Possessed by a Dark Warrior: Eternal Mates Romance Series

by Felicity Heaton

• ISBN10: 1909306886
• ISBN13: 9781909306882
• Publish Date: 6 April 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Felicity Heaton
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 370
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

I first met Bleu when I read Kissed by a Dark Prince and since then I have been eagerly awaiting his story. Therefore, when I found out that his story had been released I was glad for the chance to receive a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. On a scale of 1-10, my expectations were a ten. Unfortunately, this installment did not live up to the standards that I had set.

Bleu has been secretly hoping to find his fated mate, especially when he sees his friends, finding happiness in the arms of their own mates. He wanted that same happiness, however, he was unwilling to acknowledge this not only to himself but also to his friends and family. Just when he thought he had found the one for his events arise revealing that this was not the case. This caused him to give up on ever finding the one female who he was destined to be with for eternity. However, unbeknownst to him, the dragon shifter he had been hunting for 700 years was the one he was destined to be with. He eventually figured it out, however, because he believed her to be an enemy to his people, he tried to fight the desires he felt when he came in contact with her.

Now with a storyline like that mentioned above, I was expecting an electrifying romantic adventure. Unfortunately, that was not the case as it paled in comparison to some of the couples in the series. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the story. The story was fine, but the romance left me unsatisfied.

I was intrigued by Taryn from the moment I was introduced to her in Bitten by a Hellcat. She has been a slave for three centuries as a result, she was harbouring a darkness within. This darkness tended to erupt whenever she was faced with a threatening situation. I could not help but empathize with her. She was conflicted. She was faced with the daunting task of ending her brother’s reign of tyranny. She loved him, however, she knew that by whatever means necessary she had to stop him. I knew this could not have been an easy choice for her.

Characters from the previous installments played a minor role in the story. I enjoyed seeing Vail again. He was such a tormented individual. It was great to see Bleu moving past the bitterness he had felt towards Vail which helped to open the door for healing. It is my belief that this will help Vail to overcome the darkness within him.

The battle scenes were vivid as always. The story was well written and it flowed from start to finish. The pace and intensity were just right. I enjoyed the banter between the characters. It was entertaining to see Bleu being teased about his mate. Here we see a man who vowed never to act like his friends when he found his mate, however, when that moment arose he realised he had no control over his actions. How the mighty have fallen.

Bottom Line: Although it did not deliver on the romance aspect Possessed by A Dark Warrior was a good read. What it lacked in romance it made up for in adventure. If you love paranormal romance, I recommend that you begin the series as soon as possible. The great thing about this series is that each book can be read as a stand-alone.

Received a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review.

[EBookObsessed]

Bleu is the right-hand man to Prince Loren (Kissed by a Dark Prince). But since his Prince has found his eternal mate, Olivia, Bleu finds that most of the duties which took up his day such as acting as counsel to the Prince, have been usurped by the new Princess. There is one task that Bleu was has never been able to complete and that is recovering the Elven Sword stolen by the dragoness over 700 years ago. He found her once and almost lost his life. He has the scars across his neck to prove it. The trail has been cold these last 300 years but a recent battle has brought her to Bleu's attention once more.

Taryn has spent the past 300 years in slavery being sold again and again, fighting off her new masters each time until they finally sold her off. Thankfully a dragon slave was too rare to simply kill. She has been biding her time and finally found her opportunity to escape when the elves attacked the slave market. Her premonitions had warned her that the Elf was coming for her again so she wasn't surprised to catch Bleu's eyes across the battle field. Though she wasn't planning on sitting and waiting for him to grab her.

Taryn has plans of her own. Before she was captured by the slavers, Taryn had taken the stolen sword from her twin brother. His desire for power has been turning into an obsession and she knows that with the Elves's sword, he would kill many in his attempt to rule all of the Hell realm. Now that she is free, it is past time to bring the sword back to Tenak and kill him with it. Death is the only way to stop her brother's madness.

The only one who can stop her plan is Bleu. If he gets the sword first and takes it back to the Elves, her brother will destroy their kingdom to regain his prized treasure. Taryn needs to avoid Bleu a little longer until she can reach her brother and deal with him, or else all hope might be lost.

THOUGHTS:
To followers of this series, finally getting Bleu's story was a triumph. I have read most of the series, but not the first few books where Bleu was featured. Although I wasn't part of the Bleu frenzy, I had no trouble enjoying this book.

You have to feel bad for Bleu. First, after 4,000 years of being the BFF and confidant of Prince Loren, he is suddenly pushed aside by Loren finding the love of his life, Olivia. Bleu might like Olivia but is doesn't change the fact that Bleu spent most of his day waking the Prince, helping him dress, making sure he gets to his meetings, being a confidant, and now he was a third-wheel with nothing much to do. Added to that situation, Bleu's fiance, Sable, dumped him in Book 2 for the Demon King (Claimed by a Demon King). His best friend dumped him, his girlfriend dumped him and everyone around him is finding their soul mate, including his sister (Hunted by a Jaguar). Bleu is kind of sad and lonely. Awww!

We met Taryn briefly before first when she was rescued at the slave market as part of Bitten by a Hellcat and when she recovers the sword from her friend Loke in Taken by a Dragon. Taryn knew that they were mates but was avoiding Bleu because she knew he wanted to punish her for stealing the sword. Of course, we find out that in dragon form Taryn and Tenak are almost identical and it was Tenak who stole the sword, killing many of the Elven guards, not Taryn. She just stole it from her brother to keep him from starting a war.

Taryn suffers a bit of PTSD from 300 of slavery. While she is using her trauma to get back into her crazy brother's good graces. Hey, I want to hurt them all too since look what they did to me. But whenever she remembers all the males who tried to break her and rape her, she does get overwhelmed by her own emotions and might not recover if not for Bleu.

The only thing I didn't find believable was Bleu's revelation that he recognized 700 years ago that Taryn was his mate but because she was an enemy, he pushed that knowledge down in his brain and forgot about it instead of pursuing her like he does now for answers. Oh wait, there was a misunderstanding? She isn't a heartless, killing bitch? Maybe we can date. Maybe you can forget where you left the TV remove, but forgetting the most monumental moment when you meet the one person meant for you and then spending 700 years still lamenting how you've never found the love of your life because you forgot, seems far fetched. Yes, I am reading a book about elves, demons and dragons, and that seemed far fetched? I know!

I am amazed that anything gets done in any of these kingdoms since it appears the only thing any of them do when they aren't having sex with their mate is stare at them and growl and try to kill any other male looking at their mate, and smirking at the other males as they catch them drooling over their own mates. Several of the characters from the prior books are in the war room together trying to work out a defense but all they are doing is thinking of their women and sex and scaring off other males. Focus boys!

I thought it was interesting that Bleu could shift into a dragon once he took Taryn's blood. I didn't note that ability before in this series and it is a very cool ability which should have been used much more. In fact, in every battle all you need to do is get close enough to your enemy to latch on and grab some blood and you would have all his strengths. In fact, Bleu makes a much cooler dragon, than the dragons in the story.

I wasn't a Bleu fanatic since I jumped into this series starting with Book 4. I still enjoyed this story and I am happy to say that I missed nothing by not finishing the last book which I didn't like Marked by an Assassin.

This review was originally posted on EBookObsessed

[Melanie]

3.5 stars

Bleu's story is one that everyone has been waiting for since the first book in the Eternal Mates series. He has been a favorite character for most readers. Finally with the ninth installment, we get his story. However, for me, it was a wait that wasn't up to the task. I think the build up has this installment falling a little flat.

Bleu and his mate Taryn actually met centuries ago. They just didn't realize that they were mates. Taryn's twin brother had stolen a powerful sword from the elves. The elves thought it was Taryn who took it. Taryn actually spent three centuries as a slave getting sold from one owner to another because no one could control her, she is a dragon after all.

Now that Taryn is free. She needs to stop her brother because he has gotten even crazy in their time apart. However, he catches her before she can fulfill her plan. So she plays along with him until she can find a way to stop him.

Once Bleu figures out his mate is Taryn, the woman who stole the sword, or so he thought. He sees no way they can be together. He has wanted nothing more than his own mate since his prince found his mate. This makes him mope around even more.

This is actually my least favorite book in this series so far. I thought that Bleu was way too emo for my liking. I just wanted to slap him many times and tell him to get his head out of his own ass and become the warrior his prince needed. I also thought that Taryn was a bit weak. She is a dragon, but spends three centuries as a slave by weaker species. Then after she is free, she seems even weaker. She survived all of those years, I just feel she should be stronger. I also felt that the story between them dragged on a bit. I felt that the action wasn't up to the previous books.

All of this being said, I still thought it was an okay story. I would still recommend it to fans of the Eternals Mates series. I still highly recommend this series to paranormal romance fans. I think this is a case of the hype was just too much for the story. It is a problem I have with books that are highly anticipated for beloved characters.

**Book was provided to me by the author. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the author.