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With their magic boundaries falling and terrible monsters invading, the Marshalls of Lladrana must follow ancient tradition and summon a savior from the Exotique land...
For Alexa Fitzwalter, the Marshall's call pulled the savvy lawyer into a realm where she barely understood the language, let alone the intricacies of politics and power. Armed only with her wits, a mystical companion and the help of the chevalier Bastien, Alexa must use her very human mind and skills to fight the encroaching evil--and resist manipulation by the Marshalls to force her to stay in Lladrana.
Now torn between her affinity for this realm and Earth, will she return home if given the chance? Or dare she risk everything for a land not her own?
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Robin D. Owens has been writing longer than she cares to recall. Her fantasy/futuristic romances finally found a home at Berkley with the issuance of HeartMate in December 2001. She credits the ""telepathic cat with attitude"" in selling that book. Currently, she has three domesticated cats and one feral, who is thinking about changing his mind on being Wild in the Colorado winter (canned food might also have something to do with this). She has secretly admitted to having as many as six cats. Before purchasing her home, she shared apartments with an innumerable parade of hamsters, and has included one as a sidekick in her second Luna book, Sorceress of Faith.
She loves writing fantasy with romance or romance with fantasy, and particularly likes adding quirky characters for comic relief and leaving little threads dangling from book to book to see if readers pick up on them (usually, yes! Reader intelligence is awesome). Shesighs over the fact that good writing does not allow for parenthetical phrases or a lot of exclamation points.
Though she drinks tea, her most comfortable hangout to write (outside of her home in the evening) is in the local coffee shop, and she dreams of the time when she will be a full-time author and can learn of all the great places to write in the metro Denver area.
She is particularly proud of her web site, which includes such pages as Worlds (character interviews, cut scenes/chapters/characters, photos of places/things that have inspired her) and Free Your Artist (motivational quote, artist exercise, affirmation). Free Your Artist also has links to virtual chocolate, e-cards, divination sites and a special surprise. Her web site is updated monthly and has excerpts of all her work, including Work in Progress. Her monthly contest is for fun items that usually tie into her books (jewelry, pet carriers, runes...)
Robin loves hearing from readers, tries her best to respond to any questions and has been known to take reader advice for her work (the mole in Heart Thief...). Please email her at robin@robindowens.com
She is profoundly thankful to be recipient of the 2002 Romance Writers of America RITA Award (like the Oscar in her field) for HeartMate, the 2004 PRISM Award for Heart Thief, the 2003 Denver Area Science Fiction Association Golden Lungfish Award for Writer of the Year and the 2004 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Writer of the Year Award.
Anonymous
Posted April 2, 2006
A great start to a new series! I love stories where an ordinary person is thrust into a new world where they have to learn how to survive. What Alexa has to go thru, and the descriptions of her new world, were really detailed and interesting. One of those stay-up-all-night titles! I really liked Alexa, and can't wait to read the rest of the series. Read somewhere that there will be six titles in all, and I'm really looking forward to meeting all the Exoticas!
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Posted August 11, 2005
This fantasy is one of the best ever for so many reasons. First, the heroine, Alexa (called Aleyka by the Lladranan people who can't quite pronounce her name) is an unlikely hero who grows into an amazing heroine. She is an unwilling stranger called to this exotic land of Lladrana. Though she is considered the exotic, the land itself is, along with the people, various strange beings (like her companion Sinafin who is a shapeshifter), and monsters from my nightmares. Because Alexa doesn't belong, you have a chance to discover the world as she does, be frightened when she is and be caught up in a completely unexpected romance when she is. This story has all the elements of the best fantasies I've ever read -- a grand quest in restoring a magical boundary to keep the monsters away, fantastic beings such as the flying horses, and a completing engrossing world. If you like Terry Brooks, Ann McCaffrey, Ursula LeGuin, Marion Zimmer, or even Tolkein, you'll love this author. This is one of the best books I've ever read. I'll be looking for this author again.
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Posted March 21, 2005
This is one of those books that I had to read in one sitting! This writer never fails to amaze me at her ability to draw me into her stories. I wait on pins and needles for the next book in the series!
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Posted February 6, 2005
Guardian of Honor is a creative masterpiece of fantasy and worldbuilding. With this story, Robin D. Owens has achieved a new level in her craft. The tale is fast-paced, woven with elements of magic and romance. Every chapter is filled with new situations, new characters, new monsters, and new forms of magic as Alexa must adapt quickly from her life as a lawyer in Denver to being a powerful champion in a world where magic is an everyday part of life. Definitely a feel-good book that I will enjoy returning to and reading again and again.
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Posted December 30, 2004
Lladrana is in a desperate situation and they need help or their world could perish. But the help they seek is not for the asking, they must ¿summon¿ their warriors, their marshalls. They are bound by magic, yet within the universe where they live the magic is waning, so they cannot fight the terrible monsters waiting to invade their beautiful kingdom. The Marshalls of Lladrana are bound to follow their ancient traditions to fight in the only way they can¿summon the warrior from a distant land, one who leaves behind the desire for their own world, one who will pick up the sword. Or else Lladrana is doomed. Alexa Fitzwalter is an everyday lawyer on unmagical earth. She¿s on an errand in the mountains of Colorado that has her doubting her sanity ¿ she¿s following a song. Her life is at a point where she¿s not happy. She¿s filled with remorse over the death of her close friend, and worse, she is hearing things no one else does, such as chants and a gong. Only, this isn¿t the Gong Show. She¿s not expecting to be ¿summoned¿. To Alexa a summons is a legal paper served, telling you need to show up in court. This summons as is far from that as¿well Alexa is in for a BIG shock. Alexa¿s journey starts with the words, 'Help us. Come to us. We need you here as no one there ever will.' Unable to resist the lure, she follows the summoning, dropping into Lladrana almost Alice-through-the-rabbit¿s-hole, into a realm of monsters, of guardians losing their power, and a whole world that will depend upon her to save them. She lands - literally in this foreign realm, no by your leave, no welcome wagon, no take me to your leader. And that is just the beginning. She little understands the intricacies of this unusual land, cannot understand the language. Yet, armed with only her wits, the help of a mystical companion and the sexy chevalier Bastien, Alex must assume her new role as one of the Marshalls of Lladrana. Alexa must discover skills from within herself she had no idea existed in order to battle the encroaching menace. Then she will have to face the ultimate decision, return to her world or stay with Bastien in this new land where she is needed. Once again, Robin D. Owens gives us an alternative world, as richly defined as few futuristic/paranormal writers can deliver. In this one, instead of the Heartmates and kitty Fams of Celta, we have the first of three ordinary women, who are summoned to save Lladrana and learn they have the power within them to make a difference, to be more than they thought they could be. Owens has always impressed me with her magical ability to create a paranormal realm, people it with interesting characters that you care about and within a highly developed alternative universe. You just don¿t read about her `worlds¿, you enter them. I especially compliment Owens on her deft use of Multi-POV (Point of View) that permits the readers the fullest enjoyment of knowing all the characters and their emotions. It¿s the difference between a paint-by-numbers landscape and the sheer brilliance of a Turner watercolor. In a time when the market is screaming for new directions within the Romance Genre, looking for stories with more substance, this is just what you need. Futuristic/Fantasy with heart, soul and endless adventure. On occasion, I see comments on this style of book as not an ¿easy¿ read. Maybe. It depends upon the commitment of the reader. Frankly, I think it¿s so much more ¿ it a worthwhile read, that delivers on all levels that take you away to a magic world where all things are possible, even within yourself. `Guardian¿ is the first of three ¿Summoning Books¿. Based on this tale, I eagerly await the next two.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.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 to 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
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Overview
With their magic boundaries falling and terrible monsters invading, the Marshalls of Lladrana must follow ancient tradition and summon a savior from the Exotique land...
For Alexa Fitzwalter, the Marshall's call pulled the savvy lawyer into a realm where she barely understood the language, let alone the intricacies of politics and power. Armed only with her wits, a mystical companion and the help of the chevalier Bastien, Alexa must use her very human mind and skills to fight ...