Name: Blood & Steel
Rating: 4.147058823529412 (17 reviews)
ISBN: 9781922903037

Helen Scheuerer

Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, From Blood and Ash and The Witcher, BLOOD & STEEL is an epic romantic fantasy with enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn spice, found family, and a sprawling world of magic and monsters.⁣ With her death foretold, Althea Zoltaire only has three years to become what she's always dreamed of being: a warrior legend. Women are forbidden to wield blades, so she has trained in secret her entire life. Now racing against the clock, she fights to secure her place in the elite guild charged with the protection of the five kingdoms. The sparring and hazing of the new trainees border on deadly, but even more dangerous is her growing attraction to Wilder Hawthorne, her unwilling warrior chaperone. All around them, schemes are afoot and darkness looms. Will Althea pass the perilous initiation test and take her place as a champion of Thezmarr - or will the invading evil snatch away her dream before it starts? If you like fierce sword-wielding heroines and brooding, tortured heroes, you will devour this sexy, addictive fantasy adventure. Blood & Steel is the gripping first book in the heart-pounding, epic romantic fantasy series, The Legends of Thezmarr.

The Legends of Thezmarr Book 1

Blood & Steel

Althea is a woman on a mission. She has a lot of life to cram into the 3 years she is foretold to have left. She is determined to become first a Guardian and then a Warsword. Small wrinkles in the plan, women aren't allowed to fight or even wield steel. Yeah, Althea is like "hold my beer".

Wilder is the youngest Warsword ever and the last created prior to the decimation of the country which made the Warsword armour. He is not a fan of Althea, she is a breaker of the rules. But he also won't allow anyone to disparage her just because she's a woman.

There are a lot of themes in the book, least of all was misogyny, trauma, PTSD, denying fate. Althea could be selfish and blot out things which didn't serve her goal. But she was trying to open a door not only for her but with the potential to allow the former female warriors of Thezmarr to return. She is confronted by bullying classmates, downright terrifying "hazing" and harassment. She has some major hurdles to overcome just to get accepted into the warrior programme.

I actually read the Ashes of Thezmarr series before this one, so I'm coming in already loving Wren and Torj but it's been wonderful learning more about their beginnings and meeting Kipp and Cal again is never a hardship!

Nicola Sarah Brooks

My Review:

Althea is a woman on a mission. She has a lot of life to cram into the 3 years she is foretold to have left. She is determined to become first a Guardian and then a Warsword. Small wrinkles in the plan, women aren't allowed to fight or even wield steel. Yeah, Althea is like "hold my beer".

Wilder is the youngest Warsword ever and the last created prior to the decimation of the country which made the Warsword armour. He is not a fan of Althea, she is a breaker of the rules. But he also won't allow anyone to disparage her just because she's a woman.

There are a lot of themes in the book, least of all was misogyny, trauma, PTSD, denying fate. Althea could be selfish and blot out things which didn't serve her goal. But she was trying to open a door not only for her but with the potential to allow the former female warriors of Thezmarr to return. She is confronted by bullying classmates, downright terrifying "hazing" and harassment. She has some major hurdles to overcome just to get accepted into the warrior programme.

I actually read the Ashes of Thezmarr series before this one, so I'm coming in already loving Wren and Torj but it's been wonderful learning more about their beginnings and meeting Kipp and Cal again is never a hardship!

Blood & Steel The Legends of Thezmarr Book 1

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