here. They got to be rather jarring after a while. Next, there were numerous "motivation" problems. Scotia says repeatedly how her entire life is about following the rules set by her mother and fulfilling her destiny. She has put all aside for it. But she also says "Oh and I won't have a child" which is probably her #1 task in life. Sure, she's afraid of being a mother - but a woman trained with a hard core discipline in her life wouldn't let that stop her. She would do her task and then go about raising the child in a disciplined manner, just as she has trained so many people who have come to her. It would have made much more sense if her reasons were more "logical" - "No man has come worthy of fathering my child" or so on.

The actions of many of the other characters are equally suspect. Ian's foster brother Griffin shows up early on. He sways wildly from anger to calm to fury to puppy-dog hopefulness in the blink of an eye. Characters' emotions seem to be driven by what the plot needs them to do, rather than having the characters live and breathe as human beings and having their growing and changing feelings pull you along.

I realize that a core component of many romance novels is the "convenient misunderstandings" where people lie or hide truths which then create dynamic tension. However, there were several situations in this story which just made no sense at all, where someone should have told someone else something and they didn't, again for plot reasons rather than logical ones.

Scotia is supposedly a brilliant strategist, expounding on the skills of her mother - but her strategical choices during the last third of the book did not make a lot of sense. She had a long term plan at the beginning, one that began succeeding, but then suddenly it is as if she had forgotten to actually plan the whole sequence of events out. That doesn't make sense for her character.

Finally, Scotia has a heritage of being an awesome female warrior. She is infinitely better than the well trained men who repeatedly come after her either to challege or train. Her skill is based on her being trained far better than any man around her ever was, with family secrets taught by her mother. However, Scotia was fourteen when her mother was slain. From age fourteen on, she only received training with the other men of the castle. There is no mention of any other "training assistant" or another person who fulfilled this position. Scotia talks about being the only trainer that worked with her mother on recruits as they came in, and that once her mother was dead that she alone took on this task. So from age 14 she has been training "alone", perhaps reading manuals and practicing against the other men of her castle system. I really find it hard to believe that on her own she managed to build up the skill necessary to fend off the "best of the best" that keep coming in at her during the story, including taking down seasoned warriors in six passes.

This was the key problem for me. Again, I really love women-warrior types of stories, but I want them to make sense. I don't want it to have to be a mystical leap of faith that a woman could hold her own against a taller, stronger male. It's not just that she's a woman, it's that she's physically at a big disadvantage. If she does win - just as if you were writing about a teen boy doing this - I would want a logical explanation of why. The book just says "Oh her mother was an expert - they knew 'martial arts'" and leaves it at that. But there is never any real sense that it is true in the story.

Still, the book was fun to zip through and if I got myself to ignore the stumbling blocks I did enjoy the ride. I'm encouraged to see that the cover of her next book (Warrior's Bride) also has a woman-with-sword on its cover and will be sure to get that. I would imagine that feedback Ms. Russell got from this book has helped her make improvements so that book 2 could have potential to become a favorite of mine. I definitely hope so!

If you want to read about a strong heroine with nerves of steel, exceptional composure in trying situations, who lets nothing stand in her way but is not vulgar or crass and still feminine then this book is the next book you should pick up. The heroine, Scotia, has this inner strength that is amazing but she also has a well-hidden vulnerable side that the hero tries to see. She has nothing to prove to anyone but all the warriors who come to her want to prove that they are better than a "mere woman". The hero, Ian, is a sexy alpha who knows when he's met his match but he doesn't come across as wishy washy at all. This story is about a woman in the 1300s who trains warriors--totally unheard of and I haven't read anything similar. The sex is just a bit past mild but there's some great tension, lots of emotion (Ian is so beautiful when he speaks to Scotia you just melt!) and you can actually picture what's happening. There are also some unexpected twists and turns right up to the end that leave you with a big fat smile on your face. The additional characters are lots of fun or really evil! The history of the Stone of Destiny that's woven into the story is quite interesting and the author provides further historical information in an afterword.

I've read quite a few romance novels and this one stands alone for refreshing originality! I'd definitely recommend this book to the romance reader who's tired of the same ol' same ol'.

It is clear that Warrior Trainer was written after much research! Not only is the history amazing to dive into, but the characters and plot leave you wanting more. My only disappointment came when I turned the last page!

Not only is Scotia's duty to protect the Stone, but she also must produce an heir to continue the line of Warrior Women. A task she is not too keen on.

Once Ian MacKinnon seeks Scotia for training, in order to best the legendary Four Horsemen, he is quickly put in his place with her extraordinary fighting skills. After a simple dance, Scotia feels as if Ian could rip down the walls around her hardened heart, making her feel joy and happiness. Emotions she should not experience due to her duties. Yet no matter how hard she fights it, an undeniable attraction forms between them.

Ian may lose against Scotia when it comes to the sword battle training, but with the battle of words, Ian clearly leaves Scotia stumbling, unsure and afraid of the way his words make her feel, loosening the ties around her femininity. Soon she will have no choice but to concede defeat. His clever tongue, innocently sensual touches, and the heated looks he gives her, leaves her with no other option but to follow the wants and needs of her body...as well as her heart.

But the threat of the Four Horsemen loom between them, men who want only to claim the elusive Stone of Destiny for the English crown. They will do anything within their power to find it...killing and terrorizing the land of Scotland. Both Scotia and Ian must continually remind themselves of their duties. Ian must remain focused on his training to defeat the Horsemen. And Scotia must not forget that there is no room within her to be a woman--only the warrior she was trained to be.

I only had one beef with the story line. Her mother, the warrior trainer who trained her, died when Scotia was only 13. My concern is, how much could she possibly have learned from her mother to make her a great warrior, besting well seasoned and experienced warriors, if for the last 12 years she trained alone? Would she gain any more experience than any other? Or maybe it was the Stone of Destiny! The magic of the Stone allowed her to become the the great Warrior she is. Anything is possible when there's magic :).

Even with that concern I still think Gerri Russell is a beautiful storyteller. This is one of those books I am so glad I stumbled across. It's rich with Scottish lore, something different than I've read before. The events she placed before her characters and how they handled them were exceptionally well written. The slow build up of their relationship could not have progressed faster. Any other way and it would have been rushed, leaving out the intense emotions when all finally comes together and they accept that fate has meant for them to be together. And together they can have the happiness and love neither of them felt before in their lives. The Warrior Trainer is a wonderful story with it's heavy emphasis on Duty and Honor, love and trust no longer being a weakness but something powerful, enhancing the duty and honor Scotia and Ian have lived their lives by.

This first book by Russell is fantastic! I look forward to many more reads from this newly published, upcoming author. Highly recommend!

For centuries, the Warrior Trainer has guarded the Stone of Destiny, or Stone of Scone, and trained warriors who came for her tutelage. The current lady to bear the title, Scotia, has maintained her duty in every way, except she has not given birth to a daughter to carry on the line. Her newest student, Ian, may be able to help with the latter, but first, he needs to learn how to be the best fighter he can be in order to defeat the Four Horsemen, terrible warriors who have ravaged the countryside without mercy. They also want the Stone and will not scruple over killing its lady to get it. Ian's quest leads him away from Scotia, and her own heart is divided between duties and destiny.

*** As a first book, this is a credible effort. The history involved is fascinating, perhaps even more so than the characters or plot itself. ***

Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer

The Warrior Trainer, winner of the American Title Contest, tells the story of Scotia, a young Scottish woman whose role is to protect the Stone of Destiny. Scotia is a highly skilled warrior who trains those who come to her for instruction. She also has to contend with those who come to her to fight and challenge her authority, believing that, as a woman, she is not strong enough to beat them. Scotia comes from a long line of women who have learned and handed down - mother to daughter - the arts of fighting and war. Part of Scotia's destiny is to ensure she continues this unbroken line through her own daughter. Yet whilst comfortable in her own skin as a warrior Scotia is less comfortable with the idea of motherhood. One of her students, Ian MacKinnon, starts to steal her heart in turbulent times when neither the hero or heroine know they will survive.

The book is based on the theory, still widely supported, that the Scottish people provided the English invader Edward I with a fake Stone of Destiny in 1296 and secretly kept the true Stone for themselves. Scotia and her people face the ongoing threat from The Four Horsemen (reminiscent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse) who ravage the countryside, villages and people of Scotland in their attempts to find the Stone.

I found the book difficult to get in to. I would have liked more geographical and historical context earlier in the story to help me place the action. I also found myself distracted by language which inconsistently aimed at Scots dialogue. Americanisms gave me the occasional jolt, for instance a crucial scene where a child says "Mom". However, once I accepted it as fiction without worrying too much about historical/linguistic accuracy I enjoyed the story.

The author says in her Afterword that the story mixes fact and fiction, explaining that she made the Stone in the story much smaller than it is in real life so it could be moved by one person. If you do read the book you may want to learn about the true historical story of the Stone of Destiny (also known as the Stone of Scone). The Stone has played a huge part in Scotland's history.

The book The Warrior Trainer was passed on to me by a friend.

Gerri Russell writes three-dimensional characters who jump off the page. Her strong, noble, but isolated heroine becomes believably drawn into an intriguing, historically based conflict and a compelling, movingly emotional connection with her hero. Russell paints a vibrant picture of the time and place in which her story is set -- and the last chapter left me wanting to know what happens next for these characters. A great read!

In 1308 Scotland, Scotia is the latest in a long line of warrior women trained to protect the Stone of Destiny that the English claim the Scots stole from them. Four horsemen vow to kill every Highlander until they bring back the Stone to their English monarch.

Ian MacKinnon seeks Scotia the Trainer, considered the world's greatest fighter, to train him so he can protect his clan and avenge his brother killed by vicious English marauders dubbed the Four Horsemen. When he finds her he is stunned by her beauty, but is unaware that she recognizes him as the man who is to be her soulmate. She also sees him as a tool to avenge the death of her mother at the hands of the same evil soulless ones who killed her student's brother. Though both plan to use the other to further their personal agendas, neither can ignore their attraction for one another.

Using the real Scottish STONE OF DESTINY as the underlying base to the fine story line, Gerri Russell provides a strong fictional twist to the authentic history in which instead of English knights taking this royal regal item to Westminster, they carted off a fake. The story line is action-packed from the start when the Four Horsemen like those of the Apocalypse destroy anyone misfortunate enough to be in their path and never slows down until the final battlefield confrontation between them and the lead couple. Fans of medieval romance with a wee bit of a whimsical legend (anchored in history) will enjoy this fine tale of a daring skillful heroine and the laird who loves her.

Harriet Klausner