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Viking Passion
A sensitive Viking warrior is given all of his hated brother's rewards from the looting of a Saxon village and vows to refuse all of it until he discovers that the booty included the lovely Lenora. Original.
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 2, 2022
What an odd book... I hardly know what to say.
The pacing was off, the writing style felt stilted, the plot was all over the place and the characters... well, aside from the somewhat merciful beginning, the characters behaved almost how I imagine real vikings did. 😳
This wasn't romance, nor was it adventure, though there was a bit of adventuring in the last third of the book. It was historical fiction for sure but not one I particularly enjoyed.
Lenora was a ninny, thank goodness she lusted after Erik so hard or there would have been a lot more raping going on. We follow her point of view primarily and she's not the best character's head to be in. She's somewhat matter-of-fact in her acceptance of all that happens, and her inner monolog diminishes the trauma that would crumble a normal human.
*spoilers ahead read at your own risk*
🙈
🙉
🙊
Lenora loses her family, her homeland, her language, her religion, a baby, a friend, her health, and her station with the man she loves and just kinda shrugs it off and gets back to work.
Part of me is glad it's written that way, I never felt invested enough to get emotional over the way Lenora and the other slaves were treated, but it created a disconnect between me and the book. Lenora didn't care, so why should I?
Erik was a viking with really weird scruples that were arbitrarily selected at random. He was genuinely aloof and his apathy towards everyone but himself made him an unlikable character. I wanted to feel all smily over their happily ever after, but the long, arduous journey, the million times he disregarded and ignored Lenora, the on-again-off-again nature of his fickle heart, just left me feeling as blase over their ending as he was.
*more spoilers*
There was no real cheating in this book despite appearances, and while it becomes obvious that Erik loved Lenora, it wasn't a fairytale sort of love. It was a "you are tough, and I lust after you" sort of love. I can see how maybe the author thought more could be inferred. He always goes after her when she's abducted, he always seeks her out when he feels like getting it on... (Wow, what a guy!) But it's not romantic, it's not even possessive, it's just like "yeah, I thought of ditching you and decided against it."
🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
All in all I give it two and a half stars, (upped to three because goodreads doesn't do halves) and I recommend it for someone looking for a not so romantic romance with a lot of unnecessary running around and avoiding the inevitable.
The pacing was off, the writing style felt stilted, the plot was all over the place and the characters... well, aside from the somewhat merciful beginning, the characters behaved almost how I imagine real vikings did. 😳
This wasn't romance, nor was it adventure, though there was a bit of adventuring in the last third of the book. It was historical fiction for sure but not one I particularly enjoyed.
Lenora was a ninny, thank goodness she lusted after Erik so hard or there would have been a lot more raping going on. We follow her point of view primarily and she's not the best character's head to be in. She's somewhat matter-of-fact in her acceptance of all that happens, and her inner monolog diminishes the trauma that would crumble a normal human.
*spoilers ahead read at your own risk*
🙈
🙉
🙊
Lenora loses her family, her homeland, her language, her religion, a baby, a friend, her health, and her station with the man she loves and just kinda shrugs it off and gets back to work.
Part of me is glad it's written that way, I never felt invested enough to get emotional over the way Lenora and the other slaves were treated, but it created a disconnect between me and the book. Lenora didn't care, so why should I?
Erik was a viking with really weird scruples that were arbitrarily selected at random. He was genuinely aloof and his apathy towards everyone but himself made him an unlikable character. I wanted to feel all smily over their happily ever after, but the long, arduous journey, the million times he disregarded and ignored Lenora, the on-again-off-again nature of his fickle heart, just left me feeling as blase over their ending as he was.
*more spoilers*
There was no real cheating in this book despite appearances, and while it becomes obvious that Erik loved Lenora, it wasn't a fairytale sort of love. It was a "you are tough, and I lust after you" sort of love. I can see how maybe the author thought more could be inferred. He always goes after her when she's abducted, he always seeks her out when he feels like getting it on... (Wow, what a guy!) But it's not romantic, it's not even possessive, it's just like "yeah, I thought of ditching you and decided against it."
🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
All in all I give it two and a half stars, (upped to three because goodreads doesn't do halves) and I recommend it for someone looking for a not so romantic romance with a lot of unnecessary running around and avoiding the inevitable.
December 17, 2012
4 and 1/2 Stars! A Thinking Viking Traveling the Trade Routes with a Strong Heroine
Set in the late 9th century, this well researched, well-written Viking tale does not disappoint. It is rich in character development, rich in the customs of the Vikings and shows what happened to many in England and Ireland whose unguarded villages were easy prey for the marauders from the North.
On the day her brother was to wed her good friend, Lenora’s East Anglia village was struck by the Norseman Snorri Thorkellsson and his Danish Vikings. All the men were killed and she and her close friend were taken as slaves back to the Vikings’ lair in Denmark, where Lenora was given to the chieftain’s youngest son, Erik Thorkellsson. Lenora hates them all but learns what she must to survive. Treachery and hatred abound, as Snorri hates his half brother, Erik, and plots to take all that is his.
As Erik's slave, Lenora travels the trade routes to Constantinople (“Miklagard”), and we get to see much of that ancient world. (“You must have Norse blood, Lenora. You have the Viking passion for adventure, and the desire to see new sights, just as I have.”) It’s interesting and at times intriguing. Lenora must face her growing love for Erik even as she is repelled by the Vikings who stripped her of her family and her old life.
This one held my attention and I recommend it.
Set in the late 9th century, this well researched, well-written Viking tale does not disappoint. It is rich in character development, rich in the customs of the Vikings and shows what happened to many in England and Ireland whose unguarded villages were easy prey for the marauders from the North.
On the day her brother was to wed her good friend, Lenora’s East Anglia village was struck by the Norseman Snorri Thorkellsson and his Danish Vikings. All the men were killed and she and her close friend were taken as slaves back to the Vikings’ lair in Denmark, where Lenora was given to the chieftain’s youngest son, Erik Thorkellsson. Lenora hates them all but learns what she must to survive. Treachery and hatred abound, as Snorri hates his half brother, Erik, and plots to take all that is his.
As Erik's slave, Lenora travels the trade routes to Constantinople (“Miklagard”), and we get to see much of that ancient world. (“You must have Norse blood, Lenora. You have the Viking passion for adventure, and the desire to see new sights, just as I have.”) It’s interesting and at times intriguing. Lenora must face her growing love for Erik even as she is repelled by the Vikings who stripped her of her family and her old life.
This one held my attention and I recommend it.
March 22, 2019
3.5 Viking stars
It’s books like this that really make me wish there were half star ratings. I feel like this book should be rated higher even though it is an older book.
It was longer than most these days, lots of depth and it’s not one of those where they fall in love with one weekend at a house party.
I don’t read a lot of more ancient history romance novels or Vikings. But this one was better than the last Viking one I read.
Lot is historical terms and terms for places. I found myself looking up a lot of ancient Norse and places from that time. I love learning so it was pretty cool.
One of the things miss from the book that I think would have really helped if would have been a map of that part of ancient Europe along with the ancient/Viking names.
Give the book a read. It didn’t make my favorites list but I would recommend for something a little more in depth.
It’s books like this that really make me wish there were half star ratings. I feel like this book should be rated higher even though it is an older book.
It was longer than most these days, lots of depth and it’s not one of those where they fall in love with one weekend at a house party.
I don’t read a lot of more ancient history romance novels or Vikings. But this one was better than the last Viking one I read.
Lot is historical terms and terms for places. I found myself looking up a lot of ancient Norse and places from that time. I love learning so it was pretty cool.
One of the things miss from the book that I think would have really helped if would have been a map of that part of ancient Europe along with the ancient/Viking names.
Give the book a read. It didn’t make my favorites list but I would recommend for something a little more in depth.
October 12, 2014
loved it
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews