Book Review-Dagger Star by Elizabeth Vaughan

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

After captivating readers with her Chronicles of the Warlands trilogy, Elizabeth Vaughan now returns to that world with a beguiling tale of daggers and destiny. . .

She is a mercenary trained in the ways of war and the blade–nothing more. A woman known only as Red Gloves has come to the land of Palins in search of work. What she finds, however, is the torched fields and razed farms of a land defiled.

If you see her without the gloves, run… This is all Josiah knows about the mysterious woman–until he catches a glimpse of the dagger-star birthmark, a sign that she is destined to free his people from a ruthless usurper’s reign of terror.

But she is more dangerous when following her heart… Red doesn’t believe in gods. Nevertheless, she finds herself drawn into the rebellion–not by the prophecy or the chance to win the throne, but by the pain of untold loss in Josiah’s eyes…

My Review

First Impressions

Dagger Star has been a book I have been meaning to get to for quite a while now. I was able to have the opportunity to actually buddy read this one last night with a fellow bookstammer that also loved her “Chronicles of the Warlands” series. I have to say that I was impressed with this one here. Now it wasn’t exactly a perfect read, but it was such a thrilling adventure and I love how easy and quick it was to read here. There is something so unique about the way that Elizabeth Vaughan writes her fantasy romance, and I was having a blast with this one because it had such a unique dynamic that I haven’t seen from this author before and not super common in epic or high fantasy romance, at least not in my experience anyway. So I was so intrigued to see where she would take this one. It was also interesting to see the set up of the series and how it related to the Chronicles of the Warlands (which is a more distant connection). Although we may see stronger connected in the next two books.

Summary

The story starts off with our heroine, Red Gloves, who is a traveling mercenary alongside with her friend, Bethral. They come across sanctuary as they and their horses are in need of rest. They receive sheltar from a man who has a wounded soul by the name of, Josiah. Red Gloves is instantly drawn to Josiah, who is much more than he seems and there is an instant attraction. When he notices a mark on her torso, that signifies that she could be the hope for restoring Palin to its greatness and free the people from abuse and slavery. Josiah, was once a powerful influencer within Palin, but then he was betrayed and his territory was decimated and his people either taken or slaughtered. He was the only survivor and has lived a life of seclusion ever since. But then comes along Red Gloves, who awakens his passions and also his fire to fight. But will their destiny’s clash or will they be able to find common ground to work their way towards their own HEA?

What I Loved

I absolutely adored this one, and it was such a fun adventure and it was so interesting to see Red Gloves and Josiah as a pair. Red Gloves is such a fiery spirit, she is strong willed, shameless, and goes after what she wants. She has no regrets and faces challenges head on and is a brilliant fighter. Then we have Josiah who is a tortured soul, still grieving for his people and failing them. I really found that Red Gloves and Josiah were just right for each other. They truly fit the “Yin Yang” and bring balance in just the right way. They each push each other in what they need. Red Gloves encourage Josiah to keep living and fighting and not let what happened in the past defeat him. Then Josiah teaches Red Gloves the power of embracing emotion and love. They each teach each other and encourage one another in different but profound ways. I found the journey that Red Gloves goes on to be so interesting. We are also interesting to most of the main characters in the other books and I am so intrigued by their stories and see where this author plans on taking the series. I found the ending sweet and endearing.

What I Struggled With

I won’t say that this book was absolutely perfect, but biggest issues was the romance connection. There is a ton of chemistry between Red Gloves and Josiah but my largest issue was not fully feeling the actual heart of their romance. I just wanted a bit more of the emotional intimacy and felt like it was all casual sex type of stuff and not enough emotion that I have come to expect from this author. I still enjoyed the story so much, but I just needed a bit more and it would have been a five star read.

Overall View

I found Dagger Star to be a brilliant beginning to what I imagine is a action packed series. I found this installment to be a powerhouse of a read, it sparkles in such unique ways, it delivered in a way that seemed to work so well for the story as a whole. Its a page turner of a fantasy read that will only leave you more intrigued in needing more!

Title: Dagger Star

Author: Elizabeth Vaughan

Genre: Epic Fantasy Romance

Format: eBook

Source: Purchased

Length: 336 Pages

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| StoryGraph| Literal Club

Series Order

Epic of Palins

Dagger Star-Pub 2008 #1 in the Series

A Rose by Any Other Name-Pub 2011 #1.5 in the Series

White Star-Pub 2009 #2 in the Series

Destiny’s Star-Pub 2010 #3 in the Series

About The Author

Elizabeth A. Vaughan is the author of the Chronicles of the Warlands, a fantasy romance trilogy from Tor Books: Warprize (her first novel), Warsworn, and Warlord..

She’s always loved fantasy and science fiction, and has been a fantasy role-player since 1981. By day, Beth’s secret identity is that of a lawyer, practicing in the area of bankruptcy and financial matters, a role she has maintained since 1985.

Beth is owned by three cats, and lives in the Northwest Territory, on the outskirts of the Black Swamp, along Mad Anthony’s Trail on the banks of the Maumee River.