Blog Tour // Review & Giveaway: The Curse of Gremdon by Ciara Knight

 I've got another blog tour for you guys! Today I've got a review and giveaway of The Curse of Gremdon by Ciara Knight. This tour stop is brought to you by Bewitching Book Tours.

Book: The Curse of Gremdon by Ciara Knight
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Buy A Copy: Amazon |  Barnes & Noble
Available Formats: Ebook / Paperback
Publication Date: December 19th, 2011 (Crescent Moon Press)
How Did I Get This Book:  From Blog Tour
First Sentence: Arianna inhaled the damp night air and glanced over the castle tower wall to the center courts.
Description:  In a world where marriage is forbidden, sex is only granted to male warriors, and the outer realm is full of murderous creatures, Arianna fights to protect the life of her only living relative, her brother.

Tardon, an elite warrior, is granted anything he desires by the Elders, but finds little joy in the voluptuous women presented to him. Born for the bloodlust found only in battle, complicated emotions emerge when he discovers his equal in the alluring warrior, Arianna.

Charged by the Elders with saving the castle from attack, Tardon and Arianna risk the curse when they traverse the vast outer realm to retrieve serum from the Tree of Life. If successful, the Elders have promised Tardon the right to marry and Arianna the cure for her brother’s death fever. Will their love carry them through or will the discovery of a great deception be their ultimate demise?

 

The Curse of Gremdon was a well crafted fantasy rich with adventure and excitement. I loved the idea of Arianna being the only girl in a boys club. She is the only female warrior left in her rank and it has worked extremely hard to prove her worth. Arianna has been through a great deal during her life and she has faced every obstacle head on. When the book begins she is partaking in a fight with Tardon in hopes of becoming an elite warrior. 

Tardon himself is an Elite warrior and he plays a large part in the story. You see, Tardon and Arianna fall in love,  but they are forbidden from being together. It is against the law for Arianna (a female warrior) to have sex - which is something that I really didn’t understand. The reason given in the book is that it is believed it would mess with her ability to fight or something. The man warriors are encouraged to give into their desires; the Elder’s even send them “gifts” when they succeed in a battle. I understand that the double standard was necessary for the plot to move forward, but I wish it would have been explained a bit better.

Anyways, long story short, when the two are discovered a death sentence is hefted onto them. The only way they can redeem themselves (and earn the right to be together) is to set out on a dangerous quest for the Elder’s. 

For me, this is when things started to fall apart a bit.  About halfway through the book the plot began to drag. I especially had a difficult time getting through the scenes featuring Saldor. Saldor is the Dungeon Master (I don’t really know if that is the proper tile) and sort of takes Arianna under his wing. He develops a very strange attachment to her; much to Tardon’s (and my) dismay.  I could never really understand what Saldor wanted and he just really rubbed me the wrong way. He is one of those characters that tries to do what’s best, but ends up making a huge mess of everything instead. And he does this repeatedly. I believe Knight intended readers to be sympathetic towards his character, but unfortunately I disliked him more and more as the book progressed.  

Although the plot was slow at times, I did enjoy the overall story.  And Let’s talk about the plot twists of all plot twists. About three quarters of the way through something happens that throws everything in Tardon and Arianna’s world on its head. It’s insane and I absolutely loved it.

I honestly enjoyed The Curse of Gremdon. It was heavier on the romance portion than I expected, but that didn’t really bother me.  The underlying story was still well developed and the fantasy aspects well crafted, so everything balanced out rather nicely. Often with romance stories I find that the plot suffers, but that certainly wasn’t the case with The Curse of Gremdon. 

Favorite Quotes

Both stood in a ready stance. Both gasped for air. Neither was willing to admit defeat.

Warmth curled through her belly, but no, she could not care for him. One day I might have to kill him.

That was all he could say. If any other words left his lips they would be things he should not say.

"Yes, I speak the truth. Now, silly woman, will you marry me?"

Light and darkness collided with hope. Darkness won.

About The Author:

Ciara Knight always had a passion for storytelling. At an early age, she wrote several short stories and poems, and in college she started work on her first novel. It wasn’t until late 2008 that she returned to her true passion of writing. Over the past few years she has penned five novels and joined several professional writing organizations to better her craft.

When not writing, she enjoys reading all types of fiction. Some great literary influences in her life include Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, Francine Rivers and J K Rowling.

Ciara is happily married and enjoys family time. She has learned to embrace chaos, which is a requirement when raising three boys, and utilizes the insanity to create stories not of this world including, Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, and Young Adult Dystopian.

Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is travel. She’s backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Ciara has been kind enough to provide two lucky readers with ebook copies of The Curse of Gremdon! This giveaway is open internationally and will close when the Blog Tour ends, on February 13th.