Review of Warrior by Cheryl Brooks

Tisana, a witch and healer, lives alone in her little cottage in Utopia waiting on “the one” who will father her daughter as is the tradition among witches.  When her former lover Rafe appears with his newly purchased slave, who is in need of healing, Tisana agrees to care for the slave until Rafe returns for him or until the slave dies.

 

As she begins to care for the slave with the cat-like features, Tisana realizes that he is not like anyone she has ever met.  Attracted to her new charge, who she has nicknamed Leo, Tisana wonders if he just might be “the one.”  However, she also knows that he is a slave so their being together can only be temporary despite her growing feelings for Leo.

 

When Rafe returns early it is to demand Tisana and Leo’s help to find his kidnapped sons.  Tisana reluctantly agrees hoping to find a way to convince Rafe to allow Leo to stay with her when all is said and done.

 

Using her special gift of communicating with animals and Leo’s natural tracking abilities, Tisana, Leo, and Rafe set out on a dangerous journey to find the boys.  Along the way we meet some very interesting animals who are rather colorful characters themselves.

 

Warrior is a fantastic futuristic romance with colorful characters, a fascinating world, and an intriguing story.  And while it is part of The Cat Star Chronicles series, the book stands alone quite well.  In fact, you could easily read this one without ever knowing there was another book in the series, which is something I liked.

 

While I don’t usually read that many stories told in first person, I really enjoyed this one and how it was done.  And while it might have been nice to know what the other characters were thinking or feeling, using first person allowed me to relate more to the heroine of the story, Tisana, as I got to see events and characters through her eyes.  It was as if she were sitting with me telling me her story.  The author did a wonderful job making Tisana into a relatable and real person and also making the other characters believable even though we only saw them through Tisana’s eyes.

 

Tisana is a very private person and going on this journey forces her to reveal things about herself that she would rather keep hidden.  As she struggles with this as well as with her growing feelings for Leo, we are able to experience it with her.  Their relationship is a bit complicated and different, but in their world, everything is different.

 

Also, in Warrior, thanks to Tisana’s gift, she is able to communicate with the animals.  Ms. Brooks gave the creatures personalities and quirks that brought them to life and made them almost human-like, which I loved and found highly enjoyable as I found myself smiling and laughing at some of the interactions.  In fact, some of my favorite characters in the story are the animals such as Max the dog, Gerald the squirrel, Morgana the mare, Sinjar the stallion, or Craynolt the otterell (a creature found only in this futuristic world).

 

Speaking of this futuristic world, I am fascinated by the world that Ms. Brooks has created with The Cat Star Chronicles series.  I never knew what was going to happen next or what we would discover and it seems that the possibilities are endless.   Warrior is a wonderful and fun addition to the series and I look forward to reading more.

 

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