Robin D. Owens, Guardian of Honor

Guardian of Honor

Robin D Owens

Luna, Feb 2004, $13.95, 496 pp.

ISBN 0373502153

On the world of Amee in the land of Lladrana, a magical force warded the realm so that monsters would not be able to enter. Now parts of the fence are dying, leaving gaps in the protective shield; monsters are entering and the powerful group of mages, the Marshals, fights them. They don't know how to make the dead fence posts come back to life so they summon an Exotique (a person from Earth) who will have the power to rebuild the fence.

Alexa Fitzwater, a woman without friends, steps through the magical arch and into Lladrana where she is immediately tested by the Marshals to see if she has the power they need. She meets their requirements and because she needs to be wanted, allows them to train her in magic so she can battle the monsters and fix the fence. She becomes involved with the Chevalier Bastien who wants her to stay with him. He becomes a Marshal, something he swore he would never do, so he could become a shield to Alexa's sword. The upcoming battle will decide the future of the realm and where Alexa considers home.

Robin D Owens has written a fantastic fantasy that makes the realm of Lladrana come alive in the reader's mind because the author deeply describes the locale so well. Alexa has spent her life in foster homes and her only friend died in a car accident, leaving her yearning to find a place to belong. The people of Lladrana need her and her lover wants to bond with her so she can never leave him. GUARDIAN OF HONOR is a spellbinding romantic fantasy.

Harriet Klausner