When I saw this book was free on iBooks and read the blurb, I was immediately interested. Amazons, magic, and romance—who could want more? I didn’t get to read the book for a while, but when I finally got to it, I was left very satisfied.
The Reluctant Amazon by Sandy James
The last thing Rebecca Massee expects on her wedding day is to go from jilted kindergarten teacher to Amazonian Earth warrior. But when she causes an earthquake after her groom says I don’t, she discovers that not only does she possess incredible powers, she is one of four lost chosen sisters who must fight to keep humanity safe from rogue gods and demons. Luckily she has help: ruggedly handsome Scottish warrior Artair MacKay, her protector and teacher.
An immortal, Artair has trained countless warriors for more than four hundred years. He understands Rebecca’s confusion at the new world she’s been thrust into and worries she is too emotionally vulnerable, but that doesn’t stop his growing feelings for the beautiful and fearless woman.
When an evil force threatens to destroy the Amazons, Rebecca must claim her full powers—but they come at a cost. Can she sacrifice the man she loves if it means saving the world?
Age: Adult; 18 years and up
Review: 4 butterflies
If you want a romance novel full of action and magic, this is the book for you.
Rebecca is the main character, and though she’s very cautious, she’s also badass when she needs to be. At times her caution annoyed me — I just wanted her to be kicking ass and being the Amazon I expected her to be. But she had another path she had to follow — one true to her nature. Slowly but surely, Rebecca became the Amazon she was supposed to be. Though she wasn’t what I originally thought she would be like, she was still an amazing character to read about. As I kept reading, I liked her more and more.
However, there were a few times where I felt the author really wanted to emphasize Rebecca’s virtues, most of the time when we were in Artair’s point of view. Artair is Rebecca’s Sentinel; the man who is supposed to teach Rebecca how to master her powers and how to fight. But since this is a romance story, he becomes much more. Once he falls in love with Rebecca, there is a LOT of praising her in his head. Yes, I understand he loves her. Yes, I understand he thinks all of those things about her. But the way his praise was written wanted me to roll my eyes every time he mentioned something she was good at or something he was proud of. He repeated things over and over and at times I found myself skipping over his little monologues about how he shouldn’t love Rebecca because he’s her Sentinel (and other reasons), etc. This really was the only thing that annoyed me, though.
Now, this isn’t to say I didn’t like being in Artair’s head. He was a very interesting character to watch and I really enjoyed his point of view. Artair is strong and really cares for his Amazons and it shows. (Oh, and he’s Scottish. Who doesn’t love a Scottish hero?!)
I enjoyed the mythology that came along with this novel. Being a fan of mythology, I found myself interested in the new twist Sandy James put on it. She changed a lot of things and rearranged some myths here and there and truly put her own spin on it.
The secondary characters were vital to the book, not merely there to fill up the background. Without many of the characters, the two protagonists would not have been able to do most of what they did in this novel. I particularly enjoyed the other Amazons, and hope for more books with their stories in them.
And let’s not forget about the action and magic! There was a lot of mystery and kick-buttery in this book. I constantly found myself wondering what new information would come out of hiding and connect the dots for me. The ending was very satisfying for me and leaves me wondering what else is going to happen in the rest of the series.
I definitely recommend this for fans of romance, magic, action, and a bit of mystery squeezed in!
Labels: adult, fantasy, four stars, love, magic, paranormal, reviews, romance
