Heart of a Warrior [Anglais] [Poche]

Dalden heads to modern day earth in search of Jorran (a character from Keeper of the Heart) who has stolen mind altering rods from Sunder (also from Keeper of the Heart) in hopes that he can take over the planet. Brittany, a statuesque, construction working red head, first encounters Dalden at the local mall as he is attempting to speak with the mayor about Jorran's plan. His expression indicating that he is highly uncomfortable in the confined area, Brittany whisks him aside. Equally smitten, Dalden and Brittany converse with the help of his mother's Mock II computer, Martha (first introduced in (Warrior's Woman). Deciding that Brittany can be useful in the endeavor to capture Jorran, Dalden hires her to help him spot outsiders in her small town, while keeping his exact origins secert.

Jorran and his cronies are caught with little effort or time, and I am left wondering what I actually read that took up the first 200 pages. After the capture of Jorran, Martha transfers Brittany to the ship (as Dalden has claimed her for his lifemate earlier on). The next several chapters are of everyone, mainly Martha, doing their best to convince Brittany that the ship is real, Dalden is really from another planet, and everything isn't some elaborate hoax. Even landing on the moon doesn't budge Brittany, and her stubbornness is getting very frustrating at this point. Even upon arriving on his planet, Brittany is want to believe that it is some fantastical movie set in another country.

Dalden, frustrated with his lifemate's refusal to believe in his home, takes her out on what is basically a camping trip so they can be alone. Not obeying the rules to stay in the tent while he is away hunting, she is attacked by an animal. Tracking Brittany by her voice, Jorran (his home planet declared war on Sha-Ka-Ra for his mistreatment during his trip home) who is enamored, finds her and gets her to a meditech and she is fine. Dalden then finds himself having to administer a warrior's punishment (sexual frustration). Though this was a huge part of the story in the first 2 books, this one barely makes anything of it. They admit they love each other, he shows her the land where he wants her to build their house, all is well, the end.

As I mentioned before, it would be a very good idea to read the first two books before starting on this one. It will clear things up and probably make it a more enjoyable experience...it will also show you what kind of passion existed between Tedra and Challen (Dalden's parents) and Shanelle and Falon (his twin sister). I couldn't really find any reason that Brittany was drawn to Dalden other than he was taller than she was. All in all, it was a good book, it just seemed to lack her usual passion. Easily read and something anyone who has enjoyed the other books would like to read, however.

The fact that the other reviews mostly agree that this book disappoints but then gives it three stars are more, will have you wondering if it just is not as good as the other two, but still a good read.

If this had not been a Johanna Lindsey book, this is one book most would have given no stars if possible. Save your money, save your time!

The begaining and ending of this book is it's only saving grace; however a Harlequin Romance could have done it better. Out of 368 pages, more than a 150 of them need to be rewritten. I found my self skipping pages just to get though it, and never did it occure to me to go back and pick some of thoes pages back up. I didn't miss a thing.

There are so many places she could have gone with this book but didn't, I just feel let down after years of waiting for Dalden's story. If you realy want to know how far she's come down read Warrior's Woman (5 stars) and Keeper of the Heart (4 stars) and cry for the waste she made out of this one.

To put a fine point on it, when a sci-fi fan opens up the third installment of an eagerly anticipated futuristic series, they expect it to actually take place in another time or dimension, they do not expect that the first 198 pages (of a 368 page novel) will happen on earth!

Another mark against the novel is the heroine herself. Brittany is, in a word, annoying. When the reader is finally transported from earth after 198 pages, their diligence for sticking with the book is then punished by a heroine who refuses to believe that she's on a spaceship (and then the planet Sha-Ka'an) for the next 150 pages. Instead, Brittany believes that everything around her is a great conspiracy and that her captors are merely trying to mess with her mind. And this for literally 150 pages!

As if that isn't bad enough, the freethinking computer Martha has more lines than either of the protagonists do. Martha does have her good moments and there are places in the novel where she is truly funny, but overall she is given far too much to say with Dalden being allocated not nearly enough.

The reason why Martha has too much to say in the first place brings me to yet another gripe with Heart of a Warrior, namely that in this installment Lindsey suffers from what I call "explanation-itis", or the need to over-explain things. Yes, it is necessary to give the non-initiated some background info to catch them up to speed, but the amount of information they are given basically recounts everything that happens in the first two books which is boring for people who have already read them.

My final complaint with this novel, and the one that broke the camel's back for me if you will, is that absolutely nothing new happens in this installment. In a futuristic, readers expect to be introduced to new worlds, new concepts, new plant and animal life, etc., but not one new experience is given to us in Heart of a Warrior. Everything we hear and see is rehashed from the first two novels which results in a predictability that is Boring with a capital B.

If you insist on buying it, I'd wait for it to come out in paperback!