REVIEW - MALICE STRIKER (GIVEAWAY)

"When the Viking abducts Skatha and her women, she’s bewildered. Why did Brökk seize her? Why does he want her for his wife? She weds him willingly enough when he threatens to kill her companions, but she vows to control her own destiny and escape. For if the Viking discovers her secrets..."

Author: Jianne Carlo
Pages: 250 pages
Publisher: Etopia Press on Oct. 2012
Form: E-book (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Viking Vengeance #1
Amazon: Buy / $9.19 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $5.99 (Nook)
All Romance E-books: Buy / $5.99 (E-book)
Excerpt: Getting steamy with a Viking

"Can a mere mortal Viking tame the daughter of a goddess?

When Scotland’s King Kenneth orders his death and kidnaps his sister, the Viking Brökk—the Malice Striker—plans his vengeance: he’ll steal the king’s bastard daughter from Sumbarten Abbey and use her to buy his sister freedom. But his schemes go awry when his liege lord commands him to wed Skatha—and when he finds five women instead of one at the Abbey, none will claim the King as father.

When the Viking abducts Skatha and her women, she’s bewildered. Why did Brökk seize her? Why does he want her for his wife? She weds him willingly enough when he threatens to kill her companions, but she vows to control her own destiny and escape. For if the Viking discovers her secrets, the laws of his people will force him to cast her aside…or kill her. And even Skatha, daughter of a goddess, might not escape the Viking’s wrath…"  ~ From Goodreads

Oh, I'm in love! This book made me all giddy! It had everything I love, a tall big viking with scars on the outside and inside, a woman with powers she doesn't know yet, her weakness alluring multiple evil characters to benefit from her gift of being born from a Goddess. I enjoyed the fact that she was blind and tried to keep it from her abductors! Worry not that is not a spoiler, we figure in the first few pages that she's blind - and it just makes the story perfect!

I do have a soft spot for historical romance, especially the viking era ones! Of course they need to be well written to be good, either great writing or very engaging story - well Malice Striker had both! I was hooked from the very beginning to the very end - so many great plot twists and interesting turns of events. I was never bored!

The romance was exciting, hot and very romantic in the christian lady and barbaric viking way, it was delicious discovering Skatha's passion and fire when he was around and finding Brökk's softer feelings and love for the first time. Now that makes for such great romance! Mix in some Goddesses and Gods for extra flavor and espionage and murder plots and you really cannot but this book down! I couldn't.

Highly recommending this to all who love Vikings, Romance and True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard. ;)

Now if you want a chance to win this e-book for yourself, see the Rafflecopter below! I wouldn't miss it!

Rating :

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW - MASTER'S MISTRESS

"His brother’s wedding brings norse prince Mykyl back to Bratthl’id Norway, and face to face with the proud Amoda Ni Cormac, a woman destined to be his oldest brother’s concubine. Driven by revenge, Mykyl steals the emerald eyed beauty."

Author: Patricia Bates
Pages: 284 pages
Publisher: Champagne Books Publishing on March 2009
Form: E-book (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Historical Romance
Amazon: Buy / $8.03 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $5.10 (Nook)
Excerpt: Small but Good Excerpt

"Sibling rivalry, deceit, and seduction flourish in ancient Ireland as Amoda Ni Cormac struggles to free herself from the shadows of her enslavement.

His brother’s wedding brings norse prince Mykyl back to Bratthl’id Norway, and face to face with the proud Amoda Ni Cormac, a woman destined to be his oldest brother’s concubine. Driven by revenge, Mykyl steals the emerald eyed beauty.

Bound by duty, secrets, and lies, Mykyl and Amoda are caught in a battle for survival that will ultimately set them free." ~From Goodreads

I love historical romance. I loved it when it's accurate and detailed, and I love it when it's more loose and mainly emotional - I go both ways, so I did love the story of a slave getting stolen to be another's mistress. I liked Amoda a lot, she was a spitfire, proud and capable and knew how to survive, plus the things coming out of her mouth often had me giggling or cringing. I hated Olaf and Tyr, they seriously creeped me out. I love Mykyl, his pride, his holier than tho attitude but also his good heart and his desire for Amoda. What I hated about him was his name. Sorry, I know it's supposed to just sound like Michael but my language is phonetic. No one else probably won't give this even one though, but I'm Finnish and that "name" just comes way too close to a really yukky thing in Finnish. This almost made me stop reading first couple of chapter in.

Luckily I didn't stop because this book was so good! I became numb to the name and just enjoyed the story. I enjoyed all of the trouble and bullying Amoda went through, the threat Olaf proposed and the battle M went through inside noticing he was falling in love with Amoda. I liked the time period, I liked the supporting cast and I loved the prickly chemistry between Amoda and M.

Patricia Bates writes great, her writing is very easy to read, easy flowing, entertaining, sexy and has plenty of action to keep the story going forward. Even the lulls in the story built the characters and didn't become boring skippable pages, which happens more than enough in romance.

Recommended for Historical Romance lovers who like their men norse vikings and their women tough little spitfires with a bite. Just think of Alexander Skårgard and Emma Stone.

Rating :

REVIEW - LOKI'S DAUGHTERS

Author: Delle Jacobs
File Size: 453 KB ( aka approx. 250 pages )
Publisher: Delle Jacobs
Published: January 11, 2010
Form: Kindle Edition


I found this free on Amazon.com for Kindle, and read it in less than 24 hours.

The story begins with 9th Century Cumbria where a village is inhabited by Celt women only, after raid, after raid of Vikings who killed their men in their wake. Arienh is the rock of the whole village of women, but as hard as she tries they aren't doing good. What changes everything is when Arienh runs into a lone Viking in the hills, he tries to capture her only to be stabbed to his and her surprise by Arienh.

Her conscience eventually nags enough that she allows the dying Viking the warmth of her cabin she shares with her sister and her nephew. As it happens he doesn't die, but his brother does show up to collect him.

The women see trouble right away as the men begin to feel far too much at home in their valley. As the men decide to stay and court the women for their wives Arienh will have none of it and the battle is ready to begin. Sneaky battle that is. Arienh in the front and center has decided to make the men's stay in their valley as unpleasant as possible, to drive them elsewhere.

It's not easy to come to terms that these men, who call themselves Northmen and not Vikings, are not the same Vikings who raider and raped the village in the years before.

While Arienh worries over her sister and nephew she finds that she's not quite immune to her Viking's courting after all, which gets her to heap of trouble.

The story is nice trip to Middle Ages in a soft romantic way. I myself have a soft spot for historical romance genre, after having grown up with the medieval romances written by Kaari Utrio.

I really did like this book, but I think reading it at the end of the winter would have been perfect.

You can find this book for free at amazon.com and at the author's blog.

Rating :

+ ☆ ☆ ☆ ★ ★
Good book, well worth reading

Started Reading : 12th of July 2011 : afternoon
Finished Reading : 13th of July 2011 : morning

Music: Loreena McKennitt, expecially "Skellig" ( http://youtu.be/EWvG2fLSypY )