The Golden Dynasty (Fantasyland Series Book 2)

Product Information

The Golden Dynasty by Kristen Ashley is the story of Circe, a modern woman from Seattle, who wakes up in a parallel universe. She is upon waking subjected to a so called wife hunt, rape and forced into marriage. The story continues of the main characters' struggle to overcome their many differences and Circe’s struggle to accept this new world of the Korwahk and her new warrior husband Lahn. Out there, King Lahn is a fierce warrior but in here, my Lahn... kah Lahn is sweet.”
Circe was a fantastic heroine! She was also strong and tough, but so funny, feisty and quirky. She was soft, but she also had what it took to be a Queen. I loved how possessive she got over Lahn. I could not dream a better you."[...]“A better wife, a better queen. Not even in a dream could I create better than you.” he [Zahnin] kept using her [Sabine] body for the last three weeks as any warrior would feel his due from his wife. […] And he didn’t understand it but he’d been forcing her to live a nightmare for three weeks. Circe kisses her father and goes to bed, in their home in Seattle and when she opens her eyes, she is in a paralel world, an alternate reality that is entirely foreign to her… She is in a pen with many other women, some terrified, some excited, surrounded by Korwahk warriors, waiting for “the Wife Hunt” she is forced to participate in. She is to be chosen, hunted down, “claimed”, paraded and taken as wife by a Korwahk warrior, as is tradition. Needless to say, she is scared shitless…

I am your husband, I will keep you safe and I will do it by keeping my feet on this earth, breathing the air and being there to make you feel safe. Do you understand this?” I am your husband. I will keep you safe and I will do it by keeping my feet on this earth, breathing the air and being there to make you safe. Do you understand this?”

Basically, Circe is a normal kinda gal from Seattle who wakes up one day in another world which is very much like our world but from hundreds of years ago and maybe with some other oddities like talking tigers and magic. She finds herself as part of a 'wife hunt' whereby King Lahn sets his sights upon her and battles for her to be his queen. Seerim, a warrior of The Horde, his wife Diandra. She teaches Circe the new world she has ended up in. Their daughter, Sheena (12).

As I note below, you have to suspend belief. Not just because this is fantasyland, but emotional belief. A modern woman with modern sensibilities, morals, and who's loved and pampered by a very good man (her father), is thrust into a strange world with big dark warriors who hunt brides, then consummate the deal with a raping... well, you'd think there'd be some emotional trauma involved. This is my vow to you… I am your husband, I will keep you safe and I will do it by keeping my feet on this earth, breathing the air and being there to make you safe. Do you understand this?” I am guessing - and really hoping - that the author's only intention with this book, was to send the message that love conquers all differences. But dammit, don’t do it like this! Now, this is something which under normal circumstances would turn me way the hell off a book. But I had a lot of faith in KA’s story-telling ability and so I spent some time prior to reading it trying to understand or come to terms with it.Somehow, the unbelievable happens. Circe has caught the eye of the mighty warrior King Lahn. He is known to watch the hunts and not participate. Yet Circe has caught his eye and he jumps into the hunt to claim her as his! It helped though, that Lahn just melted my heart. He was just the biggest brute and definitely the kind of guy that nobody messes with and yet, when it came to her, he showed another side where he actually was just the biggest loveable softie <3 And its impossible not to see just how MUCH he cares!!