Irish coast, 795 A.D. Caught between two clashing worlds,
a Christian slave and a Viking raider must crush their forbidden love before it
imperils her faith and destroys his claim to the jarl’s seat—but God’s plan is
greater than either can imagine.
While gathering wild strawberries near her fishing
village, thirteen-year-old Brigit stumbles into the path of a young Viking
warrior, Reidar. A night terror come alive, the heathen boy is part of a
Norse horde descended on Ireland beneath the cover of night. Eager for
conquest and glory on his first raid, Reidar takes Brigit captive. But when her
terror stirs an overwhelming compassion, he defies his father and saves her
from his own people as they raze her village. This unexpected act of mercy
sears Brigit’s memory into his soul and becomes his Great Flaw.
Seven years later, the Vikings storm the Irish keep where
Brigit is trapped in a loveless marriage. Amid the raid, their young warlord
sets his sights on Brigit. Her faith, once her anchor, has withered under years
of loss and hardship, and her Great Scorn for Norsemen and all
who wronged her has become her only armor. Yet her defenses crumble as she
wrestles with a dangerous attraction to her enemy. Bound to her captor’s will
and surrounded by savagery, Brigit fights to preserve her dignity and fading
faith as she clings to the memory of the boy who once spared her. But the
man Reidar has become a hardened warrior, sworn to vengeance and shackled by
blood feud.
Both are doomed to ruin unless they open their hearts to the
one power greater than the Flaw and Scorn that bind them.
My Thoughts:
Wow! What can I say, but it has been a long time since I read a story like this one. One that is epic and fierce, hard to read at times but full of redemption and the working of that behind the scenes. Please be advised dear readers, this story is not sweet. The author did her research, and she shows the ruthlessness and savagery of the Vikings of that time. And if we are honest with ourselves, that savagery still exists even in our modern times.
This is a story of a believer and a heathen. How both are really just trying to survive in a world that has two differing belief systems and only one is the truth. As I was reading this story, I felt the author really explained the Norse thinking and their false religion well as in how it affected the way they believed and their deeds, to the vile raiding they perceived that was good for them. They thought little of other peoples or their lives.
She starts off each chapter with a stanza from a Norse poem, that in itself has a very interesting story tied in. Then bam, the last two chapters begin with scripture. To me, that was a powerful story move.
Anyway, this story grabbed me, had me thinking, and looking forward to the next in this series. It promises to be just as powerful as it will be someone's story we have met in this one. So, looking forward to it.
I was provided a copy of this novel from the author. I was not required to post a positive review, and all views and opinions are my own.
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