She broke their laws. Now, he has come to punish her… horde king—a cold, powerful, and merciless warrior leader, with eyes like flint and a body like steel—he seeks to punish me…and he succeeds.
But then he does the unexpected.
Instead of taking my life, he claims me as his own.
He steals me from my village and brings me back to his battle-bred horde. There, I warm his bed. I make bargains with him on starry, cold nights. I look into his grey eyes and see not a monster, but a demon king who captures my soul.
But demons have a way of never letting go…and as the cold season descends upon Dakkar, I begin to wonder if I even want him to, even when it hurts.
Claimed by the Horde King is a full-length SFR novel (95,000+ words) with an HEA. It is the second book of the Horde Kings of Dakkar series.
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I freaking loved it! This was Nelle and Seerin’s story. We briefly met Seerin towards the end of Captive of the Horde King. He was then on his way to meet his destiny, he just didn’t know it yet. This story is filled with some struggles, sadness, betrayal, action and a love so pure, that it comes fraught with tension. Seerin, is a Vorrakar and feels the weight of the world on his shoulders because of his Mother’s past and the responsibility of what she did for him. He is constantly challenged because of the way he was allowed to become a Vorrakar. Though he made a really stupid decision, he comes to his senses and the groveling was absolutely perfect. I adored Nelle’s strength and resolve, she is a true heroine. Great read filled with a HEA and a wonderful epilogue 4.5 stars****
I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I read it in about 2 hours. 5/5
I am in awe with this book. Absolutely love Seerin and Nelle bond. Love Nelles attitude throughout the whole book. So many emotions in this book. Love their journey as mates. If you love alien books, this is a must have. Love book one and book two did not disappoint.
I voluntarily reviewed this advance reader copy of this book
I delved straight into this book after reading the first and loved it just as much!.
It’s similar in concept but it’s still different. The characters are so multidimensional with so much to give I could honestly read them for days. The story is unique and it has phenomenal world building that allows you to see everything so clearly it’s like your there in their world.
I love both the hero and heroine. Both are tortured souls who found peace in each other. Whilst they lived very different lives when they met, they are two sides of the same coin. The calm to each other’s storm. I loved the sweet chemistry that slowly built through the pages. I adored the build up and the almost friendship like connection they had before anything else. It’s a slow burn but it’s sweet and tension filled in all the right ways.
Their story is all kinds of sweet and funny and swoony but it also has it’s moments of frustration and heartbreak that really make you feel. It was never going to be easy for them and they truly had to hurt before they could get their happy but that ending.. honestly hit me in the feels. I was swooned out by the end.
I’m sad that there is only one book left for me to read. I’m not ready for this adventure to be over because I just love this world and the characters.
This story flew by because I was completely immersed in it so invested in them and their journey. It’s such a great book!.
I loved this second book in the Horde King series by Zoey Draven!
Seerin and Nelle are fascinating and wonderful to watch grow.
After a rocky start, mainly due to what had to be so based on the law of the land and actions undertaken, watching their friendship and relationship develop was beautiful.
Their chemistry was fire!
There’s drama, intrigue, miscommunication, trying to do the right thing for the right reason, doing the wrong thing for the right reason and doing the right thing for the right reason, and everything in between.
I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this and am very much looking forward to book 3!
P. S. That. Grovel. *swoon*
This book definitely didn’t disappoint, I loved the first book a lot but I think this one might have been even better and I bloody devoured it.
So this has a sci-fi setting the planet of Dakkar but doesn’t feel that way at all it has more of a barbarian warrior vibe to it.
The Hero here we met briefly at the end of the previous book and he is the Vorakkar of his Horde.
On this fascinating alien world humans are the refugees with strict laws to control them and they have to abide by these laws with severe consequences for breaking any of them and they really haven’t got it good at all.
They are starving cold and barely surviving they break the laws because they have to not because they want to.
Nellie is caught in breach of these rules and it is up to the horde and there Vorakkar to enforce her punishment which is usually a death sentence.
After ordering a physical punishment the Vorakkar of the horde knowing she will perish if he leaves her behind takes Nelle with him, he feels an unexpected connection and deep guilt over his actions towards the small human.
Expecting death Nelle awakens hurting and in pain and now in the heart of the horde.
So this is quite slow-burn and there’s a lot to overcome on Seerin’s side if they can ever be together.
Though Vorakkar of his own horde his rise to his current position hasn’t been a conventional one and he feels like he has something more to prove with his lack of an illustrious name.
For him, his horde comes first even above his own happiness and feelings and he knows his council don’t want Nelle ruling by his side.
But still wanting Nelle for his own he fights his own instincts ones that tell him that she is a gift from his goddess and to claim her.
Pulled in two separate directions he makes a terrible choice one that may mean he loses everything he has come to care for and breaking his thissie’s heart and trust along the way.
Nelle is resilient and despite her hard and lonely upbringing she has so much love to give.
She’s slow to trust but once she does she opens up her heart completely embracing Seerin and his culture with all that she is, finding her home in him and his horde and when it all comes crashing down she’s devastated her self preservation kicks in to protect her fragile heart from being harmed further by the one person she never thought would treat her so callously.
She’s used to being rejected has lived with it her whole life but Seerin’s action cut her deep scarring to the very bone causing more damage than any physical punishment ever could she doesn’t know if she can ever recover from his betrayal.
The world-building here is second to none and this is exceptionally well written.
The story was dual POV and Seerin and Nelle had so much chemistry together I had no issue believing in their bond together.
I felt there love and connection every time they were together, There’s also no OW drama either which was also a bonus
This is one of my favourite series ever and I can’t recommend it enough.
They also can be read as complete stand-alone and though they are loosely connected each one is its own complete story.
I also believe the third book has just released which I will definitely be reading.
A massive thumbs up from me.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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Love! The writing for this story is great and the narration is even better. So much happens to the point that once I started I didn’t turn it off until I finished the whole book! Definitely a great book for many.
Nelle is the outcast in her village. So when she draws the punishment of the Horde for hunting she takes it in strides. She doesn’t have anything to really live for anyways. Then the Horde King decides to take her before her punishment is even over. He has seen something in her eyes that he needs. From they they do a dance that will end with them together and eventually happy.
Loved it! I think I may have liked the first book’s H a bit more, because he was a tad darker, but don’t get me wrong. Yum! I can’t wait to re-listen to these books!
Looking for a great scifi romance? Look no further!
Nelle was an easy character to fall in love with. I also enjoyed her being a bird person. A woman after my own heart. There was a fair amount of angst, and I found myself wondering if they would ever be able to get over their differences. The H caused my heart to thunder quite a bit. How do I get to Dekkar?
I still think the Horde King mentioned in the first book should get a story – the one who was seen with the bruised human… maybe it could be a misunderstanding to the people looking in at the relationship… really hoping she goes somewhere with that couple. Fingers crossed! As long as she has more of these planned – I’m obsessed!
Lily S. Thomas – Author of the Ice Age Alphas series and the Galactic Courtship series
Hard choices and high angst
Nelle hunts to survive. On Dakkaris, this is forbidden. When the Horde King of her region catches her, he punishes her, not with death, but with life as his captive. This is the story of two lone wolves, beings who grew up alone, unwanted, strong enough to survive, but too broken to trust. Their intersecting lives bring new opportunities, new threats, and a new capacity for understanding and love. HEA arrives after much misunderstanding and angst.
3 – 3.5 stars
It’s been a while since I read book 1 of this series, so I’m playing catch up with this new main couple that were only hinted at in the end of it. You don’t have to read that book first, though I have to admit, overall, I do believe I enjoyed it more.
Nelle, the heroine, and this Horde King’s relationship mostly felt like pity to me, at first anyway. A fate like mystical instant attraction intervened, too, which made me a little slow to fully recognize them as willing participants here. Fortunately, I soon was able to push those misgivings aside and just roll with it.
Nelle was a knucklehead at times in the beginning. Not staying put like she was ordered in a guard protected tent (for her own safety) while in an enemy camp all because she felt like going for a whimsical walk to check out her new neighborhood proves that point. The reason/set-up, of course, not surprisingly to set up good relations between her and this king’s people.
With a slow burn pace that eventually morphed into some very graphic, personal, smex scenes, we do wind up with a couple falling for each other who feel they don’t actually have a chance in Hades of staying together. The story line was relatively predictable, but I was still glad everything worked out. This one just didn’t have any big twists/surprises that I didn’t see coming.
Very briefly some other Horde kings are introduced at a council meeting. I can only assume they will eventually be the focus of sequels in this series.
Title: Claimed by the Horde King, Series: Horde Kings of Dakkar (Book 2), Author: Zoe Draven, stand-alone but part of a series, alien planet backdrop, slow burn, eventually turns VERY graphically steamy/smexy, no OM drama, not interested in OW who flirt with him, no cheating, some hand wringing relationship angst, duty before love hero.
(These comments are based on a Kindle Unlimited edition. This is not an ARC review.)
great read, wish their were more in the series.
If you’re looking for an inventive sci-fi/fantasy romance without insta-love but a nice slow burn and build up. You don’t need to start with book one but why miss it?
Wow, I loved this book! Seerin and Nelle have got to be my favorite fictional couple. I was drawn into their story right from the beginning and now that it over, I think i’m still thinking about all the goodness that it’s filled with. Nelle begins as a sad, empty girl on the edge of giving up, and the Demon King begins as a one dimensional bad guy. Until they’re not. This story grows so fast but you don’t even realize it, you are just along for the ride and Zoey Draven drives like a maniac! I loved the dichotomy between the human settlement and the “barbaric” Horde camp and the same with the populations. Nelle as a character is sublime once you factor in where she comes from and what she’s been through and she still just shakes off the bad vibes. That’s so cool! Look, I just loved everything about this book and I definitely recommend that you read this one as soon as you can!
After reading and loving the first book of the ‘Horde Kings of Dakkar’ series, I was very happy that I could read the second book immediately after it. Just like the first story ‘Captive of the Horde King’, I loved this story very much. Do you have to read the first book before this one? I don’t think you really have to, the writer explains things in the second story very well but I do think that you get more out of the story if you start at the beginning of the series.
Unlike the first story, where the story is told in the female’s character POV, ‘Claimed by the Horde King’ is told from both POV’s. I appreciated the fact that the writer made it easy to recognize who’s POV you were reading by giving each new chapter a feather (for Nelle’s POV) or a dagger (for the Horde King’s POV). So it was very easy to follow the storyline. It’s a slow burn romance and more emotional (and less suspense) than the first book but I loved every minute of it. Nelle may be considered weak in the eyes of many others but she had a big strength deep inside her. A strength that made that she survived a lonely and difficult childhood in her human village. But Nelle isn’t the only one who had a difficult childhood. Her horde king also had to survive a very difficult childhood.
Because of that, both are lonely in their own way, both Nelle and the Horde King are yearning for love although they hide that yearning away in the deepest part of their soul. Where no one can see it or get to it. But there always comes a time that the door will open for love, if you want to or not. And then you will have to decide, do you choose love or will you let fear win and lose it all? Love isn’t always easy, there are consequences, especially for a Horde King.
Both characters were everything I could wished for. The chemistry was wonderful, their banter were honest and interesting. It was wonderful to see how Nelle blossomed into this confident woman without fear. In this story we get to know a bit more of the Dakkari and their world. And we get to meet the other Horde Kings.
I can’t wait to read more about the other Horde Kings and this fascinating world.
I’m loving this world the author has created. Sometimes I forget that this is an alien world I’m reading about. It’s in every page, but the writing just sucks me in with these characters that everything just seems natural.
I love the whole idea of a warrior alien king falling for a human female. Humans are much weaker but these horde kings are learning that the female spirit is as strong as their hordes. In fact, the heroines are one of the reasons I’m enjoying this series when it’s usually the heroes are why I read.
In Claimed by the Horde King, this one is more of a slow burn. Their relationship wasn’t decided from the start like book one. While I enjoyed something different, it was also why I did love the first book more.
The hero is everything you see in al alpha but with a vulnerability that caused hurt to the heroine. The good that comes out of that, is seeing the heroine stand up for herself and shows what a strong person she is. She handles it perfectly and what I always want to see in these type of situations but rarely get. You will also get some good grovel from the hero.
I’m actually hoping there will be many more books in this series. I think I will enjoy them all no matter how different each couple will be. A certain horde king that was introduced in this book has me super intrigued.
Nelle is starving and alone in a human village on Dakkar. She’s an excellent archer and so she hunts to provide for herself and help the village. When a Dakkan horde king catches her he punishes her harshly. But, the horde king is seized by her spirit and carries her to his home. The book description makes it look like their relationship is not mutual. I see Nelle and the horde king on a journey. Nelle only wants someone to call her own and to not be alone. She slowly accepts him as a friend and then a relationship develops. The king is wrestling with the welfare of his entire horde versus keeping Nelle. As in life, there are no easy answers and mistakes are made.
I enjoyed this story by Zoey Draven. It will tug on your emotions and keep you turning pages late into the night. 4 stars
So good, best to read it again…
Alien romantic, suspenseful and pleasantly light adventure on Dakkar. Strong, wonderful characters, striving for their own lives and loved ones, try not to negatively affect the lives of others. Doing justice to all is impossible and being unfaithful to oneself is no solution.
A powerful, inspiring story that inspires to change perspective.