TEST
I like big men. I wanted so badly for The Lady’s Champion to be the hefty-hero Iove story I’ve been waiting for. Instead, it was a huge disappointment.
The Champions of Aldland were originally warrior heroes who saved the country from tyranny, but now they have become entertainers, albeit admired and skilled ones. Like the Champions Guild itself, Brandon the Bear is past his legendary days. The greatest fighter of his era, he is now aging, feeling the effects of old injuries, and overweight. None of this bothers fangirl Lady Natalie Blackmere, who has staged a tournament at her castle. But Natalie doesn’t want to meet the Champions as the lady of the manor, so she trades places with a barmaid friend. Unfortunately, while she’s away, her castle is seized by bandits, leaving her with the Champions – who don’t know who she is and blame her, rightfully, for the disaster of the loss of Blackmere and the death of one of their friends.
First off, Natalie is an utter moron. Obsessed with meeting the Champions in disguise, she refuses to do the ceremonial greetings and congratulations, which means all of the Champions think the lady of the manor must suck. (This is accurate). Natalie’s chamberlain tells her of rumored bandits on the roads, so Natalie decides to send all the castle guards after them. Yes, all the guards. (Natalie has obviously never played the video game Sid Meier’s Civilization). Oh, and she’s nearly bankrupted her estate, apparently due to the belief that she should not raise taxes and instead pay for everything out of her now-spent dowry.
Natalie’s not the only unappealing idiot here. I was hoping to read about how Brandon, past his physical prime, learns that he still has a lot to offer. Instead, we, and he, learn that he’s a washed-up coward. He barely keeps pace sparring with the untrained Natalie, who knocks him out of the fight by hitting him on the site of an old injury. He tells Natalie that he wishes he could ignore the entire overthrow of her castle and run away. Perhaps to compensate for this, he later decides to attack the entire castle by himself, which, shockingly, leads to his incarceration (fortunately, for Reasons), in Natalie’s old bedchamber and not, say, a dungeon. And I know the whole ‘biggest dick I’ve ever seen’ heroine reaction is a cliché, but it’s genuinely not sexy for the hero to tell the heroine that women have been disappointed by his length in the past, and then for her to reflect, “It was no different than any other she’d seen.” It’s as if the author has deliberately gone out of her way to make him look bad.
It goes on. The castle-stealing bandit decides to set himself up as a lord, but then dismisses the followers who helped him seize the castle. Nobody notices connections between the origins of the Champions and the situation in front of them, suggesting that this might be a time to return to a purpose beyond entertainment. I will give a small credit for the presence of a woman Champion who is a positive lesbian secondary character, and fundamental literacy on the part of the author, but that’s about all I can praise.
I continue to believe that just like a plus-size heroine, a hero can be big and sexy. Let him shine where I know a bigger man can – in feats of strength, in acts of endurance, or in any of the many, many things a hero can do that involve his emotions and his brains. Whatever you do, don’t put him in this book.
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Grade: D+
Book Type: Fantasy Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 14/03/21
Publication Date: 11/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
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It sounds like the author has made an odd choice after another. I read the excerpt at Amazon, and it made the heroine come across as a seriously frustrating individual. Of course, establishing the heroine as selfish and incompetent could offer meaty material for a character arc, but I don’t think we readers are actually supposed to find her selfish and incompetent. The way it’s written, I got the sense that we are supposed to sympathize with the heroine, and that is a problem. If the lady of the castle has to be cornered into attending to her duties, and then, when doing so makes her miss a part of the tournament, and she figures she is going to be bitter about that until the end of her days, my sympathy is on the side of those under her jurisdiction, for example. Add to that the things Marian Perera already addressed and what is mentioned in the review, and I’m just sort of left scratching my head wondering about the author’s intentions.
What a shame! I like big men as well, and got all excited when I learned about this book and the next two in the series. Because romance novels with hefty heroes are so hard to find, there has been a couple of times when I’ve figured that I can’t be too picky, and read a story even though it has had an element or elements that haven’t exactly been my thing. But I’m afraid this is not going to be one of those times.
Many thanks for the review!
This is a shame, because I am here for hot chubby heroes.
Well, after a review like that I had to check out the excerpt.
And Caroline’s assessment of the heroine is spot on. Natalie has no interest in socializing with either her own class or the commoners, and instead spends all her time indoors (she thinks of the castle as a “self-inflicted prison”, with no indication of why she’s inflicted it on herself). She also seems to have no goals in life other than mooning over the Champions.
The part where she sends all the castle’s guards away is especially bad. She’s told there are reports of bandits on the east road. Her reaction is, “Goodness, I hope somebody stops them.” It’s pointed out to her that the east road is under her jurisdiction. So without even asking how many bandits there are supposed to be, she dispatches all the guards. I stopped reading shortly afterwards, though I wouldn’t mind checking out the scene where the hero decides to attack the entire castle solo, which sounds hilarious. Thanks for the review, Caroline!
The cover is enough to stop me from reading this book. Loved your review, it brightened up my day.
I don’t love the cover, because I don’t like the hero’s pose, his furtive look, or the suggestion of a collar. It sets Brandon up to look like a bear porn submissive, not one of the top fighters in the land. I also don’t like the weird gelled hipster hair. I do like his body, though – it’s exactly my type. One reason I tried this was the fact that they put it front and center.
“Bear porn submissive”—les mots justes!
Hehe, the perfectly coiffed hair. Also, I’m not quite getting “fierce protector” from that face. I do like that body type, though.
“First off, Natalie is an utter moron.” Is it wrong that I was charmed by this?
I’m always pleased to charm, even with snark!
Honestly, I feel like nothing’s wrong with the cover? YMMV.