Thea Zoltaire wants to be a Warsword, a legendary warrior of Thezmarr. There’s just two problems. One, thanks to a prophecy, women are forbidden to wield blades. And two, Thea only has a few years left to live. Her time is running out.
After years of training in secret, she finally has an opportunity to plead her case to the rulers of the realm, and beg them to give her a chance to prove herself. But there’s an unexpected third obstacle in her way: Wilder Hawthorne. Big, brooding, and begrudgingly impressed by the female upstart, he’s a frustrating distraction from the task at hand – in more ways than one.
Blood & Steel is the first in Helen Scheuerer‘s latest series, The Legends of Thezmarr. Set in the same universe as The Oremere Chronicles and Curse of the Cyren Queen, it’s a distinctly more adult offering, with an exciting enemies-to-lovers plotline unfolding at its heart.
It’s another strong series start for Scheuerer, who thrives on throwing her engaging female leads into the thick of it. Her flair for world-building is as strong as ever; carefully crafting the lore of Thezmarr and their mighty Warswords, and exploring it all through the eyes of the determined Thea.
Wilder Hawthorne is an absolute dream too, hitting every mark when it comes to a gruff, tough, and dangerous leading man, and helping to flesh out the story with a few chapters told from his POV. The heat between the two is palpable, and, while this first offering is relatively low on spice, there’s definitely the promise of more to come as the series progresses.
As someone who has been following Scheuerer’s work for a while now, it’s genuinely a pleasure to see the growth leading to something like Blood & Steel. Her writing is stronger, the fight scenes sharper, and the worlds even more vivid. I was convinced that no one was ever going to dethrone The Oremere’s Chronicles‘ Swinton as my book boyfriend – I’ve got a feeling Wilder is about to give him a run for his money.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Helen Scheuerer’s Blood & Steel is out now from Alchemy Books. Find out more, including how to get your hands on a free prequel story, at her website. Grab yourself a copy of Blood & Steel from Booktopia HERE.
