In 2005, the Bookseller declared the Viking romance to be officially dead and never, ever coming back. However, they hadn’t consulted Harlequin Historical editors who researched the actual sales and desires of their readers. When my senior editor asked me if could I write one, I duly obliged with Taken by the Viking. The book beat lofty expectations, and the revival began such that the Viking period now ranks up there with Regency in terms of popular time periods for the line. The following list is some of the Viking set romances that I have escaped into on mainly rainy afternoons.
These seven actual sagas (really more adventure stories) from the Viking era have it all – famous warriors, thrilling adventures, and intrepid women.
My favorite of the seven is Halfdan Eysteinsson which has a great hero and an even better heroine – Ingigerd who swaps places with her maid and earns her place as a warrior and avenges her father’s death before finding true love. Not to be missed.
Combining traditional myth, oral history and re-worked European legend to depict an ancient realm of heroism and wonder, the seven tales collected here are among the most fantastical of all the Norse romances. Powerfully inspired works of Icelandic imagination, they relate intriguing, often comical tales of famous kings, difficult gods and women of great beauty, goodness or cunning. The tales plunder a wide range of earlier literature from Homer to the French romances - as in the tale of the wandering hero Arrow-Odd, which combines several older legends, or Egil and Asmund, where the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops…
One of the great Viking sagas, and supposedly written by a woman or a group of women.
Certainly it has a female focus and features one of the great complicated heroines – Gudrun Osvif’s-daughter. Essentially a tale depicting the settlement of an Icelandic valley, Gudrun with her various men and how she manages her life including how she accidentally destroys the life of the man she loves best.
One of the substories revolves around a Viking princess, taken as a slave, and how she manages to carve a new life for herself, finding love in the process.
Written around 1245 by an unknown author, the Laxdaela Saga is an extraordinary tale of conflicting kinships and passionate love, and one of the most compelling works of Icelandic literature. Covering 150 years in the lives of the inhabitants of the community of Laxriverdale, the saga focuses primarily upon the story of Gudrun Osvif's-daughter: a proud, beautiful, vain and desirable figure, who is forced into an unhappy marriage and destroys the only man she has truly loved - her husband's best friend. A moving tale of murder and sacrifice, romance and regret, the Laxdaela Saga is also a fascinating insight…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
An old school bodice ripper by the absolute mistress of them.
Fires of Winter features a feisty heroine in the Irish princess Breena and a strong hero bent on revenge in Garrick Haardrad. ‘Everyone loves a Lindsey’ was the slogan in the early 1980s and this book showcases her at her page-turning best.
Lovely and dauntless, abducted by invaders from across an icy sea, Lady Breena vowed vengeance swearing no Viking brute would be her master no barbarian would enslave her noble Celtic heart, but then came Garrick Haardrad, the proud and powerful son of a ruthless Viking chieftain.
Willingham penned an absolute cracker of a revenge story for the first book in this five-book continuity about the Sons of Sigurd.
There is an overall mystery of who was responsible for murdering the warriors’ father. After losing his beloved, Alaar Sigurdson has vowed to take revenge and seeks to use captive Breanne O Callahan to get close enough to her foster father, but…the attraction overcomes them in this enemies-to-lovers tale.
It is an absolute page-turner which I inhaled in one sitting. There are reasons why the Sons of Sigurd is a global bestseller.
Part of Sons of Sigurd. Battle-scarred Viking Alarr is a broken warrior who expects to die carrying out his oath of blood vengeance. He saves maiden Breanne O Callahan from slavery only with the intention of getting close enough to kill her foster father. Until their spark of passion ignites a desire to keep her close...and presents Alarr with a gut-wrenching choice - his revenge or his heart?
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
St. George currently writes stunning Gilded Age set historical romance, but before that she wrote Vikings for Harlequin.
Enslaved by the Viking is the start of her Viking Warriors series and really showcases her page-turning quality – well-written with a hero to die for and a feisty heroine in this enemy-to-lovers tale set in Viking-age Northumbria. I will warn you that once started, you will not want to put this one down.
The moment Merewyn sets eyes on the warrior standing atop a Viking raiding ship something inside her stirs.
By all rights she should fear him, should run from him, and yet she cannot help but be drawn to him.
Eirik has never before taken a woman captive, but Merewyn inspires a longing that calls to the darkness within him. He takes her back to his homeland as his slave, and they finally succumb to passion. And as the lines between captor and captive blur Eirik realises they have crossed into dangerous territory...
This Viking is about to uncover an explosive secret! An unexpected family, for the lone-wolf warrior.
Nothing daunts Viking Tylir, until unassuming Melkorka Helmsdottar upends his life by revealing he has a secret heir! Mel has looked after little Katla since the girl’s mother died, but now Tylir intends to claim his child. Yet this battle-hardened jarl has no idea how to be a father. Mel is the perfect person to help him. Only, spending time with the captivating Mel binds him closer to her than he ever thought possible…
A fake date, romance, and a conniving co-worker you'd love to shut down. Fun summer reading!
Liza loves helping people and creating designer shoes that feel as good as they look. Financially overextended and recovering from a divorce, her last-ditch opportunity to pitch her firm for investment falls flat. Then…
Haunted by her choices, including marrying an abusive con man, thirty-five-year-old Elizabeth has been unable to speak for two years. She is further devastated when she learns an old boyfriend has died. Nothing in her life…
