Danielle L. Jensen

DEFIANCE IS TREASON. TREASON IS DEATH. A siege is laid against the last resistance to the Senate's rule. As the battle rages, a commander, a soldier, and a rebel will decide how far they are willing to go for victory. THE COMMANDER Marcus is forced to choose between destroying the rebel forces and liberating his legion. He must face the true cost of being a leader. And an oppressor. THE SOLDIER Agrippa sets his sights on glory to fill the deepening void within him. He discovers that the price of fame might not just be paid in blood, it might be paid by his heart. THE REBEL Silvara joins the rebel forces to fight against the legions who would see her family dead. While she dreams of being a warrior, she finds her sharpest weapon is seduction. But to defeat the Empire, she'll have to betray the young man who now has her heart. Inspired by the harsh world of ancient Rome, readers are obsessed with this martial tale of fiery romance, friendship, and enmity. Told from three points of view, TARNISHED EMPIRE is filled with twists you'll never see coming but will keep you turning the pages all night. TARNISHED EMPIRE is set in the world of Danielle L. Jensen's DARK SHORES. But readers new to the world can begin here.

Tarnished Empire

Aundreya Rich

She sang of the spirits and the forests, and how a strong soul would grow a tree that reached to the sky. She sang until his muscled shoulders stilled beneath her hands, until his breathing steadied against her throat, and only then allowed the last note to trail away. Then she pushed him upright and kissed his forehead. "For Yaro. May his tree grow to tower above all others." 


The  Dark Shores  world that Danielle L. Jensen created is full of roman inspiration, nail biting war, a dash of fantasy, and enough love to keep the romantics coming back for more with each book.
 Tarnished Empire follows Marcus and the 37th legion in their fight against the rebels, and another conquest in the name of The Empire.


With 3 POVs, this short, but powerly packed book will give you a full spectrum insight to war, love, and a brotherhood.

The other 2 POVs to accompany Marcus are:

  Agrippa  - soldier, smarty-pants, and all around flirt... who thinks his legacy is to be carried through by the 37 as they chant his name and the victory he took, but his heart may be lost to the laundress and rebel that he can't stay away from, even if it means losing his dreams.

 Silvara  - a strong woman who only wants to be a weapon for the rebels, but the sharpness of her mind is put to work as she seduces the soldier.... but there might be more to him than a cold blooded killer, and choosing love over family will not be an easy choice.

All 3 books can be read out of order, but must be read before Gilded Serpent.

Dark Skies was rated best of fantasy on my blog in 2020 and this book just added to the intrigue of this world.

Thanks to the DLJ for my ARC.


Rating:
story- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
world building- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
romance- slow burn
steam- "well I learned each piece of a soldier's armor and in what order it is best taken off..."

Song: 
  Arcade

DEFIANCE IS TREASON. TREASON IS DEATH. A siege is laid against the last resistance to the Senate’s rule. As the battle rages, a commander, a soldier, and a rebel will decide how far they are willing to go for victory. THE COMMANDER Marcus is forced to choose between destroying the rebel forces and liberating his legion. He must face the true cost of being a leader. And an oppressor. THE SOLDIER Agrippa sets his sights on glory to fill the deepening void within him. He discovers that the price of fame might not just be paid in blood, it might be paid by his heart. THE REBEL Silvara joins the rebel forces to fight against the legions who would see her family dead. While she dreams of being a warrior, she finds her sharpest weapon is seduction. But to defeat the Empire, she’ll have to betray the young man who now has her heart. Inspired by the harsh world of ancient Rome, readers are obsessed with this martial tale of fiery romance, friendship, and enmity. Told from three points of view, TARNISHED EMPIRE is filled with twists you’ll never see coming but will keep you turning the pages all night. TARNISHED EMPIRE is set in the world of Danielle L. Jensen’s DARK SHORES. But readers new to the world can begin here.

Caitlin

I’m hardly ever into the side/prequel stories of a series I’m already invested in, not wanting to deviate from the action timeline we’re already in, but this one (unsurprisingly) proved to be well worth the read. Knowing Marcus can be hard, I’ve found, unlike Killian or Teriana or Lydia. Marcus is still such an enigma, but this book shed more light on him. Moreover, it gave us Agrippa, who I love a lot, and am very excited to hopefully see him again soon.

Paola C

After thinking it through, I'm giving this book a rating of 3.5 stars. 

Let me start off by saying that I thought the whole reason for this prequel was for us to learn more about Marcus and his past. That being said, this was more of an Agrippa book, the new character that we are being introduced to. I didn't feel like there was anything new learned about Marcus or about the empire and the legions really. Which, if you are advertising this as a Marcus book, will disappoint people. Now, if I'm wrong about that and this was not advertised like that, I apologize. That is one of my most disappointments of this book. Then we have the fact the whole plot between Agrippa and Silvara (another new character introduced) was a pretty predictable plot. She's a rebel and her family is trapped in the village that Agrippa and the 37th legion need to conquer. They have a romantic storyline, which you know isn't going to end well. 

I honestly didn't care for Silvara much anyways, she just seemed like a flat character that wasn't developed as well as the other female characters in the Dark Shores storyline. I much prefer to have read about the side characters, like Quintus who is apparently a badass silent killer, that can go in kill somebody, and come out before anybody notices that anything is wrong. Why couldn't we have more of him!? GIVE ME A QUINTUS SOTRY! *please*

I will end this review by saying that I'm curious to see how Agrippa's story is going to intertwine with the rest of the Dark Shores/Skies characters in Gilded Serpent.

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures!

Loved this book! I can't wait to read the rest of the series! Jensen does such a good job of giving the reader some information about the world but letting us figure it out without getting confused! I love the Roman/ Fantasy mash-up!

Tarnished Empire

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