"An exciting story that shares the beauty of love and sacrifice"
Reviewed by Shellie Surles
Posted March 2, 2014
Romance Paranormal
Some people are willing to sacrifice everything for love.
Torr has spent seven moths pining away for Grace. She is
the woman of his dreams, kindness, beauty, and the
willingness to give everything to help those she loves. She
saved his life and almost died in the process. Grace was
taken from Torr in order to save her and he hasn't
recovered from the loss. Now after being pulled into a
different world to help save Grace and the ones who have
protected her from the Synestryn, Torr finds his love again
only to discover she doesn't remember him.
Grace's lack of memory doesn't stop her feeling of love and
her willingness to help save Torr and anyone else she has
to in order to protect what she believes is important. Can
Grace regain her memories and love of Torr? It doesn't
matter to Torr he will do what he must to protect the one
he loves and keep his vow.
Shannon K Butcher has created a
wonderful world that has all of the ingredients needed to
enthrall the reader. There is action, adventure and the
stories of people that make you wish that your husband is a
seven foot tall muscular warrior that sees and feels
nothing but you. WILLING SACRIFICE is the next in a great
series by a great author. If you have never entered her
world as I hadn't then no fear you can join now and read
the others later.
SUMMARY
They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from
ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique
abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their
eternal foes: the Synestryn. Now a warrior weighs the price
he will pay for love....
Theronai warrior Torr
has never forgotten Grace, the human who stole his heart and
nearly gave her life to save his. So when he is summoned to
the aid of Brenya, the powerful woman who healed Grace, he
is devastated to find that Grace’s cure has left her mind
devoid of any memory of Torr or their love.
However,
despite not knowing who he is, Grace is inexplicably drawn
to the dark warrior. As they team up to stop the invasion
that threatens the people Grace now considers family, her
memories slowly start resurfacing. But sometimes the past is
best forgotten—a lesson that Torr may learn too late....
ExcerptKansas, November 9Torr Maston would rather have fought a hundred poisonous
demons bare-handed than face the
man lounging on his motel room bed. Nicholas Laith pointed the remote at the crappy TV, not even
glancing away from it as Torr
stepped out of the cramped bathroom. If Nicholas had found
him, then more of his brothers would be
close behind. They’d all gang up on him, trying to convince
him that he should return home. And when
that failed, words would turn to force. Torr really didn’t want to hurt any of his brothers. “Nice shower?” asked Nicholas. His face was heavily scarred,
the crisscrossing marks making it
hard to read the man’s expression. “How did you get in?” “Electronic key card lock. Easy to open.” Torr silently cursed Nicholas’s techie skills as he forced
his words out slow and even. “Why are
you here?” “You asked me to come.” “No, I didn’t.” Company was the last thing Torr wanted.
Isolation was better. Easier. “Not directly, maybe, but you definitely issued a challenge
by disappearing like you did. You
knew I’d have to come looking for you just to see if I could
find you.” A grin creased his scar lines. “Surprise. I win.” Torr instinctively moved toward his sword, only to find that
it had been relocated. His sword belt
was on the nightstand across the room rather than propped
just outside the bathroom door, where he’d left it. “How’d you find me?” The man who’d been his friend a lifetime ago—before Torr’s
world had been shattered—
shrugged and switched to the next TV station. “You didn’t
make it easy. Ditched your cell phone. Ripped
out the truck’s tracking devices. Never used any plastic.
You really shouldn’t have challenged me like
that if you didn’t want me to come find you.” Torr’s hand tightened into a fist on the damp terry cloth
around his hips. “Do you think, maybe,
that I disappeared because I didn’t want you to find me?” Nicholas shrugged again and paused for a commercial selling
videos of drunken young women
lifting their shirts for the camera. “Don’t care what you
want. It’s time to come home.” “No.” “No? That’s it? I track you down after going AWOL for seven
months, and you just refuse to
come back? I found you fair and square. That means I win and
you have to come home.” “Since you’re apparently no good at taking the not-so-subtle
hints I left behind that I want to be
alone, I thought I should make it easy for you to
understand. I don’t know how to be any clearer than a
single word with only two letters.” “You’ve pouted long enough. Time to move on. Get back to
work.” “Pouting? You think that’s what I’ve been doing?” “I know you loved the woman, but she’s gone now.” Nicholas’s
voice dipped low, to that gray
area between sympathy and pity. A flash of rage ignited just beneath Torr’s skin. One second
he was standing several feet away
from Nicholas. The next, he had his brother-in-arms pinned
against the wall with a forearm digging into his throat. The skin between the scars on Nicholas’s face darkened from
the lack of air, but the man didn’t
fight back. He just stared at Torr, his bright blue gaze
calm. Accepting. Torr wished Nicholas would fight back. Smashing heads would
have gone a long way toward
distracting him from his misery. But Nicholas didn’t fight. He didn’t even blink. No way
could Torr hit a man who wasn’t fighting
With a feral growl, Torr shoved away from his brother and
stalked across the room. Nicholas rubbed at the bruise already forming on his neck.
“I’ll let Joseph know you’re not fit for duty." For some reason that pissed Torr off even more than if
Nicholas had tried to drag him back. “I
fight fine. I just need you all to leave me alone.” “So you can get yourself killed?” Nicholas shook his head
and started texting. “I don’t think so.
You need to stay out of the field until your head’s screwed
on straight.” “I don’t take orders from you.” “Are you still taking them from Joseph? Or have you stopped
giving a shit about everything you
used to hold dear?” “I vowed to fight, to protect humans, to kill Synestryn. And
that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s what
I’ll continue to do whether you, Joseph, or anyone else
likes it or not.” “Until one of the Synestryn brings you down. Which will be
soon if your state of distraction is
any clue.” “I’m not distracted.” “No? Then how did I find you? I’ve been on your trail for a
couple of days now, keeping my
distance. You never noticed me once.” “Maybe you’re just that good.” He snorted. “Or maybe I’m not and you’re in no condition to
fight alone. I know losing Grace has
upset you, but—” “Upset me?” Torr stripped off the towel and started dressing
so that he wouldn’t attack his
friend again. “I’m so far past upset I can’t even find a
word to fit where I am.” Nicholas’s tone turned gentle. “You will get over her.
You’ve been alive long enough to know it’s
true. It sucks, but it’s true.” “I don’t want to get over her. I want to be with her.” “It’s not possible. Even if she survived, she’s on another
world.” “I know that,” growled Torr as he fastened his jeans and
belted his sword around his hips. “You have to let her go.” “Don’t tell me what I have to do. I know all the platitudes,
all the hollow advice. Move on, stay
strong, life goes on.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at
his brother as he confessed, “I love her. She’s
still out there. She may even need me. And there’s not a
damn thing I can do to change any of that.” The metal disk attached to his back pressed against his
spine as he bent over to lace up his
Grace had put the disk on him—embedded it in his flesh in an
effort to save his life and reverse
his paralysis. The magical device had worked, leaving him
whole and strong. His wounds, his pain, his
weakness—they were all hers now, slowly killing her human
body and stealing from him the fragile
spirit it housed. He would have done anything to take back
those wounds and spare her, but the device
worked in only one direction. She could heal him, but he couldn’t do a thing to help her. His sweet, selfless Grace had sacrificed herself for him,
leaving him both grateful and furious. “There are a lot of things we can’t change,” said Nicholas,
his voice ringing with absolute
certainty—the kind that comes only from hard lessons
learned. “And we’ve all lost people we love.” “Knowing other people suffer doesn’t make me suffer less. I
just need to be alone. Why can’t
you get that?” “Because it’s likely to get you killed, and we need you too
much to let it happen. You’re one of
the most deadly warriors we have.” “I used to be.” “You still are. I saw you fight last night. Whatever rust
might have grown on you during your
paralysis, you’ve knocked it all off. You fight like the
warrior I remember. Maybe even deadlier.” “Then there’s no problem. You can report back to Joseph that
I’m fine. I’ll come home when and
if I’m ready.” “I said you were deadly. Not careful. You took too many
risks. And you weren’t watching your back." “I’m not suicidal, if that’s your worry. There’s no way to
know what might happen to Grace if I
die wearing this disk. We’re still connected, and as long as
that’s the case, I’ll be careful.” “If you call that careful, then you’re worse off than I
thought.” “Calculated risks, Nicholas. I’ve been fighting for a lot
longer than you have. I know what I’m doing." “So do I, which is why you and I are going to be partners
for a while.” “I don’t want a partner.” “I think I already mentioned that I don’t care what you
want.” “Don’t push me, Nicholas.” He smiled, making his scars pull tight. “You think I’m
afraid of you?” “I think you should be.” “Aww. You do care. How sweet. No wonder Grace was crushing
on you.” “Stop talking about her.” “Nope. This is a deal-or-die kind of situation, and it’s my
job to make sure you deal.” “It’s none of your business.” “Let’s pretend it is, just for giggles.” “I’m serious, Nicholas.” “And that’s part of your problem. You need to lighten up.” “The woman I love may be dying, and you want me to lighten
up?” “She might be dying. She might not be. But even if that
freakishly powerful Brenya chick is able
to heal her, she’s still human. She’s still going to die in
the blink of an eye. That’s a fact, and you have to
find a way to move on. I figure now is as good a time as any
—before we lose you, too.” “I don’t know how you can be so casual, talking about her
death like it’s of no more importance
than what you had for breakfast. I thought you were a better
man than that.” “Just because I accept reality doesn’t mean I don’t care. I
risk my life for humans every day. But
they’re different from us. We were never meant to be with
them—not in the way you want to be with
Grace. Letting her in was a mistake, and if you don’t
believe me, then all you have to do is look to that
ache in your chest for proof that I’m right.” “So . . . what? I just stop caring?” “No, you face reality. It doesn’t matter if she lives or
dies today. She’s human. A few decades
from now—a mere blink of time for a man like you—she will be
gone. The leaves on your lifemark will
have fallen. Your soul will die, and there’s not a damn
thing that either one of you can do to change
that.” Nicholas stepped closer, his voice dipping back to
the land of pity. “She can’t save you, Torr. She
can’t be what you need her to be for you to survive. All she
can do is stand in the way of you finding the
woman who can save your life and be your true partner. And
if she really loves you—which her actions
shout that she does—that’s not the kind of life she’d want
for you. If she were here, she’d tell you to
move on, too.” “You can’t be that cold.” “You can’t be that blind.” “I don’t care if she can’t save my soul. I want to be with
her anyway.” “Well, you can’t. She’s worlds away, and not even your
determination is strong enough to
activate a Sentinel Stone and open a doorway to her. The
only way she’s coming back is if Brenya allows it." In that moment, Torr realized the truth. Nicholas was right.
Brenya was in complete control. She
was the one who would decide if Grace lived or died. She was
the one who would decide whether to let
Grace come home. Brenya was powerful in a way Torr could
barely comprehend. She knew the score. She knew that the Sentinels—men like Torr and Nicholas—were
losing the war against the Synestryn,
and that if they lost, Brenya’s home would be flooded by
demonic beasts who fed on the blood and
magic of her kind. She wasn’t going to let that happen, even if it meant
keeping Grace out of his reach forever. Brenya needed Torr to fight to defend her home world, and
the way he would do that best was if he
sought out a woman like him—a Theronai who was compatible
with his power and could take her place
at his side in battle. That had been Brenya’s endgame all along. He’d thought she
offered to help Grace because he’d
sworn to fight for Brenya in battle if she ever needed it.
But he was already fighting for her. He’d been
doing so for four centuries—since he’d been old enough to
swing a blade. His vow to protect humans
ensured that he also protected her. The crescent-shaped mark she’d left on his shoulder—the one
that allowed her to summon him
at any time—burned with betrayal. She’d tricked him. Offered
him hope. Kept him fighting rather than
wallowing in grief. She’d told him that so long as the disk on his back stayed
in place, Grace was alive. Now he
questioned even that comfort. What if Brenya had lied just
to get him to do what she wanted? Nicholas let out a long, sad sigh. “You finally figured it
out, didn’t you?” Torr nodded. “Brenya is devious. I bought her lie. For all I
know, Grace is already dead.” Even
saying the words ripped something vital from his chest. Not even the scars on Nicholas’s face could hide his
sympathetic frown. “Which is why you have
to let go. Grace gave up her life so that you could have
one. Don’t belittle her gift by squandering it.” “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want Grace to sacrifice
herself for me.” “But she did. Of her own free will. The only way to honor
her memory is to make sure the life
she gave you counts. You owe it to her to live as long as
you can and find some way to be happy. Fulfill
your purpose. Find your mate and kill as many fucking demons
as possible.” “It’s not enough,” said Torr. “It will never be enough.” “Maybe. Maybe not. But it is your duty to try.” “You clearly already have opinions on where I should start,
don’t you?” “I do. Rory and Cain located a system of caves down south in
desperate need of a good cleaning.
Thought you could join us.” Torr opened his mouth to respond, but before he could pull
in a breath, the air around him
shifted. The flickering fluorescent glow of his hotel room
morphed into a brilliant, fiery swath of light. The drops of shower water drying on his bare back heated,
adding to the thick humidity creeping across
his skin. The floor beneath his boots disappeared, leaving
him feeling weightless for a split second
before he once again felt substantial. A giant wave of dizziness slammed into him. High-pitched
female screams of fear and the
pounding of rushed footsteps echoed in his ears. The smell
of dirt and smoke choked him. Torr blinked to clear his swimming vision, but all he could
see was color and light. Metallic blue
streaked with brilliant orange. His hand curled around the hilt of his sword, its cool,
rigid contours a welcome familiarity. He
didn’t dare draw the blade for fear that some innocent might
be close. Instead, he planted his feet and
shut his eyes in an effort to locate the cries for help. A warm hand settled on his shoulder. He tried to shrug it
away and face the potential threat, but
the grip was too tight. “Settle, young Theronai,” ordered a familiar feminine voice. Instantly, the world stopped its whirl and he was once again
able to focus. The sky was orange. The trees were covered in shiny bluish
leaves that looked more like metal
than plant matter. One sun burned high in the sky, and below
it, smaller and more distant, a second one
cast its light low over the ground. Wherever Torr was, he wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
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