Review: 3.5 stars- a great historical!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 13, 2014
** originally written for Book Bliss book blog. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review**Review:3.5 starsGeneral: Viking's Fire is an absolutely amazing addition to historical romances out there. I hadn't read many about Vikings and when the opportunity came up I jumped to do so. It's a time frame, and group, that is often ignored in historicals. Andrea has some of the most beautifully descriptive writing I have ever come across. With every word I could completely envision the scenes before me and meld into the story. The level of historical accuracy and detailing in the world building was by far the strongest part of the book. The plot was also engaging, and double layered adding more entertainment and more reasons to keep turning the pages aside from romance. I thought all the characters were distinct and interesting to read.Where the book fell a little short for me was the flow. I can't quite describe it but the sense of time felt very strange in the novel. Almost like scenes were rushed or skipped and emotional connections missed. All details and plot points were hit wonderfully but there were just some times when I was reading and the passing of time felt off. Also, I loved Kaireen, but aside from a scene or two I couldn't figure out why she would love Bram, I did from the amazing heroics but I was a little puzzled what changed her mind, beside the potential stirrings of Elva and how handsome Bram was.Characters: Kaireen- Kaireen was absolutely one of the best characters I have ever written. Why? Because she was so flawed it showed her perfection. Kaireen was perfectly written based on her station in life. She was spoiled, bratty and bull headed. Everything that would become a women of her stature in the time frame. It made watching her change all the more entertaining and I loved that in the end, she was still essentially spoiled, bratty and bull headed but she'd learned to be caring, supportive and agreeable as well.Bram- Bram sounds like an incredible hot alpha male. Pushy, a sense of justice and a love for kaireen that you have to read to the end to understand. I loved the few scenes in his head and wish there would have been a few more to really fall in love with him since it's hard to with Kaireen bashing him the whole time (typical highland girl lol)