Helpful Score: 2
An average read, though I did think the dialogue and feelings expressed were too modern/contemporary for the time period of the bk.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an excellent read! Loved the characters and the travels they went on.
Let Diana Groe take you on an unforgettable journey in this epic novel of adventure and passion that will sweep you from the icy fjords of Scandinavia to the sun-drenched streets of Byzantium.
When Rika sang the Norse legends, her beautiful voice captivated all who listened. But after a rain on her homeland, she found herself the capitve-a slave to the powerful Bjorn the Black. He was the one man who could destroy her life, yet the only man she could truly trust. The only man who had ever ignited the passion in her soul...and introduced her to the pleasures of the body. But Bjorn was duty-bound to bring her to wed another. And thus they begin a perilous journey to a foreign land, a voyage that will test their courage in countless ways and challenge the strength of th elove that is their destiny.
The Northmen attack Hordaland in retaliation for a raid on Sognefjord a month ago. In the assault they kill her renowned story telling father, the skald Magnus Silver-Throat and capture amongst others his two children, Rika also a skald storyteller and her brother Ketil as slaves of the Jarl of Sogna. The ruler's younger brother Bjorn the Black led the raid that imprisoned Rika, who vows to kill him.
Bjorn decides he wants the courageous skald, but knows he must ask his sibling for permission. Instead of showing his appreciation the Jarl displays his jealousy of his brother's success. Still even as Rika and Bjorn begin to fall in love, the Jarl promises her to his Byzantine trading partner as he loathes his sibling and gives him nothing even what he earned.
This exciting Dark Ages romance takes the audience on a deep tour of Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire with a deep look at the societies of both. The story line is action-packed as the two lead protagonists fall in love while landing in one escapade after another due to the betrayal by the treacherous Jarl, however, whose loathing seems cartoonish. Sub-genre fans will welcome Diana Groe to the circa tenth century world with her fabulous debut historical.
Harriet Klausner
Bjorn decides he wants the courageous skald, but knows he must ask his sibling for permission. Instead of showing his appreciation the Jarl displays his jealousy of his brother's success. Still even as Rika and Bjorn begin to fall in love, the Jarl promises her to his Byzantine trading partner as he loathes his sibling and gives him nothing even what he earned.
This exciting Dark Ages romance takes the audience on a deep tour of Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire with a deep look at the societies of both. The story line is action-packed as the two lead protagonists fall in love while landing in one escapade after another due to the betrayal by the treacherous Jarl, however, whose loathing seems cartoonish. Sub-genre fans will welcome Diana Groe to the circa tenth century world with her fabulous debut historical.
Harriet Klausner