Thursday, August 10, 2017

BOOK REVIEW # 2017-025 - DEAR VIKING


I’d been in the mood to read/review another tender Inspiration/Christian romance, so as I usually do I did a genre search and this book’s title caught my eye. Naturally, While I knew a little about Charlemagne and his “converting” pagans to Christianity by the sword, I didn’t know anything about the Vikings and their conversion.



Ms. Soard did a decent job in researching the historical aspects for her story, because as I found out in doing my own research. Not all Vikings fell into the image we’ve got in our minds of being fierce pillagers, some were traders. Viking traders noticed they could do better business as a Christian than they could a Viking, so they wore a cross while amongst Christians and Thor’s hammer when they weren’t, and could practice both religions if they weren’t baptized, which had been the practice for a few centuries.



And it’s this practice of embracing two cultures which brought conflict into Rok Erikson’s life and his mind. He must deal with going up against those who are intent to kill his father, yet this doing this would be a transgression of the new Christian faith he’s embrace.



When his eldest brother winds up killing the man who’s out to kill his father, and violates a frail daughter sexually; another daughter takes a dagger to slay him in revenge and out of fear she’d be next. She’s forced to leave her ravaged sister behind when she’s taken prisoner by Rok’s family to face a trial for her living up to her own family’s code of honor.



Kismet has a way of stepping in and complicating matters as Leani finds herself being increasingly attracted to Rok who doesn’t know who is she. Her mind is now in turmoil as she faces a dichotomy in her beliefs, Leani’s guilt-ridden with the murder she’s committed on one hand and desperate to find some non-existing compassion on the other.

Ultimately, she realizes how her new-found faith in G-d can be her salvation when she’d thought there could be none.

The author did a marvelous job in intertwining both the Viking and Christian belief systems and religions. This endeavor by Ms. Soard is sure to pull at your heartstrings even though you might believe you’ve got none, which is why I’ve given it the 5 STARS it richly deserves.

UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1AW9WB3M6H0Q7

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