Rating: 
Summary: Different Twist On A Highland Romance
Review: Ariella MacKendrick needs a warrior who is able to protect her clan(her clan is well trained in art and crafts but not warfare) and teach them to fight. So she goes in search for the famous Black Wolf, Malcolm MacFane, who is said to be unbeatable in battle. When she finds the Black Wolf, she is dismayed to find a drunken shell of the famous warrior. Although disappointed, she decides he still can help train her people in fighting and defense.This a great story of a broken hero mending himself with some help from the heroine. This is not your typical mighty warrior romance story. Malcolm is damaged both physically and emotionally. He suffered a crippling injury on the battlefield that has caused him continous back and leg pain. He also made a mistake years ago that caused him to be cast out by his clan. So he has been living in seclusion drinking away his physical and emotional pain. Ariella offers enough money for him to train her people and as he starts to succeed in making warriors out of a bunch of artists and craftsmen, he starts to get some of his sense of self worth back. Ariella is a little frustrating at first. She is very strong and resourceful, but she is not a good judge of character. She thinks her future husband should be a mighty warrior strong and brave and Malcolm does not fit her version of her perfect warrior. But what makes this story good is that hero and heroine have very human faults. Malcolm starts to mend both physically and emotionally, and Ariella realizes that strength comes from the inside of a person. All in all, a very well written and original story.
Rating: 
Summary: Shattered Hero, I'll Take Him!
Review: Excellent story of a broken man and fate. A story that makes a point that the inner person is what counts more than what you see. Great story of the rebuilding of belief in your self. Malcolm was so real, not phony in his dealings with Ariella, etc. I fell in love with him. Story has great passion and desire. Also, Ariella's inner warrior spirit - fantastic. I think this story would make a great drama - comedy movie. The training of Ariella's people was hilarious! I did get worried if these two were ever going to have sexual intimacy. At about 3/4 way through the book, I just had to read ahead to see if and when it happened, and if after the build up, was the author going to give skimpy coverage to this event or the attention it deserved. Well, it was quite a love scene, full of passion, feelings, bonding, and all that both deserved especially Malcolm. He certainly knew how! One negative about the story was that I found it hard to believe that Malcolm didn't catch on sooner that Rob was Ariella. This was my first reading of a book by Karyn Monk. I was impressed. I will soon read another to see if she is as good as this one says she is.
Rating: 
Summary: A Major Dissapointment
Review: I have read every single book by Karyn Monk and I have loved all of them except this one. I didn't even finish the book it was so bad. The heroine was annoying and condescending towards the hero and the hero eas just a washed-up has been. The characters just did not work for me. What happened to the magic she so aptly displayed in all of her other books? Well I guess every author writes at least one unsatisfactory book or two.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, gripping, believable romance story.
Review: I have read other books by Karyn Monk and this one continues to prove her gift as a writer. With her unique characters, dramatic climaxes and quick wit, her stories are difficult to put down. I find myself lost in her stories, completely entralled with her breath-taking stories. Once A Warrior is an excellent historical romance, with lovable characters and an emotional plot. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates the beauty in romance novels.
Rating: 
Summary: This had potential...but didnt live up to it.....
Review: I liked this book, but was expecting better. For one thing, I found it irritating that Ariella's identity was kept from Malcolm for so long...not until after over 100 pages did he find her out...also, while I really admired Malcolm for overcoming his hardships, I found Ariella to be rather bratty.
The writing was peppered with humor that I found charming, but the characters lacked that spark that I love to watch burn between 2 people with undeniable chemistry. I wouldn't dissuade one from reading this, but I wouldnt recommend it either.
Rating:
Summary: Karyn Monk should be a super star: she's writes great books
Review: I never read books with trashy, bodice-ripping covers, but I happened across Karyn Monk's previous novel, "The Rebel and the Redcoat", while stranded in an airport, and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only can she contruct a breathless, gripping plot, and create rounded complex characters, but also her grasp of historical details is more profound than that of many historians. Being an historian myself, I would recommend her novels above many textbooks. The new novel,however -- which I bought expecting to disappointed -- is not just better than the previous one, it is infinitely better, and it deserves to be issued in a more dignified hardback edition -- because it belongs alongside the very best historical fiction ever written. This is a major writer. Set in medieval Scotland, "Once A Warrior" paints the most vividly accurate picture of a wild and turbulent place and time, peopling it with characters so utterly believable they live on in ones heart and mind long after the novel ends, and threading everything together with what must be one of the Great love stories in every sense: intricately constructed, heartbreakingly beautiful, enormously touching, yet also aflame with passionate eroticism, and -- very rare in this genre -- real, knee-slapping humor. Many times I laughed out loud; many times too I was also moved to tears by Ms Monk's deep, compassionate understanding of the human soul. I thoroughly endorse this novel, because I cannot imagine anyone who reads not finding it among the best books they've ever had the privilege and good fortune of coming across. If there were more such writers -- ones who entertain as much as they instruct, who inspire as often as they entrall -- no one would watch television. I thank Ms Monk from the bottom of my heart for this rare masterpiece of -- yes -- literaure. In my books she ranks alongside Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Victor Hugo and George Eliot -- and still has something to teach these past masters about the mysteries of the heart and the exigencies of thorough research.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best romance books I've ever read!
Review: I went to bed late and said to myself "just one chapter." Well, I finished the book at 2:30 that morning and couldn't sleep. I really liked her style, pacing, and well-defined characters. It was a great story with lyrically descriptive prose. Like a previous reader, I hope Gavin and Elizabeth have a story - or maybe young Catherine.
Rating:
Summary: Tormented hero with a lover's touch...
Review: I'm a sucker for the "tormented/scarred" hero in romance novels, and I discovered this one -- and the great work of Karyn Monk --through reading the reviews posted here on Amazon. Just wanted to add my five stars for this interesting, innovative historical romance. Instead of the usual "Braveheart" type warrior dashing across the moors that we've come to see in so many romances, here we have Malcolm MacFane who has suffered terrible injury in battle and seemingly has disgraced himself before his clan. We have a heroine, Ariella MacKendrick, forced to disguise herself as a man and to attempt to find a chieftain to lead her hapless clan. There is everything from humor to heartbreak in this book -- and the development of the relationship between Malcolm and Ariella is wonderful. Love scenes come later, but are wonderful!
Even a little bit of "Arthurian legend" type elements come in with the powers bestowed by the MacKendrick sword. I've read other of Monks' work and know she is one of the most interesting authors out there. "Once a Warrior" won't disappoint you!
Rating:
Summary: Bravo the reluctant hero
Review: Malcolm MacFane has deteriorated from the mighty Black Wolf of legend into a broken man, steeped in alcohol to numb the pain of his broken body. Ariella MacKendrick needs a hero to save her peace-loving people from attack by a greedy outcast. She is sent to call upon the Black Wolf for protection and is disappointed to discover the man he has become. This tale of pain and withdrawal and redemption was brilliantly woven. It was the second of Karyn Monk's books that I've read and I'm sure to read the rest of them. She knows how to weave a marvelous tale incorporating characteristics that bring the hero and heroine off the page. One point of her writing that I do find a bit off is her tendency to throw her hero and heroine into bed based solely on lust. It seemed a bit out of character for the model of virtue that Ariella is portrayed to be, contemplating marriage to someone else, to invite Malcolm into her bed for one stolen moment of passion. I preferred THE WITCH AND THE WARRIOR, but I found this one to also be entertaining and would recommend it without hesitation.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo the reluctant hero
Review: Malcolm MacFane has deteriorated from the mighty Black Wolf of legend into a broken man, steeped in alcohol to numb the pain of his broken body. Ariella MacKendrick needs a hero to save her peace-loving people from attack by a greedy outcast. She is sent to call upon the Black Wolf for protection and is disappointed to discover the man he has become. This tale of pain and withdrawal and redemption was brilliantly woven. It was the second of Karyn Monk's books that I've read and I'm sure to read the rest of them. She knows how to weave a marvelous tale incorporating characteristics that bring the hero and heroine off the page. One point of her writing that I do find a bit off is her tendency to throw her hero and heroine into bed based solely on lust. It seemed a bit out of character for the model of virtue that Ariella is portrayed to be, contemplating marriage to someone else, to invite Malcolm into her bed for one stolen moment of passion. I preferred THE WITCH AND THE WARRIOR, but I found this one to also be entertaining and would recommend it without hesitation.
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