Taken By The Viking
by Michelle Styles
A
Medieval Viking romance that easily transports the reader!
Viken Haakon Haroldson comes to
Lindisfarne, Northumbria with his felag to do business and more
importantly to get the money lawfully owed him. In a flash of a second
mayhem breaks out. A monk kills his man Erik and a blood lust drives
Bjorn into a frenzy. Annis and her maidservant Mildred fled to hiding
but no one is safe from the maddened beserker or the secret of what
really happened in that room. As a business deal with the church turns
into a raid, this strange handsome Viken protects Annis and then
absconds with her, taking her to his homeland planning to ransom her
and the captive monks. Haakon delivers the high born Annis of
Birdoswald into the hands of his stepmother Gudrun and her maidservant
Tove. Removed from all that she held dear, Annis must work with the
other Viken women as she waits for the ransom that she knows may never
come. Forced to work at demanding tasks, can she find joy in her
captivity as she forms friendships and tries to maneuver among the
internal household politics especially when her Lindisfarne home is so
far away? As a Christian women whose uncle was Abbot of Lindisfarne,
duty and faith compels her to protect the captive monks but her trust
might just endanger herself and the monks! As the truth of the raid
events comes to light can Haakon prevent a blood feud and protect the
captive woman who has claimed his heart? Will one kiss lead to love?
In Taken By The Viking,
Michelle Styles has an exquisite sense for detail that transports the
reader into the landscape scenes and the community. Michelle Styles
grabs the reader's heart with her portrayal of Annis's faith and her
commitment to the monks. At the same time, Taken By The Viking creates an
intriguing contrast between Annis and the Lindisfarne Abbot and the
monk Aelfric showing the political and less idealistic sides of
religious life in the Middle Ages. Through her secondary characters and
her detailed settings, Michelle Styles creates a wonderfully felt
contrast between the two cultures of the Viking world and Lindisfarne,
including their economic differences and the resulting differences in
their daily lives and concerns.
With its subplots, community portrait and descriptive detail, Taken By The Viking reads like
fiction without sacrificing the romance because Michelle Styles makes
the reader feel and understand the Viking community. Secondary
characters and the inside view of home politics among the men and women
adds depth of character and exciting, dramatic subplots. All those
elements give a rich depth to Taken
By The Viking, making the hero and heroine more real, more
memorable to me. I cared for them and I did not want this book to end. Taken By The Viking is a good
example of what medieval romance can be for people who love Medieval
literature/history and romance. Michelle Styles allows the reader to
see domestic scenes that are less available to readers of Old Norse
literature. Michelle Styles combines impeccable research into the time
period with her experience of writing romance in other periods to bring
the story and the Medieval time period more alive in the imagination
and heart.
Publisher: Harlequin (May 2008)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Medieval Book Reviews
