The Lost Valor of Love: A beautifully written epic of forbidden love

Written by E A Carter

Narrated by Ana Clements

Growing up during the centuries-long conflict between the empires of Egypt and Hatti, the young princess Istara is taken hostage by the King of Hatti to secure the loyalty of her father, the King of Kadesh to the empire. Soon her new life in Hatti's glittering capital becomes all she knows. Bound in blood before the gods to Hatti's unwilling crown prince, Istara, now Hatti's queen-in-waiting, learns she will never be loved.

But the drums of war beat again, and when the scheming plans of Hatti's king threaten the existence of all civilization, the gods give Istara a choice: to leave behind everything she knows to save mankind, or remain where she is, powerless, a token on the game board of kings. On the brink of one of the most brutal battles in history, she chooses to risk her life to deliver a message to the only man able to prevent the prophecy from becoming a reality - her mortal enemy, the Pharaoh Ramesses II.

Wounded, cold and hungry, she wanders in the battle's horrific aftermath, and aids a powerful commander, who she learns protected her once, and has been bound to her ever since by a prophetic dream of his future. Despite his resistance, and Istara once more becoming a pawn of kings, they must confront an eternal love so powerful, not even kings, the gods, or death can keep them apart.

The Lost Valor of Love is the first book of the Transcendence series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arundel House Press
• Release date: May 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781987167726

Reviews for The Lost Valor of Love

[Bea Swanson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not sure why there are bad reviews for this book. Its won a bunch of awards and I can see why. It's engrossing and very well done. I really enjoyed it. I was sorry when it was over.

[Patricia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining listen, narrator does a good job.

Things you should know:
Some of the main characters could have used more character development.
The Marissa and Amun (sp) characters seem superfluous with story arcs that go nowhere. Their inclusion doesn’t enhance the story, and at times makes it difficult to follow. Neither is their story very compelling. Marissa is an idiot and I found myself wishing she would just go away.
*Trigger Warning* There’s a pretty graphic rape scene early in the story that might disturb some readers.

[Elizabeth Legge · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The story has potential and the writer, or those she employs, is capable of better, but the story itself is absolutely disgustingly portrayed and a complete turnoff. There is much graphic and twisted violence and, as mentioned by another reviewer, an explicit and extreme rape scene, among other elements. These features are completely unnecessary and greatly detract from the overall story. Either the writer is trying too hard to be a crowd pleaser for a certain limited type of crowd, or she has major problems of her own, or both.

Unappreciated as well the author's immature attempt to manipulate the reader by incorporating "beautifully written" into her title. This makes her seem desperate, for obvious reasons.

She also needs to improve her grammar. But that's secondary to the other problems.

Not recommended at all. There are numerous alternative and much better options.