Review: Historical - Paranormal - ROMANCE!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2014
The first book in this series, Éire's Captive Moon, is one of my all time favorite reads. I anxiously awaited this sequel. I wondered how Ms. Layne was going to make Agnarr a "good guy," a "hero." I wasn't worried, just very much anticipating the read. I was not disappointed. While one doesn't have to read ECM before this one, you really should, it's that good. This one can stand on it's own, as Ms. Layne shares just enough from the previous book so one is all "caught up."Charis is one of my favorite characters, and the book opens with her thoughts about her life now, ten years after the first book. Change is coming. She feels it. Charis is different. Some say she may be part fae. I always get that feeling about her. She's intriguing and a bit snarky. I like that, too!She and Cowan (her husband and the man who was enslaved when she was and who returned to Éire with her) adopted one of the children from the rath that was destroyed in the first book. Aislinn is now a healer in her own right, taught by Charis, and they send her off to the monastery for a year to learn what they can teach her about healing. She believes in the One True God and feels being with the monks won't be a hardshipIt's now early summer and the Vikings are on the prowl. Life is hard in the north and the Green Isle looks to be easy pickings. Agnarr has never forgotten the green, lush land...or the healer who he once stole. He's back and looking to make his life amid the Irish. He feels it's his wyrd (his fate) to bring the knowledge of Thor and Odin to this green land.Well, until an unfortunate accident takes his voice away and leaves a huge lump on his head. Cowan, knowing who he is, takes him to his daughter for healing. But he doesn't say who he is. Aislinn, for her part, has hated Agnarr, even while she has never seen him, for his part in the loss of her home and family. And for stealing Charis away. Her nightly prayers made me laugh, just a little.She heals him; she's attracted to him; she might want to kiss him. Then she finds out who he is.Ah, let the games begin! This was such fun. Ms. Layne teaches us history without making it boring. She shows us how life was lived in AD 834 and she makes it incredibly interesting. One can tell that she's done her research and she incorporates the facts in her story in a way that is immensely readable.This story has adventure, it has tension, there's that hint of the paranormal...and there's romance. Agnarr is going to have to work to earn his lady, his land, and the family that his heart seeks.It's also inspirational. Cowan and Aislinn are true believers in God. They don't pound it into Agnarr's face. They just live their lives believing. I enjoyed the conversations they had with him about their faith. Ms. Layne doesn't make this "preachy" at all. Very nicely done.This is a book to read over and over, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.*Thank you, NetGalley and TWCS, for the opportunity to read Éire's Viking