Golden Dynasty – Fantasyland #2 – Kristen Ashley
Sum Up (Goodreads):
Circe Quinn goes to
sleep at home and wakes up in a corral filled with women wearing sacrificial
virgin attire - and she is one of them. She soon finds out that she’s not
having a wild dream, she’s living a frightening nightmare where she’s been
transported to a barren land populated by a primitive people and in short
order, she’s installed very unwillingly on her white throne of horns as their
Queen.
Dax Lahn is the king of Suh Tunak, The Horde of
the nation of Korwahk and with one look at Circe, he knows she will be his
bride and together they will start The Golden Dynasty of legend.
Circe and Lahn are separated by language, culture
and the small fact she’s from a parallel universe and has no idea how she got
there or how to get home. But facing challenge after challenge, Circe finds her
footing as Queen of the brutal Korwahk Horde and wife to its King, then she
makes friends then she finds herself falling in love with this primitive land,
its people and especially their savage leader.
Some scenes contain sexual contents that may offend the sensibilities of readers.
Plot:
The first few pages of the book start with a woman
covered in blood and running for her life. She does not know why she is here
and how she went from going to sleep in Seattle to waking up in a desert
running for her life. She is chased by a man on a horse and then BAM! We’re
back an hour before the Wife Hunt (I know, our feminist side just crushed).
Welcome to a primitive alternative world where women
and warriors are two very different categories of people. During the Wife Hunt,
warriors fight over women who may be lucky (or not) to become their future wife.
This is when the King – Lahn, the Dax (King) – notices Circe. He wants her and
God if he doesn’t get her even it means cheating. After all, why being a King
if you cannot change the rules from time to time. The King – her now husband –
doesn’t take no for an answer and doesn’t really understand that a woman
covered in blood may be frightened to do anything. Their first night, he rapes
her because in this new world, it means he is laying a claim on her and she is
officially becoming his wife. I know, it’s harsh! Throughout the book you will
hear so many times “It’s their tradition!”. Even Circe gets pissed off at some
point and I can clearly understand why.
Slowly, they start to get to know each other and they
both had to make concessions in order to enjoy the couple they are becoming. I
do not want to say too much so I wouldn’t spoil you too much. But I can try to tell you some things so you could
tell me if you had the same impressions.
- From time to time, I really wanted to kick Lahn's butt. You will understand why when you will read the passages.
- Circe went too fast from being the victim of a rape to being a sensual woman who knows what she wants in bed. She was raped and then, 3 days later she is having a pleasurable intercourse. This didn't really sit well on me.
- And last but not least, I thought the end was a little bit too fast. Things have been said and things have been done that - for me - would have justified to go more in depth on how she can forgive him.
Here is a little sum up of the characters:
Lahn is at first described as a savage, cruel and
heartless. But in the depth of his room, he has a sweet side and a great love
for Circe. He rules and loves fiercely. He literally would do anything for
Circe. Don’t get me wrong though, this guy has a really bad side and you
(really, really, really) don’t want to see him on his bad days. He knows how to
be the perfect jerk and shows it a couple of times. And trust me, you just want
to kick him in the balls, butt or slap him very hard.
“Out there, King Lahn is a fierce warrior but in here, my Lahn… kah Lahn is sweet.”
Circe was just the perfect heroine. She is fierce,
loyal and right. She takes the defense a couple of times to people (even though
it means she could get into troubles). She knows she cannot get away from this
world (even though she is looking for an out) so she does with what she has.
She goes from the victim to the perfect badass queen. I really did love her.
Sometimes I just thought that she forgave way too easily (but that’s just my
opinion).
Opinion:
I won’t lie, I probably read this book like a thousand
times. I know it by heart. But then, I always fall in love with Kristen Ashley’s
work. She truly is an incredible writer. She knows how to take her time to
develop the relationship between Lahn and Circe but she also knows how to depict
with perfection Circe’s struggle to fit into a complete different culture; a
culture that she did not want at first but fell in love with. The more she gets
to know about this culture, the more she understands Lahn and the more she
falls in love. Gradually, the secondary characters grow in your heart. They
take Circe’s defense, they help her to adjust her new life, they show her
patience…
This is one of the most beautiful and powerful love
book I have ever read. This a story about forgiveness and passion. Circe and
Lahn both do wrongs but the most important thing is how they get to the path of
forgiveness, how they can move on so their relationship does not get stuck. Before
being able to fall in love, they need to go through through the language barriers
and the culture barriers. How do you make a man respect you and treat you with
kindness when the only thing he has ever known is violence? How do you make him
see that monogamy in a couple is a real thing?
Again, I cannot tell you how much I loved this book
but this is definitely a must-read. Just take it with you on the beach and
pretend that the sand under your body is the desert of Suh Tunak.
P.S: Also, this couple made me think of Danerys and
Drogo from Game of Thrones (I know I’m probably way too much into it but what
do you want? I’m like that.)
Excerpts:
First one:
“I could not dream a better you.”
Oh my God.
Oh… my… God.
Did he just say that?
I stared into his warm eyes.
He just said that.And that was so sweet, so unexpected but so welcome, my breath arrested and all I could do was continue staring at him.He wasn’t done. “A better wife, a better queen. Not even in a dream could I create better than you.”
Second one:
"I gave up a world for you."
He glared at me, not giving me anything.
I kept right on going. "I thought, perhaps, when I learned I had powers, I might be able to use them to go home," his eyes flashed but that was all I got so I kept on going, "but not for good. My father isn't dead." Another flash. "He's alive and at home and living maybe with a fake Circe. He'll know the difference, though, I KNOW it. He's out of his mind with worry, I know that too. He's wondering where I am and if I'm okay and how to get me back. I also know that. I know that and I know that my life was good. I loved my life. I loved my home. I loved my job. I had a lot of people who loved me that loved me back." I sucked in a breath and then whispered, "But as much as your world scared me, as much as our practices repulsed me, I still chose you."
His torso jerked, it was almost imperceptible, but I caught it.
I kept at him. "I gave up my world for you, Lahn. I sat at your side through things people in my world would find loathsome and I did it with my head held high. I even felt 'pride' that I could endure, that I could be a good queen to you.......Everything I did in this fucking place, even before I fell in love with you, was for...fucking...YOU."
Last one:
"Your king did not break through with me until his touch stopped taking and started giving and until, in our cham, he treated me with kindness. He is the mightiest of Suh Tunak, recognized the battle he had on his hands, analyzed it, created his strategy and then he went about winning that battle using any means necessary. And, Zahnin," I edged closer and for the sake of this man who pledged to guard me even if it meant giving his life, who backed me against Dortak and who clearly wanted his wife to settle in her new life with him in his cham, I admitted to him at the same time I admitted to myself, "My Lahn won that battle. I now lay awake at night waiting for him to return. When he does not, I fall asleep looking forward to the morning when he will wake me with his hands. He is my King, He is my Warrior, He is my Husband and I am proud to say above all...He is MINE."
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