Love's Tender Warriors

Drew Clark hides a dark past behind her warrior's exterior. The ex-Marine joins the dojang of an old friend. There she meets Sean Gray who is able to get beneath the warrior's armor. Whether you read Radclyffe's series books or you read one of her stand-alone romances, you can not go wrong. I have been reading lesbian fiction for many years, and can honestly say that I have never come across a writer that has so affected me. Her characters are strong, intelligent, and romantic. Naysayers will say that Radclyffe's characters are too perfect almost never flawed - either in looks or character. That may be true, but aren't you tired of the genre's penchant for ordinary? Radclyffe's characters are always enchanting, intoxicating, enticing, and intense. The stories, particularly in the series books, are all first class. Most of her series books are page-turners. And in two of the books, I actually turned to the last page to make sure that the main characters survived - something I never do. Radclyffe let us believe, at least for the duration of each of her books, that the grand passion, the true love, the happy-ever-after are all possible. She lets us believe that being a strong, intelligent woman does not mean that we will be alone and/or isolated. The only caveat I have is to read the series books in order. And if you enjoy watching a writer grow, then read the non-series books in the order they were written and watch Radclyffe's talent grow before your very eyes.

Not only do you get well developed characters, even with some darkness shown, but you get an excellent plot that will keep you turning the pages to the end. Solid 5 star story, by an excellent writer. You can't go wrong by buying this book.

I have read a lot of the lesbian romance novels, but found this to one of my favorite!! A great plot, realistic characters and not too sappy. I love this author's style of writing. I am looking forward to reading another novel by Radclyffe.

LOVE'S TENDER WARRIORS marks a stylistic departure from Radclyffe's most recent works of lesbian fiction (ABOVE ALL, HONOR and HONOR BOUND, about the relationship between the president's daughter and the Secret Service agent bound to protect her, and SHIELD OF JUSTICE, about a police detective and a psychiatrist whose lives become entangled). In these novels (which I wholeheartedly recommend), Radclyffe deftly weaves the strands of action and romance; but the reader never skips the plot to get to the "good stuff," because the plots are always character driven, and romance -- and sex -- suffuse every single scene. LTW is different: set against the backdrop of a Philadelphia dojang where the two central characters train in the martial arts, the novel is a meditation on the different ways human beings, battered and bruised by life, attempt to shield their hearts and minds and souls from future injury.The result is a quartet of character sketches: Sean Gray -- the psychologist who absorbs the pain from those around her and who helps others heal, and who believes herself incapable of passionate emotional response; her identical twin sister, Susan -- who is terrified by the intensity of the emotions she feels, who is too wary to trust, expecting all relationships to fail; Drew Clark -- martial arts master and Marine, haunted by nightmares of her past that she believes must make her present need unattainable; and Ellen Tyler -- who, having waited fruitlessly for her lover's trust, lives in terror that the full-time life she so yearns for may be beyond her grasp.Set against the year of Sean's training and preparation for her black-belt test, LOVE'S TENDER WARRIORS explores the many ways people cope with pain as well as the eternal and most essential power of love to heal those deep wounds we hide from the world. Like all of Radclyffe's stories, this one is beautifully written, erotically charged, and hot, hot hot: you'll cry, and you'll soar.