Sorceress

by Saskia Walker

Forbidden love, magic, danger and desire... Young Empress Elishiba has vowed to protect her people, even if it means marrying an enemy. But when the mysterious man known as Amshazar arrives as a spokesman for her future husband, her passion is ignited. Amshazar is an attractive and powerful man who is rumored to be a sorcerer, and he is allied to her enemy. Consorting with him would be disastrous. Why then does she let him distract her from her goal? Amshazar is a gifted magi and an envoy of the gods. Falling in love with the Empress Elishiba wasn't part of his plan, and yet he cannot resist. Their connection is vital, their desire undeniable—but their forbidden relationship soon captures them in a web of danger, a web where magic and romance weave their own vibrant and inexorable threads. As the enemy seeks to destroy Elishiba and all she stands for, Amshazar must fulfill his duty and empower her as a powerful Sorceress, whatever the cost. 80,000 words, fantasy romance. Please note this book has been previously published by Juno Books.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Erotica, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Adult

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 29, 2007

About the author

Saskia is British by birth, but because of her parent's nomadic tendencies she grew up traveling the globe--an only child with a serious book habit. She dreamed of being a writer since the age of 12 and finally began writing seriously in the late 1990s.

Saskia's short stories have now been published in over one hundred international anthologies and magazines including Cosmo, and Bust. In the noughties Saskia started working on longer projects and since then her novels have been published by Penguin and Harlequin as well as other publishing houses. To her absolute delight two of her novels won Passionate Plume awards and her work has twice been nominated for an Romantic Times Magazine Reviewers' Choice Award. Her Witches of Scotland series was widely translated and became a Scandinavian bestseller. In 2015 she became a USA TODAY bestselling author. It's been an amazing journey! Saskia is now a full time author and she has many more stories to tell.

Saskia lives in the north of England, on the beautiful, windswept landscape of the Yorkshire moors, with her real life hero, Mark. Mark supports her work through all its ups and downs, and manages to keep her sane and grounded when fiction threatens to take over.

http://www.saskiawalker.co.uk.home.html

Reviews

[Aղցela W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler Ahead This was a good book that I didn't think I would like this much. The Empress Elishiba has vowed to protect her people, even if it means marrying an enemy. But when the mysterious man known as Amshazar arrives as a spokesman for her future husband, her passion is ignited. Amshazar is an attractive and powerful man who is rumored to be a sorcerer, and he is allied to her enemy. Amshazar is a gifted magi and an envoy of the gods. Lusting after the Empress Elishiba wasn't part of his plan, and yet he cannot resist. Their connection is vital, their desire undeniable—but their forbidden affair soon captures them in a web of danger, a web where magic and romance weave their own vibrant and inexorable threads. As the enemy seeks to destroy Elishiba and all she stands for. This was a paranormal fantasy historical read all rolled in one and I normally don't read all of these things together. This was an erotically charged book that was hot I mean the lust between these two was hot. Elishiba thinks she’s going to negotiate a betrothal, bringing peace between the two regions, but unknown to her she’s caught in her future mother in laws lust for power. She’s the real control not her son, who is in love with someone forbidden and a peace-loving but weak ruler. She’s not giving that power up, so her future plans do not include Elishiba having a place in power, or a peaceful agreement between the regions. This brings about the danger where magic takes a high place in controlling them and killing others, and leads to some dangerous actions. This was not my first time reading this author this book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling. If you like reading paranormal fantasy books with erotica than I recommend that you read this book.

[ladymay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is well done, only I wish it could be longer because it seems I can't get enough of it. I was fascinated with the world setting and the cultures in this book that I wanted to get to know more about them. The lead characters, I can only explain more on the Empress Elishiba but not her lover, Amshazar.

Empress Elishiba is perfect. I said that because where in this world can we find a ruler like her? She's a ruler who is kind and compassionate to her people. She's a ruler who will do anything for the safety of her kingdom. She is selfless, she's rare and she's a non-existing in real world.

Amshazar is a great magi, gorgeous man, caring, and compassionate man. That is all I can tell you about him.

The two though have a serious chemistry going on between them. From the moment they met, fireworks everywhere it was heady, to read. The only problem with the two is they are rivals, enemies. Enemies turned lovers, why would I don't want to read that? Love conquers all, to quote the famous quote.

It is an erotic novel but it was light one. There are just BRIEF M/M scene, masturbation, and just a few sex scenes. To be completely honest, after I read some reviews saying this book is erotic, I was expecting the worst of it like of incest, menage, BDSM or maybe orgies. Thankfully, none of those.

Also, how I wish it would be more detailed on violence and gore and blood. It would make my reading more thrilling, squirmish and scary. The goat scene was creepy. The dropping-into-pit scene is horrifying I want to throw up. I just love to scare myself. I'm sadist that way.

Overall, it was a good read!

Thanks to publisher for providing this ARC via NetGalley!

[Yolde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was wonderfull. I like the way of the characters description. The story was powerfull and not predictable as one could think about an erotic novel. I´ve liked the mystic touch of the heroine and the hero.
I would recommand this book to everyone who will just fall into an wonderfull story with power, emotions and erotic.

[Melania Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erotic fantasy at its best, with a real plot and complex characters. I absolutely loved it!

[Brenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in "the exotic lands". Nope.

[Sarah G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing read right from the start with many twists and turns to keep you hooked until the end. Seems Aleem and Karseedia are two very different lands run in two very different ways. One run for the love of its people where an Empress would do whatever it takes to keep peace and the other by fear. The Aleemite way of life focuses on all things pleasure, you should know all about it, no matter your status. Karseedia, however, is a treacherous country ruled by an evil hand hiding not so far in the background. I know which one I would rather be in.

Empress Elishiba of Aleem vows to protect her people no matter what but she is about to be pushed to her limits when she embarks on a mission with a neighboring enemy land. If a deal for a treaty fails then it seems the only way to ensure peace is to link them by marriage, hers to Emperor Hanrah of Karseedia. She knows her goal and can’t afford to be distracted from her path but the moment she meets the mysterious Amshazar that idea gets thrown right out the window. He is rumored to be a sorcerer and allied to her enemy but that doesn’t stop her lust from igniting the moment they meet. The pull it seems can’t be ignored but following it could lead them both down a disastrous path. Dark forces are at every turn to do evils bidding so she has to careful of whom to trust. New friends could be foe but to trust in herself is key. Her heart will always lead her down the correct path, even if it’s breaking at the same time.

Amshazar is a magi who is called upon by the Gods – specifically Credan and Sevita – to deliver a message to the exotic lands to help prevent a war. He needs to help one and guide another to get the peace the Gods are after. Something Hurda the God of war isn’t too keen on after his meddling got them to that stage in the first place. He first befriends Hanrah and soon is a trusted part of his life, so much so that he is sent as a spokesman with the group that goes to collect and escort Elishiba back to Karseedia. She is the one he must guide for the sake of all buts it hard to do after passions collide from the moment their eyes lock. Its like something sparks to life inside her. Her own magic seems to sense his and its with his presence and guidance that she can pull it to the surface when needed most. The moment they kiss all else fades away and it’s just them in a bubble of passion. She longs for him and he craves for her. He has a job to do, one she is a part of, but he can’t tell her it all yet for fear of scaring her. Falling for her and her passionate ways wasn’t part of his plan but fate it seems has other ideas.

Poor old Hanrah, he is very much under his mother Mehtap’s rule. He must strive to over throw her to become the man he is meant to be. His loyalty seems to be to his lover Kazeen but he needs to think of all his people before his mother ruins their land for good with war. Sibias is a creepy guy who you get a bad feeling about right from the start. He is Mehtap’s puppet, one that likes to delve into the dark magic to do her bidding it seems. All you are hoping is that they get their comeuppance.

Elishiba is not alone on her journey, she may have Amshazar for now but also brings her closest friends and consorts which gives the story more depth. Xerxes is her loyal warrior and leader of the Immortals, friend and past lover, well who wouldn’t want someone like that watching your back. Her handmaids, twins Elra and Amra brought a bit of humour, loved their scenes. Yoshi her Seeress loves to speak in riddles and her ‘gift’ from Mehtap turned loyal friend Kerr was sweet – someone the twins very much hope to share. Love the way they try to entice him to their side. Believe me it doesn’t take much for him to be in ore of them and the way of life in Aleem. A much better place to be than Karseedia it seems. A power play coming from all sides has started and it soon becomes a road trip built on a dark web of mystery. A fun paranormal fantasy erotic historical read to get stuck into.

I received a copy of this book from the author for my honest review.
https://readingnook84.wordpress.com/2...

[Carole-Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have an e-book of this publication

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was provided for free through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

They likely also expected a timely review. Of which this is not. For that, I apologize. But that's about all I'm apologizing for.

And that isn't the only thing I'm sorry about.

So let's start with my honest opinion: I have read Lord of the Rings fanfiction that was a more compelling and convincing story than this one. And it's not because of the source material.

It's hard to know where to begin when it comes to the sins of this story or which of these were the greatest sin of all. Whether the setting, the premise, the characters or how all of these things were resolved, it was all rather tossed together into some kind of a lacklustre tale of... I don't even know what.

Granted, I am not well-versed in the art of erotic novels, Fifty Shades notwithstanding, of which for some may not even be true erotica. (Although you only need to read my review on that book to understand that I viewed Fifty Shades as little better than porn. So clearly, I do not share that sentiment to begin with) Perhaps, as far as erotica goes, this is actually a brilliant book? What do I know after all?

... No, even I can't buy that as an excuse for this book. And it's all because of the use of one word: mound. Yes, mound.

The last time I read a piece of writing that attempted to describe a sexual body part as 'a mound' was a rather awful piece of Harry Potter fanfiction. Not even Fifty Shades was so bold, so to speak, to try and compare someone's breasts or area around the clit to a pile of compacted dirt! And it's not as if Fifty Shades is exactly the pinnacle of literary brilliance here. But compared to this novel, it certainly made me wonder.

And really, what's so sexual about a mound? Even real life 'mounds' that are named after female body parts are not so named because someone looked at it and said, "Those mounds look sexy so lets name it after tits." No, they named it after tits because the mounds reminded them of tits.

And I mean, it's an erotica book. It's bread and butter are the sex scenes between the idealized and more or less self-indulgent ,both from an author's and a reader's standpoint, female lead and its ultra-hot, perfectly sculpted, and equally self-indulgent dream of a male lead. That's what readers are supposed to be sold on when it comes to this novel. And yet... mound.

Mound.

Even the word looks wrong when you write it down.

As for everything else, the characters were little more than their body parts and physical appearance, the driving force of the story was trivialized and dull, the backstory was highly confusing and somewhat contrived and the resolution of the tale was painfully patched together. I mean, in the loosest of terms, it's a fantasy romance, but only because they use magic as a plot device - sort of - and the plot revolves around some concept of love and marriage. Sort of.

But the one thing that it's supposed to be good at, the one thing that's supposed to sell it to readers, just came off as forced and lacking in tactfulness, grace and just real intimacy. Again, I'm not looking for a masterpiece here as far as language or artistic love-making (or whatever), but if you're planning to use euphemisms for body parts, stick to stuff that's less... vulgar I guess is the word. And if you can't do that... it's called a penis and a vagina. And it does magical things.

On the plus side, at least she didn't use the phrase 'beef taco.' So it could have been worse.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saskia Walker's history includes a lot of erotic romance, and while Unveiling the Sorceress is marketed as fantasy, it's not hard to see the erotic romance influence here. A lot of the book focuses around the relationship between Elishiba and Amshazar, and even her journey to learning to use magic revolves around their connection. There are also quite a few sex scenes, and these aren't limited to the protagonists.

I really loved the setting and the way it flavoured the book, something that stood out from most fantasy novels with its Eastern influences. I wish we got to see more of the world, the people, and the politics, but as the book itself is quite short, there just wasn't much room for exploration. It's brief to the point where the magic system, significant both as a plot point and as character growth, is not explained at all. It's merely presented as something that exists and sort of randomly shows up when it's required. Which is a shame, because the bit of world-building we do get to see was easily my favourite part.

The setting wasn't the only thing that suffered for the short length, though. A lot of the time things moved so fast I felt like I was being told the story rather than being allowed to experience it, reading the Cole's notes version when I'd really rather immerse myself a bit deeper. Elishiba herself is a character with a lot of potential, but while I sympathized with her at some parts of the book, other parts I wanted to see a bit more depth from her. When she struggles with her desire to trust in Amshazar versus her instinct to keep her distance from everyone under Hanrah's mother's rule, she strikes me as the most human. As aforementioned, this does take up a lot of the book's focus, but outside of this struggle she verged on too good to be true. She's kind and brave and considerate and always knows the right thing to do and has impeccable moral character and the only people who don't madly love her are the villains. I never did get a good feel for Amshazar, so outside of him having a smoking hot body and being very adept with magic, I couldn't tell you much about him. A lot of the secondary characters were more vibrant and memorable than Amshazar, which says wonderful things about them but doesn't exactly sell me on the hero.

If you do decide to pick up your own copy, you'll want to leave your inner copy editor at home, since the book itself seems to have done so. There were a lot of poorly constructed sentences, things that could easily have been fixed by adding a comma or splitting two rambling phrases with a period. Also, I really wish someone could guarantee me no author would ever be allowed to use the word "flank" in an intimate scene again. It's not a sexy word, people. Stop it.

Needless to say, I had some mixed feelings about this book, although I'll admit I'm curious about the revised version. I think Unveiling the Sorceress would have done well with another 50 or 100 pages to expand some of the ideas and characters a bit more, and if there had been a deeper exploration of the world and characters, I probably would have rated it quite a bit higher.

[Jeannie Zelos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorceress, A fantasy romance set in an ancient land, Saskia Walker
Review from jeannie zleos book reviews
 
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this novel, but it proved to be a fun, spicy paranormal read.  The paranormal aspect takes the form of magic, of the sorcery type – spells, curses,
light and dark magics, and an ancient Djinn and added a fun slant and sense of mystery that fitted well within the Eastern Dystopian feel of the book. The sex scenes are there but not over the top, and work with the story. The heat between Elishiba and Amshazar can be felt right from the start, even when she’s not sure she can trust him. That continues to grow throughout the book, with him reaching out to her, not just emotionally but to teach her that she also has powerful magic in her. She will need that in the very near future.
Elishiba thinks she’s going to negotiate a betrothal, bringing peace between the two regions, but unknown to her she’s caught in her future mother in laws lust for power. She’s the real control not her son, who is in love with someone forbidden and a peace-loving but weak ruler. She’s not giving that power up, so her future plans do not include Elishiba having a place in power, or a peaceful agreement between the regions. That brings the main players into real danger, where magic takes a high place in controlling them and killing others, and leads to some dangerous actions.
Its a fun read, I enjoyed the very Eastern feel with Gods being real and taking an interest in human lives. The characters worked well, and I was sad to see some die . There was a good selection of genuine and kind characters mixed in with some power hungry and malicious ones. The magic wasn’t a huge part of the story, only cropping up at certain times when the plots needed it.
Stars: Four. Its a decent read, one fairly simplistic storyline but that plays out well. I’d rather read one good plot than multiple badly done ones.
ARC supplied via Netgalley and publishers
 

[Shara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unveiling the Sorceress has a pretty simple plot with an uncommon setting in regards to fantasy. The plot: among the gods, one has decided to directly influence the course of human events by creating unrest in the exotic lands. This leads to the possibility of war, and the peaceful and wealthy Aleem, a city coveted due to its riches and location in the trading routes, must find a way to make peace with its enemy, Karseedia. To do so, the young Empress Elishiba, decides to offer herself to Karseedia's Emperor in marriage. While she doesn't want to do this, she'll do whatever it takes to defend and protect her people, and she hopes that by agreeing to such a marriage (which was her idea), she can negotiate with the Emperor and find another way to create peace between the two countries. The conflict comes in the form of the Emperor's mother, who wants power for herself and wants Aleem squashed, and the fact that Elishiba finds herself dangerously attracted to one of Hanrah's (the Emperor's) advisors, Amshazar, who clearly has an agenda of his own.[return][return]The book is just a very enjoyable read. I loved the emotional depth to the characters, particularly Elishiba, who is a very solid heroine. The is pretty tight and rolls right along, and despite the book's short length, there's no shortage on the romance, sex, and personal sacrifice the characters have to make. There's tragedy in this book, and that's an impressive punch for 219 pages. The story wraps up well, though I couldn't help but wonder if Walker might write a sequel, because the epilogue implies possible future adventures, and I'd enjoy seeing these characters again.[return][return]For the full review, which does include spoilers, please click here: http://calico-reaction.livejournal.co...

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can find more reviews Mademoisellesnow Blog

I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I thought that the plot was pretty good in the beginning and I could see it going to a really good place. But cause it was a short read I felt like the story was told to me rather than the writer letting me experience it. And it felt a little rushed in some places as a result.



The book was very religion heavy with Gods but I would have like to know about the gods a little more. And the character setting between Elishiba and Amshazar was a little weak for me. There was no real connection between then and the instant lust between them just didn’t make sense when she wanted the characters to eventually love each other. I just didn’t feel it.



For me the book was just ok, there was nothing really outstanding or that feeling of reading more from her. It was just a little plain. But still pleasant to read once.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorceress is the first book I have ever read by Author Saskia Walker. The book follows Empress Elishiba and her quest to seek peace with her enemy. Throw in Amshazar (a sorcerer and allied to the enemy)to help Elishiba. This book is definitely erotic - it had a m/m situation, masturbation, a sub/dom part, and for a second I thought there was going to be an incest situation. The book relied heavily on their beliefs in the "gods" (so much that it felt kinda religious in some instances like he was a priest not a sorcerer might be because of the way he talked *shrug*). I felt no real connection with Elishiba and Amshazar. They just had insta lust and that was that.

[Shara G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry I didn't actually read this yet but my older sister did and said it was amazing so I let her rate it. This isn't the first time I did it so if my labels or some titles have you confused then it's bacause she was using my account that day.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. It was okay. It is set in a different world with Emperor's, mages, sorceresses, and more. The story was just okay for me. Nothing really stood out and made me shout this is awesome. However, it was still and enjoyable read.

[Raquel Maia · Rating 3 out of 5]

É uma boa leitura, a história é simples mas junta dois mundos fantásticos e por vezes difíceis de trabalhar. Um óptimo livro de Saskia.
Opinião detalhada em breve!

[Rachel Clifton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get through it