Legendary shield maiden Sayrid Avildottar will marry no man unless he first defeats her in combat. And in powerful sea-king Hrolf Eymundsson she has finally met her match.
Hrolf may have won her lands—and her body—but can Sayrid welcome a stranger to her bed? The world of fighting is all she knows! With a husband intent on seducing his new bride, perhaps, just this once, Sayrid will discover that surrender can bring the greatest pleasure of all…
Born and raised near San Francisco Califorinia, Michelle Styles currently lives a few miles south of Hadrian's Wall with her husband, three children and menagerie of pets. An avid reader, she became hooked on historical romance when she discovered Georgette Heyer, Anya Seton and Victoria Holt in her school's library. Michelle enjoys writing stories in a wide range of time periods including Roman, Viking, Regency and early Victorian. Her website can be found at www.michellestyles.co.uk
Have read a number of Michelle Styles books and have to say I love her historical Romance about the Vikings😁.
This was an easy read and one you can pick up to shut out the world around you for a couple of hours and step back in time to warriors and Sheild Maids.
So I thought this book was going to be like this...
Or you know... this...
Maybe with some of the steamy stuff too...
But did it have any of this? Nope. Not really till the end. That's when our leading man decided to change his whole personality (which was ingrained in him since childhood) on its head and allow our leading lady to kick ass with him. Then he invited her on a felag with him. Which she's wanted since the BEGINNING OF THE STORY. And did she go? Oh hell no! She (ALL OF A SUDDEN) says "fuck you" to what she's worked for her whole life, being a shield maiden, and decides to do the domestic thing....
But besides that, what irked me was that Sayrid, the main girl, was WAY too submissive. She claimed to be this fiercesome shield maiden who needed no man, but once Hrolf looks at her or (OMG!) kisses her...she swoons. And she didn't really plead her cause fiercely to him either. She let him boss her around. And she bowed to his every whim without much fight. Then there was Hrolf. Hrolf was meh as a character. He changed his personality WAY too quickly and decided to be this romantic sweetie instead of the he-man he was by the end of the story. I could dig the he-man Hrolf. At least it made sense... And I didn't mind the sexism or bossiness or any of that. Because god dammit, Sayrid was HIS woman and he's going to protect her and take care of her and kick any man's ass that gives her shit. Hrolf gave no shits and no fucks...until the end, when he wanted to be all lovey and shit. *GAG* And all the secondary mystery and plot seemed thrown together. I didn't get the point off all that stuff...I can see how it ties the story together, but it was pretty obvious from the beginning. The personalities of the secondary characters also sort of failed to me. They weren't ENOUGH. They needed to be more over the top.
But did I think the romance was believable? Meh. Not really. Because the only way it worked was for the characters to change everything about themselves.
Another wonderful Viking tale from Michelle Styles - this time featuring a shield maiden who will only marry if a man can defeat her in single combat. Could hardly bear to put it down!
I enjoyed the idea of this book a lot as I grew up with the Viking history all around me. There was something about the idea of seeing one of their stories come to life that drew me to this book. http://kristalmckerringtons.blogspot....
This story is very pleasant and captivating. A Viking sets out to tame his wife who is a warrior. Sayrid believes she is no good at anything but being a warrior. Hrolf believes his woman should be at home not out fighting amongst men. I love the story....I started out reading Historical Romances at a young age and always loved these stories. The Author did a great job on the writing.
"Styles pens another winning Viking historical with realistic settings, fast-paced action and two protagonists readers will champion and root for. This is an exciting, engaging story of an invincible shield maiden and the rugged sea king who sets out to tame her, only to lose his heart" (RT Book Reviews, 4 stars).
This is a neat book. For it introduces you to the world of shield madiens. Here we meet Sayrid Avildotter. Her world has been war and protecting family. Enter Hrolf. Let the games begin. For he has set ideas and she will test him. I love the way she wrote this story. For it could have gone a different route but the way she did it is really neat. For Hrolf denies what really makes Sayrid. But in doing so it sets up all sort of interesting, problems, situations. Let the fun continue. For its like a dance. As they learn about each other, they learn to have some give and take. Its a great story to read and it will draw you in. You will find it hard to put the story down. Happy reading. J
Une romance historique intéressante mais qui manque d'un petit quelque chose pour être captivante. J'ai eu un peu de mal à accrocher aux personnalités des héros, même si ça s'améliore sur la fin. Fin que j'ai trouvé un peu trop précipitée d'ailleurs. Mais la lecture reste agréable.
Okay, so a lot of my problems with this book are problems I notice a lot with indie books or books that are written in a short period of time. Technical things, like phrase wording being out of order and redundance. Plot related things, such as bad dialogue that doesn't fit the characters or their time period, a forced love-hate relationship between two annoying protagonists, and writing that felt to me like it was trying too hard and had me skimming a lot throughout the story. The plot wasn't that original, which is only a fault when the unoriginal aspects aren't woven in a new, exciting sort of way or if someone is tired of the same tropes being used over and over within a genre.
Did I like this book? Not particularly, but Harlequin romances have a very specific demographic. People outside of that mold can pass on this because you probably won't like it, people within it, give it a shot.
Sayrid Avildottar is a shield maiden of renown and has won the right to remain unwed unless she is defeated in combat. She believes she's invincible until she meets sea-king Hrolf Eymundsson who does what no other would-be suitor could do, defeat Sayrid in combat. The problem arises when he wants her to give up her warrior status and remain behind doing "womanly things" which she's convinced she can't do successfully. However, passion flares between them and Sayrid is conflicted. When danger threatens, will it be her sword arm that Hrold depends on?
Another great Viking story from this author that gives the reader a glimpse into the life of the times. It's rich in detail and the characters are believable although at times it was a bit hard to follow. I wish I could give it 4.5 stars!
Okay, so the story was good, I like Shield Maidens, Lagertha from Vikings is the bomb, but I didn't get everything I wanted out of this. It should have been her that defeated the other Sea King.
Thank goodness I rate books on the story and not how the story is written because if she mentioned her back one more time in this book i was going to scream.
Repetition, repetition, repetition is not good, got the point the first time.
Η Michelle Styles μας τιμάει με ένα δείγμα αληθινής γυναικείας δύναμης και θάρρους σε μια καθαρά ανδροκρατούμενη κοινωνία και εποχή.Και μας θυμίζει ότι όσο σκληρή κι αν είναι μια γυναίκα πάντα θα χρειάζεται έναν συντροφό να τη φωνάζει: "Κοριτσάκι μου". ;)