Hey ForeverBookers,
How are you all? I hope you’re good!
I’ve just finished “Blood & Steel” by Helen Scheuerer and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED it! It had everything I love and more!
In “Blood & Steel,” we follow our FMC, a 24 year old girl, Thea who wants to become a Warsword warrior in the lands of Thezmarr. Only men are allowed to wield weapons, so they’re the only ones that become Warswords, however. Of course, Thea hates this rule and thinks it’s unfair and sexist, which it is! Why shouldn’t she be able to wield a weapon? She goes on a plight to the king to get permission to train as an apprentice Warsword with our MMC, Wilder Hawthorne. She gets permission from the king and starts training with a group of young men, some of whom she befriends and some of whom she hates. Seb is the main antagonist as well as the demons that slip through the veil. Of course, Wilder is our love interest. He thinks Thea is a pain at first. Does this change throughout the novel? You’ll have to read for yourself.
I’d say “Blood & Steel” was told in 3 parts. Part 1) Thea and Wilder travelling together to get permission for her to fight, part 2) Thea practicing fighting and honing her abilities and part 3) the main trial at the end, where Thea and her 2 comrades, Cal and Kipp, need to find a totem each, and retrieve it themselves to be classed as a Warsword, something which Wilder already is! Wilder is in fact the legendary Warsword.
I read “Blood & Steel” for a few readathons. They were:
Always Fully Booked Reading Challenge - Read a book with an ampersand in the title - that’s this symbol, &. I don’t think I would have necessarily picked up “Blood & Steel” without that prompt so I’m really glad it was there. As I said above I read it in 3 days!!!
Reading Rivalry - I See You Shiver With Antici…pation! - “Blood & Steel” was highly anticipated by me but I didn’t know I’d love it quite as much as I did! I watched a booktuber read it and love it so this made me excited to pick it up!
Spoilers Below…
“I wish I could allow it child. But to change the law now would be to endanger the midrealms. It has taken a long time to reforge our strength and power to hold the darkness at bay. Therefore the answer, I’m afraid is no.”
Thea opened her mouth, but closed it at the widening eyes of the servants.
She was no longer in Thezmarr. There would be no arguing here.
Her fate, it seemed, was sealed.”
This happens at around the page 100 mark of “Blood & Steel.” Thea has dreamed about becoming a Warsword her whole life. It’s all she wants. She used to work in the apothecary with her sister Wren and other minor characters, but she never felt at home there. She knows she’s meant to be a warrior. Before this, Thea and Hawthorne (Wilder’s surname - people who aren’t close to him use it) travel to the city to see the king. The above quote is the king giving his answer to Thea about whether she can become a Warsword. The answer is no, until she saves King Artos from dying from poison. He grants her her wish, to become a warrior.
“All she wanted was to be one of them, to give what little of her life remained some purpose. To become… something more.” Thea knows that she’s destined to die on her 27th birthday. Her heartstone tells her this. She and her sister Wren were left at the castle as babies. They don’t have parents they know of. Where are they from? What are they? What is Thea, “Blood and Steel” explores.
There were funny moments as well as passionate and dangerous moments too. For example, Kipp, one of the young lads Thea makes friends with always added humour to the story.
“Did you hear that?” Kipp panted as they wove through the trees.
“Which part?” Thea asked, still reeling.
Kipp grinned. “I’m famous.”
“Furies save us,” Cal groaned.
Laughter on their lips, they raced through the Bloodwoods in the northern end of the fortress.”
I thought Kipp was cute and harmless. He made this story fun. I wanted to keep turning the pages for more than just the romance!
I’ll just mention the romance as it’s quite a big deal in this book. “He kissed her neck, where her pulse fluttered wildly, and his hands sought the hem of her shirt, slipping beneath. Calluses met her bare skin, mapping her ribs and the curve of her breasts before dipping to cup her between her legs, rubbing her through the fabric.
“Is this where you want me?” Wilder asked, the rich timbre of his voice promising all manner of dark pleasure.
“Yes,” she breathed.
We’re going to do this here, on the porch, out in the open. The thought echoed pointlessly through her mind. Pointlessly because she didn’t care where she was, all she knew was that she wanted the layers between them gone, she wanted his hands on her, his cock inside her. She wanted to feel every part of him. At last the buttons on his pants came undone and his breathing hitched.
Her own chest heaved, need coursing like a blazing fire — she was utterly lost to him. And she knew this would be their downfall, knew this would change everything.” This is about as passionate as “Blood & Steel” gets! I really hope the other books are this passionate or more so, even! Clearly Thea and Wilder are in love by this point. It could be classed as instalove, but when you consider that they spent days on the road traveling to the city to see the king, just them, I wouldn’t call it instalove. Also, the above scene happens within the last 100 pages of the book so they’ve had months of training together too! The plot is just fast moving so we don’t really notice how far through the book we are…at least I didn’t! By this point in the book Wilder is calling Thea by her first name and not Alchemist, as he referred to her early on, when they were just acquaintances.
There’s a little magic in the plot. I don’t want to spoil any of that, though so I’ll leave that there. I think it will be developed in book 2. I’m excited to see how…
Overall then, “Blood & Steel” was SOOOOO good!!! It had me tearing through the pages! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this for anyone that loves fantasy and romance! I cannot WAIT to read book 2, Vows and Ruin probably early next year!
I think I’m going to read a classic next so stand by for my review of that!
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