I’m not usually one for mythology retellings but the omegaverse aspect piqued my interest. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was apprehensive about the war elements of the plot but it wasn’t a huge focus, i felt that there was enough detail to demonstrate the culture and environment of the setting, but without the pages long repetitive descriptions of battles. The enemies to lovers plot wasn’t rushed which I enjoyed and the bonds between the characters felt natural and well paced. Jocelyn Montana did a great job of writing Lodans plan to for Kassandra without it coming across as crude and balances intense power dynamics with slow-burn seduction, making every interaction between Lodan and Kassandra a charged mix of defiance and desire. Their initial prejudices of each other gave way to a slow and twisty love story with some very steamy moments.

I received an advance review copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.5⭐️ entertaining enough, but just missed the mark to truly being a favorite read for me.

Going into this I actually wasn’t aware that there was a Greek mythology inspired story line. I loved that about this book since I’ve always enjoyed learning about Greek mythology. Combine that with the AO universe and I was excited to read this.

Loden captures Kassandra and they start out as enemies. They learn more about each other and eventually grow to appreciate and care for each other. The enemies to lovers trope is alive and well and that’s all good and fine but then a betrayal occurs and the groveling hardly happens?!? So disappointed, I feel like that would have been a great opportunity to really show their relationship progressing. Another mark down for me was the occasional sprinkle of modern terminology where it doesn’t belong. Some examples include “oh gee” and “nope”…. I couldn’t get past that and it threw me off while reading.

This was a quick and easy read for me in between some heavier books so I appreciated the palette cleanser.

This book was so much better than I was expecting. Wartime stories are not really my thing but I love greek mythology, so I figured I'd give it a try. There are no chapters-long descriptions of battles or discussion of war strategy; war just happens to be the setting.

This was such a slow burn romance when it came to accepting that the MCs were bondmates, but I loved every second. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, so i was thrilled that they actually stayed enemies for more than 2 chapters before giving in. The spicy was spicy, but not so over the top that it distracts from the story.

This is the first book I've read in a while that doesn't rely on female friendships to drive the FMC's development, but I did love Cian. The GBF can sometimes come across as a caricature, but Cian had depth and was an interesting character because of his personality, not because of his sexual orientation. I wasn't a fan of the Kassandra versus Briseis conflict because it felt forced and unnecessary. Once their conflict comes to a head, Briseis is not mentioned again for the rest of the story which was weird.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Jocelyn Montana for the free ARC.

Big thanks to Jocelyn Montana and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a review.

Kassandra is a Princess, sent away to live in a convent, until Lodan comes for her. He has plans. But she will do everything in her power to prevent that from happening. She is more independent than he expects, and together they create a bond neither expected.

This is your typical enemies to lovers, mate, family secrets. It's well written, throwing you into their camp with ease. It's extra steamy.

5 stars

The Warlord by Jocelyn Montana was an interesting read. If you love Greek mythology or love the Iliad than this book is for you. However, if you are not familiar with Greek lore than you'll have a hard time connecting to the characters. I do love the incorporation of second genders (alpha, omega, beta) which made me want to read the book even more. Once again, if you're not familiar with how the second gender can influence the characters personalities you'll have a hard time becoming invested in this story.

Thank you so much for the chance to eARC The Warlord. This was such an enjoyable quick read. I am such a fan of historical based romantasy types of books and this one was no exception.

I appreciated the mix of ABO dynamics with an almost star crossed lovers and slow burn feel. I really enjoyed getting to enjoy this slow process of lust turning to love and for how few pages this book is, it did truly draw out the smut so as I reader, I was begging for it before Kassandra was.

I feel the two mains, Kassandra and Lodan, had this interesting dynamic of ignorance about each other. They were heavily products of their history and it was an added layer to get to watch those walls come down. I love the princess x warrior dynamic and throwing enemies to lovers on top does add an air of deliciousness, especially with the two of them. Watching the two of them have to slowly learn about each other and gain trust made their relationship feel more real than it would have with instant love.

I also really liked how, to me, it seemed Kassandra fell first. She seemed to be the one who bent and understood they were more similar than she had imagined. So commonly in ABO, and in reality romantasy style books, we all love he falls first. Kassandra falling first was the right choice for this, though.

This book is filled with fun tropes and I wanted to take the time to list a few of them:
-enemies to lovers
-star crossed lovers
-forbidden love
- forced proximity
- ABO dynamics
- Gay best friend (done right)
- Found/chosen family.
None of these tropes felt forced. They were so natural to the story and all felt like a force driving the plot forward.

The plot felt very character driven for me and the book was fast paced for me.

My only gripe in this would be I wish Kassandra's fits were further explored. I think she was so special and I would have loved to see more of who she truly was with the twist we get.

Review will be published on Goodreads 3/3.

The Warlord is the first omegaverse novel I’ve read. It was easy to follow along, despite only knowing the basics of the omegaverse. It’s inspired by Greek mythology which you can see in some names, but it’s not a retelling. Likeable characters, interesting plot that had depth, no instalove, war scenes weren’t too drawn out. I enjoyed the balance of plot and smut. I think it’s hard to pull off a kidnapping where the prisoner is forced to have the Warlord’s kid without coming across as rape-y. I think this book handled it well. This is an easy read for anyone looking for an introduction into the omegaverse.

FINALLY LOVED AN ARC!

This was my first book by this author and it was *chef kiss*. He is big scary warlord, she is a pampered princess prisoner. We get right to the point of the book in the first chapter! And every single chapter is about the couple and their interaction which i love!!

The beings in this books are called alpha, omega and betas but there's also different blood lines. I thought this was a shifter book but besides there being some natural dominance/submission and pheromones type thing that's the only difference between them just being human.

I really enjoyed everyone in this book and I thought the interactions were great! And the spice 🤤
I'm now going to devour the rest of her books!
#bookstagram #runereading

I enjoyed this read, the first for me by this author. I liked the adventure, angst, and there was plenty of spice too. I will watch for more works from this author.

I really enjoyed this OV romance! I'm a big fan of OV stories where there is a plot, and I felt as though this book did a great job at incorporating a historical vibe and plotline into the romance. The characters were easy to get to know and I was rooting for them and their relationship the entire time (of course!). The FMC is soft, without being overly frail and delicate, but is also fiery when she needs to be. The MMC, though he's definitely a typical alpha-hole at the beginning, quickly grows on you as he goes through character development and falls in love with the FMC. I appreciated his respect for the FMC and loved watching him fall for her.

While there are aspects of this book that aren't even close to being realistic (like the FMC instantly falling in lust with the MMC), the fact that this is OV allows for those parts to fit in with the story and not feel way too unrealistic. I honestly would've loved to learn more about the OV aspects of this world and be given more details about how society responds to the different designations.

The side characters were great too, and I love the casual acceptance and mentions of the M/M relationships. I'd love to continue reading this series and to see what other character's stories are dived deeper into. The world definitely had a historical setting, and while not being 100% accurate by any means, I feel that the setting provided a great vibe that was enjoyable to read about.