I went to the library and was looking to read something a little different than my usual historical romances. I was hoping to find something by one of the authors I enjoy. Since I like to read Johanna Lindsey I checked out Heart of a Warrior. Let me tell you this book was really different.
This book takes place here on earth in modern times and also on other planets. This is what you could call Science Fiction Romance.
The first character is Brittany Callaghan. Brittany is a total work-a-holic. She works two jobs Monday through Saturday, one in construction and another at a health spa. Her goal is to save enough money and build her dream house. She basically spends all her time working and planning her future and house. As a result she has had no serious lasting relationship with ANY man. One other thing is Brittany is totally gorgeous but at six feet tall she intimates almost any man who would be interested anyway.
The next person we are introduced to is Dalden Ly-San-Ter. Dalden is from another world, literally. Dalden is from the planet Sha-Ka'an. Sha-Ka'an is many star systems away from earth and is part of a League of Confederated Planets. Dalden lives on Sha-Ka'an with his family, mother Tedra, father Challen and his twin sister Shanelle.
Dalden's planet is a beautiful world that for the most part lives completely in peace. There is no war, no crime, no disease, no pollution, no one is overweight (my kinda place) and all injuries can be healed instantly by the medical computers they have called Meditechs. Yet, with all their advances they have embraced a rather barbaric type of life. The men on the planet all average a height of at least seven feet and call themselves warriors. They prefer to fight with swords to defend their world if necessary.
The women on the planet are basically the property of the warriors. They call each other "lifemates" which is the equivalent of marriage with no divorce, ever. A warrior is completely responsible for the happiness and well being of his woman. She should want for nothing. She in turn must always obey her lifemate in every way and the only job she will have is taking care of the home and children. The women on Dalden's planet are completely happy because they have come to love their way of life. Those women who do not like this lifestyle are of course free to live on other planets as they wish.
Dalden, mother and sister are on their way home in their large space ship. Tedra, who is not from Sha-Ka'an was being honored on her home planet called Kystran. Kystran is similar to earth in many ways. The women of the planet hold jobs and they have a more civilized way of life. Tedra was a security enforcement officer before she met Dalden's father and became his lifemate. Another member of the crew is Martha a Mock II computer. Martha is a computer but far above and beyond anything we have on earth. She is indestructible, and improves over time. She has a mind of her own and a quick sense of humor. Dalden is connected to her at all times by a special device he wears.
On the way home they pick up a distress call from a nearby planet of Sunder. Apparently this planet has created something called an "Altering Rod". When a man is touched by one of these rods his mind can be altered in any way by just a suggestion. A crate of rods were stolen from Sunder by a High King named Jorran. He stole the rods to gain power over a planet somewhere in another solar system and rule as king. These rods by the way do not work on woman but Jorran does not know that. Sunder has not advanced to the point of space travel so they must have help to get the rods back.
Dalden and his group decide they must go after Jorran and his men to find the rods before real damage is done in the Universe. Dalden takes his team in a ship and follows the course Jorran has taken. This of course leads him directly to earth which is the planet Jorran hopes to conquer and rule.
Dalden arrives on earth, where Jorran has taken up residence in Brittany's home town. This is where Brittany and Dalden meet for the first time. There is an instant attraction between them and soon Brittany and Dalden are off to save the world from total domination! I am not going to tell you any more about this plot because it would ruin the fun of this book.
The characters in the book were pretty interesting. Johanna Lindsey does not go into real deep character development in this story because this is the third book in this series. The first book "Warriors Woman" is the story of Tedra and Challen. The second book "Keeper of the Heart" is the story of Shanelle and her lifemate. Even though I did not read the previous two books, I believe enough information was given to make the story clear to me. Dalden and Brittany do work well together, but I would have liked a little more chemistry between them.
Johanna Lindsey has a great writing style in my opinion. This was complicated material in this book. Lindsey has created a very imaginative world and universe. She goes into great detail describing Dalden's planet and people. The story was clear and easy for me to follow.
I enjoyed this book. It was not exactly what I was looking for, but it was interesting. The story was funny and cute at times with a lot of adventure. If you are a Lindsey fan you will enjoy this book. I do not recommend this book to any one looking for a Lindsey typical historical romance though. This book was really a science fiction type of story, there is very little romance or passion in it. However, if you are looking for something different to read and a good story then this could be the book for you.
The book was published by HarperCollins in 2001 and the hardcover is 368 pages long. The ISBN is 0-380-97854-7.
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