Covenants by Lorna Freeman

I am a soldier, and Rabbit, the main character of Lorna Freeman's Covenants, is a joke. Freeman is just all over the place with Rabbit — he's willing to tangle with someone one minute, and the next minute he's hiding under his blankets because he's afraid? The premise of Covenants is very interesting and I enjoyed the plot, but it bugged me that Rabbit acted like a scared kid half of the time and a foul-mouthed tough guy the rest. There is no way that he could have kept that up for three years in the military without subjecting himself to heaps and heaps of ridicule.

I'm still giving Covenants 4 stars, but Lorna Freeman needs to get some input from someone who has actually been a soldier. Rabbit doesn't make sense otherwise... Read More

The King's Own by Lorna Freeman

In the first book of Borderlands (Covenant), Lorna Freeman made some serious mistakes with the main character, Rabbit, by trying to describe him as one thing and have him behave in a manner that didn't make sense.
In the second book, The King's Own, there is much better consistency with Rabbit — he acts like he should. I especially loved the way the Freeman played off of his youth and apparent inexperience when it came to dealing with the opposite sex.

The story line was interesting again and the originality of how magic and different races exist is worth thinking about. I really enjoy the interactions between the various races and the fact that they are not automatically all best friends. Too often, authors neglect the conflict that is innate when bringing new ... Read More

Shadows Past by Lorna Freeman

Rabbit, apprentice mage, erstwhile backwoods soldier, and new heir to the throne of Iversterre and adopted kin of the Elf King of the Border, now has an even more unexpected complication to his life: a marriage proposal for the daughter of a powerful and wealthy lord. When the royal court decides to go evaluate the potential princess on her home territory, they are met with some surprises: an elven castle; an enchanted forest; and disaster, dissension and distrust around every corner.

Shadows Past is the third book in Lorna Freeman’s Borderlands series which has followed Rabbit, a young man who fled from the magical Border to seek a life of normalcy in Iversterre, as he rose from his beginnings as a lowly border guard to become heir to the throne and an incredibly powerful mage. Shadows Past pi... Read More

Shadows Past by Lorna Freeman

Lorna Freeman's Borderlands series has seen its ups and downs for me. Shadows Past is cut from the same cloth; I just felt like it took a long time to tell next to no story, and then all the good parts were crammed into the end.

The main character, Rabbit, has been constantly changing throughout this series. His story is very interesting, between his upbringing in a wild and magical part of the world and his ties to the royalty of a nearby nation. His growth as a person and his maturation, however, still leave me very uncomfortable. I just don't buy into his weak demeanor when he has spent so much time as a soldier and has been through the hard experiences he has. Freeman can't seem to make up her mind between making him a tough trooper or a mooning boy-child.

Shadows Past follows Rabbit on a j... Read More