Review: Great debut, hoping to read more
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 6, 2013
Blind Allegiance is Violetta Rand's debut novel from Soul Mate Publishing.  This is the first in a series which brings to life the age of the Vikings during the beginning of the end of their tumultuous grip on Europe and surrounding lands.In Blind Allegiance, Rand introduces Randvior, a Viking ruler raised with an atypical English education.  His rearing is at odds with the brutality his culture thrives upon, but he tries to find a happy medium in which his people can thrive.  His relationship with Noelle is contradictory to the wishes of his mother and a possible cause for rebellion amongst his people.  Despite all this, he is determined to make Noelle his.Noelle is an educated English woman, also an anomaly for her time.  She is determined and strong-willed and not easily won over by Randvior's attempts at seduction.Randvior is the quintessential romance hero.  He is physically and emotionally strong, but still able to be vulnerable and expresses genuine love and adoration for Noelle.  Noelle's character compliments Randvior's, but is sometimes too stubborn to recognize her own faults.  The author weaves an elaborate story that keeps you engaged and wanting to read more.  Rand introduces a world thick with tradition stemming from a mythological foundation.  The author is considerate with the amount of detail she uses to describe the Viking homeland instead of addling the storyline with pages of descriptive passages.  It's just enough to transport me to another world, while not boring me with redundant descriptions of the Viking's homeland.  Rand also finds opportunity to introduce secondary characters with plot lines that could easily be spun off into subsequent novels.I would recommend Blind Allegiance to anyone who is partial to historical novels.  Though the book is placed in 1000's,  Rand takes certain liberties with the language while keeping true to the culture.  This combination gives Blind Allegiance the feeling of a love story that could have taken place during any age.  I am glad I purchased Rand's novel, and will definitely purchase the next.