Review - The Sorcerer's Guardian by Antonia Aquilante

Savarin is Tournai’s most powerful sorcerer, and he knows it. He has always been fascinated by the spells protecting the kingdom, but on a recent trip to the border, he’s discovered weak spots in the magical barrier. Savarin reports his concerns to the Prince and proposes a visit to another section of the border to check for additional weak spots as well as try to understand how the spells were constructed in the first place so he can fix them. Prince Phillip agrees but insists that Loriot accompany Savarin to guard him against the bandits known to be plaguing the border. Captain of the Palace Guards Loriot has better things to do than babysit a sorcerer who can probably take care of himself, but there’s no arguing with the Prince.

Having paired up most of the royal family, the Chronicles of Tournai series continues with a couple of characters that have appeared in most of the first three books: Captain of the Palace Guards Loriot and master sorcerer Savarin. You could read this as a standalone book, but you’d be missing some background on the royal family and the relationships of the characters in this story.

Both Savarin and Loriot have appeared in most, if not all, of the books of the series, but we never really got to know them except as men very dedicated to their work for the royal family. Loriot, in particular, appears in all the books as the person dealing with the attacks on the royal family. It turns out he has an interesting private life that includes a young son.

Savarin has always been described as a formidable personality. That still comes through in this book, but we learn much about his background that makes us understand his drive. The initial turning point between the two headstrong men is a bit cliché, but it works well, and things don’t go smoothly after that. The relationship has some very natural ups and downs before they get to the inevitable happily-ever-after.

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“The Sorcerer's Guardian” is available from Amazon (commissionable link).