Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Soul of a Mercenary, July 30, 2008
oul of a Mercenary is the second book of the Heart and Soul Romance series. This series features the Reeka, a warrior race of amazon-like women who have been wrongfully accused of killing their men and are trying to regain their reputation and homeland. In the previous book, Tenia and her sister Reye gathered their fellow Reeka sisters, found the true murderers of the Reeka Men, and began repairing their race's reputation.
Soul of a Mercenary focuses on Reye. In this second book, Reya is working as a mercenary for various warlords. Unlike her sister Tenia, Reye is finding it difficult to leave her former life in the past. Thus, she moves from one job to another trying to outrun the realities of her past and present. Then, Maverk the Daamen trader catches up to her and complicates her life even more.
Soul of a Mercenary is more of a romance story than was the first book, Heart of the Outlaw. In this way, the story line follows the personal trials and tribulations of the main characters more closely than the overlying science fiction plot. Nonetheless, there is still a great deal of action and adventure in this book. Though Soul of a Mercenary is the second book of the Heart and Soul series, each book in this series is fully self-contained. Therefore, one can read Soul of a Mercenary without having read the first book. Nonetheless, reading the first book does give the reader more information on the collective personality traits and historical background of the Reeka and the Daamen cultures.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Soul of a Mercenary , January 29, 2008
Reya, the proud Reeka leader, is always on the move, desperately trying to avoid coming to terms with a soul-consuming secret she can't bear to share with anyone, even her own sister Tenia. Reya, traveling with her cousin Dana as mercenaries, leaves death and destruction in her wake, hiring out to the highest bidder. One day might find the duo on one side of a battle. The following week, they might be fighting for the opposition.
Tenia and her husband Darvk enlist the aid of Maverk, a formidable Daamen
Trader, asking him to find Reya and bring her home in time for the birth of their child, due in three months. Maverk is quite willing do this for them, for he also worries about Reya.
Tracking her down, Maverk discovers it will be an uphill battle of wills because Reya will not face her family for reasons she refuses to divulge. He, on the other hand, wants to protect this proud warrior and insists on following her until she relents and returns with him for the birth of her sister's child. While fighting over Reya's return, Mara, a young girl who wants to follow in Reya's footsteps, is kidnapped.
Who kidnapped Mara? Does this have anything to do with the is the dark
secret Reya carries? Will Maverk and Reya have a future?
Soul of a Mercenary by Angela Verdenius is a saga of immense proportions and will take considerable time to get through. But for those who take the time, Ms. Verdenius has developed many fascinating characters in a universe bursting with flavor. Reya, an intense, strong-willed Reeka warrior, pits her strength and cunning against Maverk, an equally determined Daamen Trader, constantly clashing over everything. It's a fiery inferno when these strong, powerful personalities finally act on their attraction.
This makes for an intriguing tale all on its own, but I want to warn readers about the disturbing depictions of great evil contained in these pages. There are several parts which deal with scientists and genetically engineered children which I found a bitter pill to swallow. Graphic imagery of cannibalism and desecration of human remains may be too graphic for sensitive readers. However, if you can handle a dark brooding saga, this book is for you. I find the interaction between characters wonderful, as I did with her other story Soul of the Hunter. I want a Daamen Trader to call my own. I love this powerful universe Ms. Angela Verdenius has created.
Gene
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
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