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Book Description:
For some, existence without their mate might seem like the end of their world…
…for the members of Verdantia’s Tetriarch, it would be.
Conte Camliel Aristos deTano, Ari, has long spurned the marriage forced upon him. His contractual bride, Princess Fleur Constante, the beautiful future queen though young and inexperienced, is willing to risk everything, including her own sanity, to save her planet.
The inhabitants of the sentient planet, Verdantia, are poised on the precipice of extinction following a brutal invasion by an off-world, nomadic horde. Verdantia’s capital, Sylvan Mintoth, must have its failing energy shield restored, or the planet is doomed. The Elders know the shield can draw energy from only one thing””a very arduous and grueling coupling of two specific people who were pre-chosen by the planet Herself and promised by prearranged marriage contract.
Verdantia draws strength from the duo, but the sentient planet whispers to Ari that a third is necessary ~ Ari’s aide de camp, Visconte Doral deLorion, an angelically handsome, skilled assassin who silently surrendered his heart to Ari long ago.
The trio struggles to make this surprising partnership harmonious, pushing through pride, scars of past abuse, fears of inexperience and distrust. To save Verdantia, they must overcome their individual weaknesses and realize their full potential. Only the tetriarch and their combined synergy, can harness Verdantia’s immense power to shield its citizens from invasion.
| 5.0 out of 5 stars Great menage romance! Loved it! 😀, June 4, 2013
This review is from: Hers To Command (Verdantia) (Kindle Edition)
**This was an ARC copy given by the author for a honest review** In all honesty, this book was great! Fleur, Ari and Doral are a awesome trio! I loved this story and have added it to my faves list. I started this book unsure what to expect but with an open mind and was surprised at just how quickly the story and characters sucked me in. I’m so glad I didn’t have plans today and could read this straight through because I don’t think I could have stopped reading. This is my first experience with this author but I plan to read more. The story is very well written and the characters are very engaging. I hope the next book in the series comes out soon because I can’t wait to buy it! Fleur is the Princess of a planet that’s been invaded. She’s in a tough position but she doesn’t balk from her responsibilities and duties (even ones that put her at risk). As things start out she’s rather out of her depth and inexperienced but she learns quick and has an inner strength. She has a few “moments” (don’t we all) but she didn’t come across as weak or weepy. I really liked Fleur, more and more as the story went on. Ari was forced when he was a very young man (15 years before) to sign a contact to marry Fleur. She was very young (5 or 6 yo I think) and he left the planet before she came of age to escape the contact. Ari came back to the planet after the invasion to help with the fight. Ari’s a good and honorable man and couldn’t stay away when there was such need. Ari gets summoned to the Capital to perform a “Great Rite” with Fleur. He’s not thrilled because he’s still unwilling to be pushed in to a marriage he doesn’t want. However, the planet is down to one defensively shielded area around the Capital city and that shield is almost dead. Ari and Fleur have to perform the rite or all is lost. He goes and helps Fleur perform the rite but finds himself attracted to her and starts considering going through with the marriage contract. As things begin between Ari and Fleur and it’s interesting to see them spar with each other. The attraction is strong between them so things do progress and it was sweet to see their emotions for each other grow. Just when they’ve decided to proceed with the wedding they find out that they are 2 of the 3 needed for a tetriarch (a very powerful trio that could save the planet if they can make it work). The 3rd ends up being Doral, Ari’s second in command. Doral works for Ari and has loved him secretly for a while. He has a tortured past where he was forced to endure horrible things and made in to a killer (a spy/assassin). Doral suffers greatly with what he feels he’s become (a monster). When he finds out he’s supposed to be part of the tetriarch he is willing but nervous. When he meets Fleur he’s attracted to her but is afraid to hurt her. He is so worried of doing something wrong and doesn’t want to overstep his bounds. Doral is like a gentle giant…he was made in to a killer and that’s how most people see him but in all actuality he’s sweet and sensitive. Now it’s just buried under his past and only peaks out. I loved Doral…I think he is my favorite of the three (although Fleur is pretty awesome too…and Ari is great…). Ari, Fleur and Doral learn to be together and bond while trying to secure the planet’s defenses. I really liked seeing how they act towards each other once they started settling in together. They’re became very much a trio of equals. Fleur doesn’t get all the power because she’s royalty. Ari isn’t the top male leaving Doral as the lower rank male (even though according to technical rank Ari is higher). They all order each other around or get on each other’s cases depending on what’s going on and the situation which I just loved. I think it’s one of the more even (in power) menage relationships I’ve seen. And while the issue of getting their relationship working and building the planet’s defenses back up is keeping things hopping, there’s still more going on with the invasion and the people working against them (even from supposed allies). There’s a good amount of intrigue that kept things interesting and I was pretty impressed that the author kept things going without making things confusing or hard to follow. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say that I’m very happy with the way things worked out. It was a great ending and I was so happy for Fleur, Ari and Doral (I was totally rooting for them). It was an awesome story that left me with an excitedly happy vibe at the end. This is totally worth buying and I’m already planning to buy the next in the series when it’s out. I’d highly recommend this story. 2 thumbs way up! 😀 4.0 out of 5 stars An Erotic Sci Fi/Fantasy Must Read, June 3, 2013
This review is from: Hers To Command (Verdantia) (Kindle Edition)
Rating: 4 1/2 stars I received this book for review from the author. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The Prologue gives the reader some of the background of the planet called Verdantia so make sure that you don’t skip it. After all, this is the start of the series and when you get to book two, Hers to Choose, coming out in July you want to have some knowledge of the Verdantians. Ari, Fleur, and Doral have an interesting way to heal their planet. Too bad it wouldn’t work with ours. But you never know – maybe we’re not listening hard enough. If you like your stories with a science fiction/fantasy twist, you might want to give Patricia’s series a try. It also has touches of BDSM, M/M, M/F, and M/F/M. So if you also like erotic stories you’ll want to give this series a try. Sex can be very nice or it can be highly physical – it depends on what you’re comfortable with. This is not a story that you want to rush. It is a short story but take your time in reading about Verdantia and its inhabitants. It’s a world that does not exist and you don’t want to miss anything – especially the struggles that go on. So if you are one of those people that speed reads, slow it down some and enjoy the love that Ari, Doral, and Fleur create. 5.0 out of 5 stars Verdantia is an erotic delight. What a planet!, June 3, 2013
By KaylaS
This review is from: Hers To Command (Verdantia) (Kindle Edition)
Patricia Knight seamlessly weaves a whole new world, society, and culture through tantalizing, steamy scenes that make a woman yearn to experience a man (or two) with the endurance her heroes repeatedly demonstrate to the point of torture. She puts Fleur through ecstatic heaven, and a little bit of hell judging from Fleur’s demand for some serious payback on at least one occasion. The beauty of this novel is that the Verdantian’s salvation depends on this trio spending a lot of intimate time together. This book has two strong-minded, well-endowed, and dangerous heroes, one relatively inexperienced but charming princess, and a well-crafted plot that lifts this book from the normal fare of erotica into a sci-fi fantastical feast for the senses. Received advance review copy free in exchange for an honest review. 5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-Paced Erotic Journey, June 3, 2013
This review is from: Hers To Command (Verdantia) (Kindle Edition)
I read this book very quickly, as the pacing is wonderful. It’s a fun ride with three main characters, all of whom are strong and have a clear cut purpose. At first, I thought it was about saving a planet, Verdantia. But, it becomes much more. It is as much the characters’ journeys as the story of protecting a race and culture. The author did not use miscommunication as the tension between the characters. (Thank you!) Rather, the characters upped the ante for each other through love, understanding and lots of sex and lovemaking. It is erotica, after all! The female lead is refreshingly strong – from the beginning. And, the twists and turns they must take are interesting and fun. Highly recommended book! 5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I could ever want in a SciFi Erotica Romance, June 3, 2013
This review is from: Hers To Command (Verdantia) (Kindle Edition)
**I received an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) in order to review and provide honest feedback ** I will be perfectly honest. It takes a great deal for a work of Erotica to earn 5 stars and impress me while doing it. While I do enjoy a well written intimacy scene in a book, I am not really interested in sex for sex’s sake, which is the hallmark failure of most erotica books in any genre. If there is copious amounts of sex going on, I want there to be a very good and believable reason for it. Not only did Hers To Command deliver on that, Knight surrounded the very heated intimacy scenes with substance. The prologue of the book begins with a historical account of the colonization, uniqueness and history of the planet Verdantia. While I am not a fan of “world building” prologues (which in most cases is just a lazy-author excuse for spewing forth an info-dump in order to avoid having to work it into the actual story), I reserved judgement and continued reading, not really expecting much if the prologue was any indication. Typically, stories with a prologue like that will fail at doing any kind of enjoyable or significant world building within the rest of the book, resulting in an automatic three stars on my score-card. I know this can be seen as a bit harsh, but my background is Space Opera, folks, where world-building is queen, second only to an epic story. Imagine my chagrined surprise when Knight proceeded to hand me a well-formed world-building hat, lathered in rich story-dripping ketchup, and asked me to eat it. And eat it, I did. Verdantia and its cast of characters are presented as living, breathing three-dimensional props that support not only the reason for the very heated intimacy, but also a story and world that has a long standing history, a complex present and an uncertain future. There is a war raging on Verdantia, and because of its unique physical properties which renders technological devices useless, the war is a brutal campaign of swords, horses, and all the medieval trappings of a fantasy novel. This is supplemented in the science-fiction sense by the science of the planet’s electromagnetic properties, which the commoners call magick, and the participation in the war by the League of Federated Planets. There is an interplanetary war between the Haarb, Verdantia and the LFP who is backing Verdantia in a support role. So, although the book does have a strong Fantasy vibe at times, it is a work of Science Fiction. So, world-building: Check. Science Fiction with a unique twist: Check. Characters…. Check, Check, Check. Three checks for three very well crafted characters, who are also supported by a full cast of memorable people. Even the smallest role is given enough life for me to remember them twenty pages later. I won’t spend much more time on the characters, as I expect many of the other reviews to focus on the three protagonists, but I will state that Ari is a strong, captivating man with presence and a reluctant heart. Fleur is just as strong, with a quick enjoyable wit but who still retains a hint of graceful naivete, and Doral is the aloof, cool, grounding force with a troubled past that completes the Tetriarch. There are two lead villains – one a corrupted government official who loves money almost as much as he loves himself, and Krakoll who is the leader of the Haarb brute forces who are trying to conquer Verdantia for its wealth of an aphrodisiac spice called cinnagrin. They have almost equal appearances in the book, and I am hoping to see more of Krakoll in book 2, as he was the more viciously interesting of the two. I think my only true gripe with this book falls back to the prologue. I don’t think it was necessary, I think it will, however, lead to the confusion and possible deterrent to readers with less science-fictional interest. I think some of the points in the prologue should be woven into the story (though many are) and it should be removed. Overall, very impressed and I am looking forward to book 2, Hers To Choose, due out in July. |
You’re awesome Thomas! Thanks again for a very cool blog post!
Much appreciated.
My pleasure, T 🙂
Thanks, Thomas! What a gentleman. Lovely post.
My pleasure, Patricia…got get’m 🙂