Given to the Warrior
Given to the Warrior is a sci-fi/fantasy romance novel set on the fictional planet Ta'nai, with the central characters Zü, one of the most respected and highly skilled warriors of the Yil'parù tribe, and Jiilu/Qiiraa, the daughter of a cargo hauling smuggler who lived her whole life in space.
Burdened by grief, Zü's soul mourned the loss of the woman he had loved deeply, and he stubbornly refused to take another. Unwilling to open his heart again. Qiiraa too had lost everything. Suffering her own grief after a viscous band of space pirates killed her parents, she was now stranded on an alien world full of primitive savages.
The arrival of the strange pale-skinned woman who fell down from the sky was seen by the Elders as a sign from the Gods. A special golden-haired gift from the Sun Goddess, clearly intended for the child-of-thunder wallowing in sorrow. They demanded Zü accept the opportunity he had been given, lest the Gods be angered at his refusal.
Both unwilling, the two begrudgingly wed - Qiiraa, the offworlder who did not know their customs and could not speak their language, and Zü, the hardened warrior who did not want her.
Content Warnings:
You'll find a lot of common romance tropes sprinkled throughout this book. Including:
Arranged marriage/Marriage of convenience/Forced marriage, Damsel in Distress, Different worlds (Literally!), Emotional Scars, Enemies threatening to rape Heroine, Fish out of Water, Forced proximity, Hero being extra gentle because he knows that the heroine is scared of intimacy, Interracial, Language barrier, Only one bed, Opposites attract, Overcoming grief, Protector Hero, Shy virginal Heroine, Soul mates, Strangers to lovers, Warrior Hero, Widower's second chance... and probably more!
Main Male character's former partner and unborn child died several years prior to the start of the book and him showing his grief, and slowly opening his heart to love again are large components of the story.
Main Female character's parents are killed in the beginning of the story, and her grief is mentioned and shown a few times during the story.
The word "rape" is never used - it is referred to in more veiled terms such as "Have some fun with her", "Take her to my bed", "They attempted to dishonour her" and "I will have you".
Due to the main male character being aware of these instances, and the fact that the female character is frightened of sexual contact, he is especially conscious of consent and her comfort in all their intimate scenes.
She is explicitly given the opportunity to decline the marriage once she finds out that she will have to have sex with the man she doesn't really want to marry, but affirmatively decides she will go through with it, even knowing that the ceremony includes public consummation of the union. However given the situation she is in, it is clear that she does not want to do it, and agreed only out of necessity.
The main male character realises that she does not consent to the consummation, so he instead briefly simulates the act (grinding against her while both are fully clothed) to pretend it took place.
Throughout the book the main male character is very aware of the female character's timidness when it comes to intimacy, and other than this one scenario where they must pretend to validate the union, he makes sure she is comfortable and enthusiastically consenting in all other intimate acts they do.