Beloved Viking

by Betty Brooks

Banished from her tribe, Shala, a rebellious Anasazi beauty, heads for the wilderness, where she discovers a golden-haired, wounded warrior who woos her with tales of his Viking homeland. Original.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Native American, Fiction, Viking Romance

448 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

Betty Brooks was born and raised in Palo Pinto County, the second eldest of eleven children. During her early years, she roamed the Palo Pinto Mountains with her brothers, developing a love for the outdoors that remains to this day. She became an avid reader in grade school and her love of books has stayed with her throughout the years.

In 1953, she married her high school sweetheart. Two years later, he was drafted into the army. His military career spanned twenty years and brought the family (one son and two daughters) to Michigan, Minnesota, California, El Paso, TX, and Germany. When James retired in 1976, they moved back to their hometown of Mineral Wells, TX.

There, Ms. Brooks began her writing career. Her first book, Savage Flame, was published by Zebra in March, 1987. A national best seller, it was nominated by Romantic Times (RT) for "Best Indian Romance" by a new author. Her Apache quartet was nominated by RT for "Best Western Romance Series" of the year. In total, Ms. Brooks has written twenty Historical Romances for Zebra Books. 1999 brings the release of three new Betty Brooks titles. A Place in my Heart will be available in April, A Wayward Heart in December, and her novelette, Mail Order Love, is offered as lead title in Zebra's anthology Always A Bride (May 1999).

Reviews

[Kayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW: rape & domestic abuse.

I found this book in a thrift store and mainly bought it because of the cover art. Its so pretty. But yikes this story was boring. There were like four whole chapters of walking through a desert, and then an entire war between two tribes was reduced to about four paragraphs. Constant rape vibes too. Like a lot. (Who is this supposed to appeal to? Omg)

[Cortnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i could not put this book down! it was awesome!

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting (minus the feelings of cultural appropriation) until about halfway through when Betty drops like two plot lines and rushes through the second half at a break neck speed. Constant references to rape and sexual violence. After 445 pages we had a story that felt unfinished and characters that were left underdeveloped (and technically underage? By modern standards at least).

It started with an interesting premise but left much to be desired.

[Mary Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is unusual for a Viking romance, as it is set the southwest US! The author posits that somehow Vikings made it into the Gulf of Mexico and, thereby to the cliff-dwelling communities in present-day Colorado. It’s definitely far-fetched, but I have to say it’s unique!

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this book. It was published in 1994, but it reminds me far more of a 1980s romance. it’s very grape-y (seriously, the heroine is threatened several times, though it never goes all the way there), and the hero consistently thinks the worst of the heroine. His judgmental nature frankly drove me bonkers. It made me want her to end up with anybody else.

It turns out this book is part of a trilogy that Brooks wrote where she managed to weave together the Anasazi people with the Vikings. I’m not sure I’ll look at the other two, but they are out there in ebook form if you’re interested.

[Ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was horrible. I thought the main girl Shala a dumb bitch! She deserved everything that happened to her in the story & more. Everything was her fault & the main guy Eric deserved better! Don't waste your time & money on this book, it's not worth it. I won't be reading from this author again.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

not as good as I expected it to be

[Heather turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book