What do you think?
Rate this book
Viking Horde #1
A Viking's Love
Allisande of Lockwraithe paid the price for her father's treachery when the Viking invaders destroyed her home and abducted her for ransom.
The Viking leader, Joran Ivarsson, swore to make her suffer as his slave. One look into his fiery slave's eyes and he was the one enslaved.
Allisande expected to suffer at her captors hands, not feel the first stirrings of desire for her barbaric new master.
Forced into slavery in a harsh, unyielding land, she comes to understand the man who owns her. Sworn to hate him forever for the death of her father, Allisande learns the insidious truths that make her question all she has ever known.
Joran the Stonehearted, he is nicknamed, for his lack of softness for women and mercy in battle. Allisande undermines his best intentions to remain aloof to her, cracking the granite layers of his heart, making him question his using her as an instrument of revenge.
Slave soon conquers master as the fires of passion bring them closer. A force of wills clash and a tragic circumstance drives them apart.
Allisande and Joran become embroiled in a bitter web of deceit when Joran's father seeks his ultimate revenge against his enemies. Joran must choose between the woman who owns his heart and the father he has sworn loyalty to.
The Viking leader, Joran Ivarsson, swore to make her suffer as his slave. One look into his fiery slave's eyes and he was the one enslaved.
Allisande expected to suffer at her captors hands, not feel the first stirrings of desire for her barbaric new master.
Forced into slavery in a harsh, unyielding land, she comes to understand the man who owns her. Sworn to hate him forever for the death of her father, Allisande learns the insidious truths that make her question all she has ever known.
Joran the Stonehearted, he is nicknamed, for his lack of softness for women and mercy in battle. Allisande undermines his best intentions to remain aloof to her, cracking the granite layers of his heart, making him question his using her as an instrument of revenge.
Slave soon conquers master as the fires of passion bring them closer. A force of wills clash and a tragic circumstance drives them apart.
Allisande and Joran become embroiled in a bitter web of deceit when Joran's father seeks his ultimate revenge against his enemies. Joran must choose between the woman who owns his heart and the father he has sworn loyalty to.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 21, 2012
39 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Karolyn Cairns
21 books37 followersKarolyn Cairns is a single mother of 14 yr old twins. She lives in sunny Florida. She spends a lot of time sitting in the sun thinking about that next great book. When she's not making up stories, she spends a lot of time working in the garden. She's back to work writing after some time off. Its been a great year.
She just wrapped up The Libertine's Wife, a historical romance. I would warn you right away that the hero in this book lives his life by a philosophy and set of rules most women would find disagreeable. We make NO apologies for Garret. He won't apologize, so why should we? A new historical romance titled A Viking's Love, is also available now. She is currently working on books three to 'The Wicked Series' and 'The Lost Tribe Series'. 'A Wicked Arrangement' is in the works, and 'Fangs', both due out in the spring.
Karolyn enjoys reviews and comments from readers. She thanks you for all your encouragement.
**BIO from Smashwords profile**
She just wrapped up The Libertine's Wife, a historical romance. I would warn you right away that the hero in this book lives his life by a philosophy and set of rules most women would find disagreeable. We make NO apologies for Garret. He won't apologize, so why should we? A new historical romance titled A Viking's Love, is also available now. She is currently working on books three to 'The Wicked Series' and 'The Lost Tribe Series'. 'A Wicked Arrangement' is in the works, and 'Fangs', both due out in the spring.
Karolyn enjoys reviews and comments from readers. She thanks you for all your encouragement.
**BIO from Smashwords profile**
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 25, 2025
Reread: 7/25/25
Reread:6/3/22
Read: 2020
I hope Goodreads hasn't listed my review. This is by far my favorite of my Vikings hr! It's definitely a bodice-ripper! The h is SA many times.
Hopefully, i can find my original review.
Reread:6/3/22
Read: 2020
I hope Goodreads hasn't listed my review. This is by far my favorite of my Vikings hr! It's definitely a bodice-ripper! The h is SA many times.
Hopefully, i can find my original review.
July 24, 2014
Wow. Not sure where to start. I agreed with the high and low ratings for this book. It was all over the place! It was also really long--I thought the story should have been over at like 70 percent on my Kindle. I thought, what else could possibly happen?
WARNING: If you don't like your heroines brutalized and raped, stay away. Even I was like DAAAAANG! How much more could she take? But honestly, this was probably a realistic view of how women were treated back then.
I have a new love for blond, blue eyed heroes--but only if they are musclebound Viking warriors. I liked the hero Joran. He did have a few shady moments--you'll know what I'm talking about when you read!
I didn't like Allisande at first. She's our dark hair, violet eyed heroine. She has every reason to be stubborn, etc. Her home has been raided and she has been taken as a prize to ransom to her brother.
I guess I just didn't want them to fight the whole book. I did get my wish.
Back to the book though. It was very repetitive. I felt like they kept saying the same things over and over. Like, Joran tells his leman that he will ransom Allisande. Later in the dinner hall, she asks, “Will you ransom her?”
Or when Joran is surprised that Allisande speaks Norse. He asks her who taught her. She says her mom taught her the language. A few pages later, Joran is chuckling to himself and wondering who taught her Norse.
There was a lot of description and introspection in between the dialogue. I found that I sped read through a lot of the “telling”. Not much showing.
Then there's a frickin FAIRY in the story. Wait, where did that come from? Magic like that had no place in this story.
All right, if you have read this far, just know that I liked it overall. I mean all of the crazy action kept me reading to see what was going to happen!
Give it a try!
WARNING: If you don't like your heroines brutalized and raped, stay away. Even I was like DAAAAANG! How much more could she take? But honestly, this was probably a realistic view of how women were treated back then.
I have a new love for blond, blue eyed heroes--but only if they are musclebound Viking warriors. I liked the hero Joran. He did have a few shady moments--you'll know what I'm talking about when you read!
I didn't like Allisande at first. She's our dark hair, violet eyed heroine. She has every reason to be stubborn, etc. Her home has been raided and she has been taken as a prize to ransom to her brother.
I guess I just didn't want them to fight the whole book. I did get my wish.
Back to the book though. It was very repetitive. I felt like they kept saying the same things over and over. Like, Joran tells his leman that he will ransom Allisande. Later in the dinner hall, she asks, “Will you ransom her?”
Or when Joran is surprised that Allisande speaks Norse. He asks her who taught her. She says her mom taught her the language. A few pages later, Joran is chuckling to himself and wondering who taught her Norse.
There was a lot of description and introspection in between the dialogue. I found that I sped read through a lot of the “telling”. Not much showing.
Then there's a frickin FAIRY in the story. Wait, where did that come from? Magic like that had no place in this story.
All right, if you have read this far, just know that I liked it overall. I mean all of the crazy action kept me reading to see what was going to happen!
Give it a try!
December 21, 2025
Uneven book that desperately needs the hand of a skilled editor…
I usually rate my books on the enjoyment factor, not on how well they are written.
I rate The Viking’s Love at 2 ½ stars, smack in the middle, neither terrible nor great, which means while I enjoyed many parts, but overall I was left feeling that it could have been much better with some major editing. On this rare occassion, the poor editing really took me out of the story.
This novel is faintly reminiscent of the much superior Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey (yes, I know that book is flawed, but it is my favorite Viking romance), with a beautiful black-haired maiden named Allisande who dresses like a boy and fights like a man and is kidnapped by Vikings who slaughter her people. She vows revenge on her captors, particularly the hero’s father, who was responsible for the raid on her home, and seeks to escape the Northlands and return to England. The hero, Joran, the Stone-Hearted has been betrayed by love in the past and is a wild Berserker warrior (only we don’t really see his much bad-assery until later on). And there are lots of tankards of milk, LOL.
However there are numerous flaws, typos, formatting issues and repetitive language, but a big problem in this book is that The Viking’s Love suffers a bit from identity crisis; is it an homage to old-style bodice rippers with a macho alpha hero, or is it a first in a yet another trilogy of historical-paranormal eroticas?
This novel felt like three different books in one. The first third is your basic master-slave story where a barbarian kidnaps a beautiful woman and takes her to his home, she fights him off, he punishes her in various cruel ways, then ravishes (or rapes/forced seduces) her. I liked that Joran (bad name for a hero, kept thinking of that Dutch kid who killed Natalee Holloway) wasn’t a sensitive, caring type, but a brute of a man who ruled as he pleased and took what he wanted. I don’t always look for those traits in romance heroes, but as far as Vikings go, they shouldn’t be the “sensitive pony-tailed guys” that I disappointingly and quite often find so many Viking heroes to be in post 1995 romances.
The second section is filled with steamy love scenes as Joran and Allisande come to know each other. The middle part was wonderful; I stayed up late into the wee hours reading. When the sexy mercenary Viking Rowan was introduced, I was totally smitten with him. He’s far more captivating than Joran; so very, very hot, and surprisingly Allisande thinks so too, as she is almost seduced by him.
I was excited about reading Rowan’s story one day. Unfortunately, I didn’t have to wait long, as we got to see a lot of Rowan’s story in the last part of the book, until I was sick of his and another character’s man-slut ways.
The author spent the last third of the book heavily dealing with two other couples, Viking mercenary Rowan & his British captive Lady Ambryn, and Allisande's brother, Collin, & his 13-year-old bride of convenience, Meghera
When Meghera is introduced as a witch with flames shooting out of her fingers, I rolled my eyes, but went with it. When she harnessed the power to move water, quake the earth, and throw people through the air, I was still there, but barely. Then she grew freaking wings. Plus, she was able to heal the wounded and see into the future. And it was eventually revealed that she was part of an ancient fairy race or some crap like that. I’m not a fan of paranormal romances, so that seemed out of place to me.
Somewhere along the way Allisande got pushed to the background, even though many horrible events happen to her. Despite the many tragedies that Allisande went through, the heroine seemed like just another character in her own book. The set up for a future trilogy became overwhelming. This reminded me a bit of a football player who does celebratory dance before completing the touchdown, only to fumble the ball at the ten yard line. Focus on completing the play, not what comes after.
After such a promising start, the last third was disappointing. Allisande experienced so much misfortune, but I hardly ever felt her misery; it was just stuff that happened to move the story along.
At the end of the book, five years later, Allisande has 8-10 kids (some natural born, others adopted). So much happened, but it felt like I was reading a summary of events, not actually experiencing them. I read this on my Kindle, and saw that if printed the book would run well over 400 pages. 30-40 pages could have easily been cut.
Now, as for those errors. I realize the book was self-published and I admire the author for going out and producing her work on her own, but if you can’t afford an editor, at least print out the manuscript and edit it yourself with a bright red pen. Verb tenses were often incorrect. Semicolons were used in place of commas. There were spelling mistakes that would not have been picked up by auto-correct that were quite jarring (e.g., “threw” instead of “through,” “absolutions” instead of “ablutions,” “too” instead of “to”). Wounds heal, then scab, then heal, then mysteriously scab up again. There are contradictory statements in the same paragraph (Joran thinks it would be repugnant to force Allisande to his bed, then sentences later he says he will force her anyway; in one chapter Joran claims he’s never hit a woman, but in the previous chapter he had smacked Allisande). Then there was the constant repetition of words or sentences (e.g. “She avoided looking directly at his nakedness. He felt himself growing aroused despite his weariness. Allisande avoided looking at his nudity” or “…He reasoned the man had his reasons”). And I can’t count how many times words like furious, glared, chuckled, scowled were used again and again.
The worst was when the heroine “stamped her tiny foot in outrage.” Seriously, are there any heroines in Romancelandia with size 9 feet like me, who stomp around like a draft horse?
But I did round my rating up to a three stars, so there were obviously parts that I enjoyed.
What I liked:
1) This book is definitely written in old-skool bodice ripper style with no apologies. There are forced seduction, rapes, kidnapping, cruel murders and gory violence. I love bodice rippers and the uber-alpha males that come with them. Glad to see that some authors aren’t making their books bland and PC. The first two thirds of the book showed Joran to be the chauvinist Viking pig I love to read about.
2) Rowan!
3) The ultra-steamy sex scenes, the great romance between Joran and Allisande and the violent, no-holds-barred Viking battles.
Now because of those positives, I am still looking forward to picking up another book by this author, mostly because of the old-style appeal. The cave-man hero who reforms his bad ways due to the heroine’s love is something I find lacking on so many of these “nu-romance crap-fests” as I call them.
So all in all, if you are a patient, forgiving reader who doesn’t mind imperfect writing as long as the overall story is entertaining, “The Viking’s Love" by Karolyn Cairns is a good read.
But please, with the money made from the sales of this book, I beg the author to buy a thesaurus!
I usually rate my books on the enjoyment factor, not on how well they are written.
I rate The Viking’s Love at 2 ½ stars, smack in the middle, neither terrible nor great, which means while I enjoyed many parts, but overall I was left feeling that it could have been much better with some major editing. On this rare occassion, the poor editing really took me out of the story.
This novel is faintly reminiscent of the much superior Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey (yes, I know that book is flawed, but it is my favorite Viking romance), with a beautiful black-haired maiden named Allisande who dresses like a boy and fights like a man and is kidnapped by Vikings who slaughter her people. She vows revenge on her captors, particularly the hero’s father, who was responsible for the raid on her home, and seeks to escape the Northlands and return to England. The hero, Joran, the Stone-Hearted has been betrayed by love in the past and is a wild Berserker warrior (only we don’t really see his much bad-assery until later on). And there are lots of tankards of milk, LOL.
However there are numerous flaws, typos, formatting issues and repetitive language, but a big problem in this book is that The Viking’s Love suffers a bit from identity crisis; is it an homage to old-style bodice rippers with a macho alpha hero, or is it a first in a yet another trilogy of historical-paranormal eroticas?
This novel felt like three different books in one. The first third is your basic master-slave story where a barbarian kidnaps a beautiful woman and takes her to his home, she fights him off, he punishes her in various cruel ways, then ravishes (or rapes/forced seduces) her. I liked that Joran (bad name for a hero, kept thinking of that Dutch kid who killed Natalee Holloway) wasn’t a sensitive, caring type, but a brute of a man who ruled as he pleased and took what he wanted. I don’t always look for those traits in romance heroes, but as far as Vikings go, they shouldn’t be the “sensitive pony-tailed guys” that I disappointingly and quite often find so many Viking heroes to be in post 1995 romances.
The second section is filled with steamy love scenes as Joran and Allisande come to know each other. The middle part was wonderful; I stayed up late into the wee hours reading. When the sexy mercenary Viking Rowan was introduced, I was totally smitten with him. He’s far more captivating than Joran; so very, very hot, and surprisingly Allisande thinks so too, as she is almost seduced by him.
I was excited about reading Rowan’s story one day. Unfortunately, I didn’t have to wait long, as we got to see a lot of Rowan’s story in the last part of the book, until I was sick of his and another character’s man-slut ways.
The author spent the last third of the book heavily dealing with two other couples, Viking mercenary Rowan & his British captive Lady Ambryn, and Allisande's brother, Collin, & his 13-year-old bride of convenience, Meghera
When Meghera is introduced as a witch with flames shooting out of her fingers, I rolled my eyes, but went with it. When she harnessed the power to move water, quake the earth, and throw people through the air, I was still there, but barely. Then she grew freaking wings. Plus, she was able to heal the wounded and see into the future. And it was eventually revealed that she was part of an ancient fairy race or some crap like that. I’m not a fan of paranormal romances, so that seemed out of place to me.
Somewhere along the way Allisande got pushed to the background, even though many horrible events happen to her. Despite the many tragedies that Allisande went through, the heroine seemed like just another character in her own book. The set up for a future trilogy became overwhelming. This reminded me a bit of a football player who does celebratory dance before completing the touchdown, only to fumble the ball at the ten yard line. Focus on completing the play, not what comes after.
After such a promising start, the last third was disappointing. Allisande experienced so much misfortune, but I hardly ever felt her misery; it was just stuff that happened to move the story along.
At the end of the book, five years later, Allisande has 8-10 kids (some natural born, others adopted). So much happened, but it felt like I was reading a summary of events, not actually experiencing them. I read this on my Kindle, and saw that if printed the book would run well over 400 pages. 30-40 pages could have easily been cut.
Now, as for those errors. I realize the book was self-published and I admire the author for going out and producing her work on her own, but if you can’t afford an editor, at least print out the manuscript and edit it yourself with a bright red pen. Verb tenses were often incorrect. Semicolons were used in place of commas. There were spelling mistakes that would not have been picked up by auto-correct that were quite jarring (e.g., “threw” instead of “through,” “absolutions” instead of “ablutions,” “too” instead of “to”). Wounds heal, then scab, then heal, then mysteriously scab up again. There are contradictory statements in the same paragraph (Joran thinks it would be repugnant to force Allisande to his bed, then sentences later he says he will force her anyway; in one chapter Joran claims he’s never hit a woman, but in the previous chapter he had smacked Allisande). Then there was the constant repetition of words or sentences (e.g. “She avoided looking directly at his nakedness. He felt himself growing aroused despite his weariness. Allisande avoided looking at his nudity” or “…He reasoned the man had his reasons”). And I can’t count how many times words like furious, glared, chuckled, scowled were used again and again.
The worst was when the heroine “stamped her tiny foot in outrage.” Seriously, are there any heroines in Romancelandia with size 9 feet like me, who stomp around like a draft horse?
But I did round my rating up to a three stars, so there were obviously parts that I enjoyed.
What I liked:
1) This book is definitely written in old-skool bodice ripper style with no apologies. There are forced seduction, rapes, kidnapping, cruel murders and gory violence. I love bodice rippers and the uber-alpha males that come with them. Glad to see that some authors aren’t making their books bland and PC. The first two thirds of the book showed Joran to be the chauvinist Viking pig I love to read about.
2) Rowan!
3) The ultra-steamy sex scenes, the great romance between Joran and Allisande and the violent, no-holds-barred Viking battles.
Now because of those positives, I am still looking forward to picking up another book by this author, mostly because of the old-style appeal. The cave-man hero who reforms his bad ways due to the heroine’s love is something I find lacking on so many of these “nu-romance crap-fests” as I call them.
So all in all, if you are a patient, forgiving reader who doesn’t mind imperfect writing as long as the overall story is entertaining, “The Viking’s Love" by Karolyn Cairns is a good read.
But please, with the money made from the sales of this book, I beg the author to buy a thesaurus!
March 6, 2014
This was a wonderful Viking romance and quite unusual as there were elements which surprised me in it! Don't want to say more to spoil it for others but I thought this a great read.I would love the author to have other books for the secondary characters, there could be wonderful stories!!
July 6, 2021
The Viking badass wasn't so badass and the "feisty" heroine was stupid....so....I'll pass. DNF @ 45%
April 20, 2018
This is a first time read by this author for me and I thought it was enjoyable reading. Although the MCs ere very stubborn band pigheaded it started to turn a bit and delve into some form of attraction between the two. It did become a bit borderline in some parts where I started to DNF because of content but I did continue and felt it was worth finishing.
3-stars on this one
3-stars on this one
July 22, 2017
The first part of the book drew me in but overall the story is very confusing and it needs serious editing.
April 18, 2016
needed a proper editor ...too long and a bit ridiculous ...overall it was not well written and didn't have proper narrative flow
November 26, 2018
Don't judge this book by its cover. It's far better than I ever imagined...
August 1, 2017
What an amazing story. full of adventurous and shocking scenes. Having read so many books in these genre makes me tire easily of the same story of Viking took slave unwillingly and they fallen in love. This book is nothing like predictable at all. it makes me hold my breath and laughed, such a wonderful reading. Joran as a Hero was very interesting character and Alisande is even amazing. The author not hesitate to write such a devastating scene which is perfectly fit to that era. I hate that many books of Viking avoid the rape scene or the hero suddenly arrive before things happen. I tell you not this book, this author never shy to let these things happen to the heroine. aside for the main characters all the side characters were very interesting story as well. however it is such a slow and long book but make me keep awake all night.
October 6, 2016
This book started really book and I thought it was going to be at least a 4 stars review, but all of a sudden, it turned into a big mess.
The story was too long, and streched to include characters that turned one story into, at least, 3.
If it had ended at 50%, it would have been great, but the story was dragged unecessarily.
The story was too long, and streched to include characters that turned one story into, at least, 3.
If it had ended at 50%, it would have been great, but the story was dragged unecessarily.
April 24, 2022
I agree with a lot of ‘Wendy, Lady Evelyn Quince’s review. It also took me a few start and stop goes before I ended up finishing it.
It was mostly enjoyable but she really needed and editor, one for grammar and one for inconsistencies and over all plot line.
It was mostly enjoyable but she really needed and editor, one for grammar and one for inconsistencies and over all plot line.
October 9, 2022
RAPE ALERT! #vikingbodiceripper
You have been warned! This story isn't for everyone, and it contains sensitive triggers and misogynistic characters. Everything you can despise in a bodice ripper is here. And depending on if you're a fan, you'll either like it or hate it.
Wow, it's been awhile since I've read a bodice ripper, and a Viking one at that. If you're familiar with the troupe, I KID YOU NOT, this has EVERYTHING you can expect from a story like this. The cliché setting and plot, the stubborn and foolish Viking male lead, the headstrong and overly proud heroine, and naturally the bad guys who wants to break them apart. I guess this story wasn't too bad (though overly long-winded) if you like the troupe, otherwise I think plenty of female readers would be cursing the author or characters. Personally, some days I live for this troupe.
ALISSANDE was a brave heroine and a fighter too. But as expected from a bodice ripper, she tends to have too much pride that becomes her downfall. Naturally, as a Lady, it's her lot to be arrogant. When her home is invaded by the Vikings, she takes her stand when her people are threatened, even killing two of them vicious Vikings with her dagger. Imagine that! A heroine who can actually fight! One thing that sets her apart from bodice ripper heroines, is how Alissande isn't prone to hysterics but she'll suffer in silence if she has to. Like I said, PRIDE. No one can fault her hatred for Joran and it made me squeamish how he tried to constantly force himself upon her. For the first time, I feel ill, considering I usually just brush this off as fictional. Anyways, I thought the author introduced their passion like a bull in a china shop, when it should have been done seductively. No one can praise Joran for being delicate or cunning, because he's so impatient. He doesn't even know how to woo a female. Alissande suffered a lot in this story - the death of her father and people, being raped several times by 3 different males, and being humiliated as a slave for the Vikings. For a woman who hasn't much to look forward to in life, I think she'd done well for herself later, and I'm glad that the stupidity between her and Joran was solved later when they both opened up and had a proper COMMUNICATION that wasn't just based on verbal assumptions that leads to misunderstandings.
JORAN...I didn't liked at all. And that's a first. I don't hate him, but I felt he was unworthy of Alissande. Sure, no one's perfect but I found Joran acted like a spoilt brat the entire length when he wanted to win Alissande's love and affection BUT HE HAD NO IDEA THAT'S WHAT HE WANTED. Being him, and how women all fall into his beds, he thinks that SEX will solve his problems, when it only serves to harden Alissande's heart against him. Dimwit. No woman who has been abducted, nearly raped and let's not forget the fact that he raided her home and killed her father...is ever going to want to have sex with their father's killer. He had a lot of work cut out for him, and even till the end, I wasn't quite satisfied with him even if he tried to amend his shortcomings. Joran was blinded by his past, a man scorned and a son who is manipulated by his father...all this time, his happiness was destroyed by the man who fathered him, and he has no idea. Even though Joran was a victim too, I guess he wasn't a very intelligent guy to have realized the truth, and where Alissande was too proud, Joran was too stubborn and set in his ways, that it turned him against the woman he loves just in a blink of an eye.
OVERALL, this had angst, no doubt, but it didn't leave me very fulfilled or satisfied. The hero (while I understand he can't be perfect, or at least the kind of male I prefer), fell short for me, and yes, you can expect the jealous leman scene, the scheming father, multiple rapes and the brutality that comes with their era. This book had me feeling thankful that I wasn't born in their time...the depravities and injustice faced by the women in the past needed a champion, and they were so poorly mistreated, even when faced with rape, they are to blame for the man's actions.
If you're a fan of classic bodice rippers, or viking romances, I won't ask you to pass this up. It's quite interesting and a page turner despite having no love loss for the characters.
You have been warned! This story isn't for everyone, and it contains sensitive triggers and misogynistic characters. Everything you can despise in a bodice ripper is here. And depending on if you're a fan, you'll either like it or hate it.
Wow, it's been awhile since I've read a bodice ripper, and a Viking one at that. If you're familiar with the troupe, I KID YOU NOT, this has EVERYTHING you can expect from a story like this. The cliché setting and plot, the stubborn and foolish Viking male lead, the headstrong and overly proud heroine, and naturally the bad guys who wants to break them apart. I guess this story wasn't too bad (though overly long-winded) if you like the troupe, otherwise I think plenty of female readers would be cursing the author or characters. Personally, some days I live for this troupe.
ALISSANDE was a brave heroine and a fighter too. But as expected from a bodice ripper, she tends to have too much pride that becomes her downfall. Naturally, as a Lady, it's her lot to be arrogant. When her home is invaded by the Vikings, she takes her stand when her people are threatened, even killing two of them vicious Vikings with her dagger. Imagine that! A heroine who can actually fight! One thing that sets her apart from bodice ripper heroines, is how Alissande isn't prone to hysterics but she'll suffer in silence if she has to. Like I said, PRIDE. No one can fault her hatred for Joran and it made me squeamish how he tried to constantly force himself upon her. For the first time, I feel ill, considering I usually just brush this off as fictional. Anyways, I thought the author introduced their passion like a bull in a china shop, when it should have been done seductively. No one can praise Joran for being delicate or cunning, because he's so impatient. He doesn't even know how to woo a female. Alissande suffered a lot in this story - the death of her father and people, being raped several times by 3 different males, and being humiliated as a slave for the Vikings. For a woman who hasn't much to look forward to in life, I think she'd done well for herself later, and I'm glad that the stupidity between her and Joran was solved later when they both opened up and had a proper COMMUNICATION that wasn't just based on verbal assumptions that leads to misunderstandings.
JORAN...I didn't liked at all. And that's a first. I don't hate him, but I felt he was unworthy of Alissande. Sure, no one's perfect but I found Joran acted like a spoilt brat the entire length when he wanted to win Alissande's love and affection BUT HE HAD NO IDEA THAT'S WHAT HE WANTED. Being him, and how women all fall into his beds, he thinks that SEX will solve his problems, when it only serves to harden Alissande's heart against him. Dimwit. No woman who has been abducted, nearly raped and let's not forget the fact that he raided her home and killed her father...is ever going to want to have sex with their father's killer. He had a lot of work cut out for him, and even till the end, I wasn't quite satisfied with him even if he tried to amend his shortcomings. Joran was blinded by his past, a man scorned and a son who is manipulated by his father...all this time, his happiness was destroyed by the man who fathered him, and he has no idea. Even though Joran was a victim too, I guess he wasn't a very intelligent guy to have realized the truth, and where Alissande was too proud, Joran was too stubborn and set in his ways, that it turned him against the woman he loves just in a blink of an eye.
OVERALL, this had angst, no doubt, but it didn't leave me very fulfilled or satisfied. The hero (while I understand he can't be perfect, or at least the kind of male I prefer), fell short for me, and yes, you can expect the jealous leman scene, the scheming father, multiple rapes and the brutality that comes with their era. This book had me feeling thankful that I wasn't born in their time...the depravities and injustice faced by the women in the past needed a champion, and they were so poorly mistreated, even when faced with rape, they are to blame for the man's actions.
If you're a fan of classic bodice rippers, or viking romances, I won't ask you to pass this up. It's quite interesting and a page turner despite having no love loss for the characters.
April 11, 2019
Trigger warning on this book: there are totally a couple rape scenes. While the author doesn't fortunately spend a lot of detail on them, the scenes are still pretty horrific.
Otherwise, I really liked how the characters stayed very true to their personalities throughout the story (which was SO LONG! I love long books like this!!) There were a few spots that were a little predictable, but that's also because I have a fairly reliable knowledge of history to fall back on.
I loved how the characters struggle with their personal loyalties and principles throughout. No one really just "gives themselves up" because they fall in love. There are several failed relationships and completely normal issues throughout that keep things very real and present. The world building is subtle and informative without being blocky or boring.
While I won't read Rowan's story because I feel like Book 1 overlaps with what would be covered a lot, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for other works by Mx. Cairns.
Otherwise, I really liked how the characters stayed very true to their personalities throughout the story (which was SO LONG! I love long books like this!!) There were a few spots that were a little predictable, but that's also because I have a fairly reliable knowledge of history to fall back on.
I loved how the characters struggle with their personal loyalties and principles throughout. No one really just "gives themselves up" because they fall in love. There are several failed relationships and completely normal issues throughout that keep things very real and present. The world building is subtle and informative without being blocky or boring.
While I won't read Rowan's story because I feel like Book 1 overlaps with what would be covered a lot, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for other works by Mx. Cairns.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2025
I stand amazed!
It’s been years, YEARS, since I’ve been so satisfied reading a novel. And this one is a record breaker. A Viking’s Love has been truly rewarding. I always begin a book with the hope of what this has accomplished, and usually fail. I felt like I actually lived the years with this man and woman! So, thank you, Ms. Cairns, you did good. 👍
It’s been years, YEARS, since I’ve been so satisfied reading a novel. And this one is a record breaker. A Viking’s Love has been truly rewarding. I always begin a book with the hope of what this has accomplished, and usually fail. I felt like I actually lived the years with this man and woman! So, thank you, Ms. Cairns, you did good. 👍
February 17, 2017
Delightful
This was a fabulously read. The story was an utter pleasure from start to finish keeping the reader thoroughly enthralled to the last page. Gripping, loved it.
This was a fabulously read. The story was an utter pleasure from start to finish keeping the reader thoroughly enthralled to the last page. Gripping, loved it.
July 1, 2017
Heart warming
This is an exciting, entertaining and heart felt romance chocked full of fighting and Vikings. A romance many will love.
This is an exciting, entertaining and heart felt romance chocked full of fighting and Vikings. A romance many will love.
April 13, 2018
This book was wonderful. It brought heat laughter and sadness! You will not be bored reading this book!
June 25, 2018
Amazing. Wow
December 11, 2018
DNF at around 15%. I just had a hard time getting into the story.
June 9, 2021
A very fast DNF at 7 %. I hated the heroine, sorry.
June 18, 2021
A Vikings Love
I really enjoyed reading this book.Good story line. I would of liked for Allisande to defend her self more.
Sincerely Constance Thompson 🙂
I really enjoyed reading this book.Good story line. I would of liked for Allisande to defend her self more.
Sincerely Constance Thompson 🙂
August 12, 2023
Explicit, raunchy historical romance, such a good read
September 18, 2023
I liked the beginning half, but the second half there was Too much abuse and too masochistic. And an odd addition of a magic wielder in an otherwise no fantasy book
August 25, 2013
If you like the whole strong Viking hero and captured heroine than you'll enjoy this. However, the author really needs to do research on Vikings ad improve the dialogue.
I also felt that some of the dealings the heroine had with the "baddies" were over the top and went on a bit too much.
But unlike many kindle books - it was a full length novel at least that was satisfying. The romance was pretty hot and does not disappoint. If you like sweet tender romances than avoid Viking stuff. This does have sweet tender and even touching moments but it's a LONG road till that occurs. The first few chapters or more is angst-y, full of sexual tension, explosive chemistry, sizzling seduction and defiance.
However, the historical details need to be fleshed out and the dialogue - meh. The characters and supporting cast were given depth and were enjoyable. Dialogue could be improved. But top marks for the romance.
I also felt that some of the dealings the heroine had with the "baddies" were over the top and went on a bit too much.
But unlike many kindle books - it was a full length novel at least that was satisfying. The romance was pretty hot and does not disappoint. If you like sweet tender romances than avoid Viking stuff. This does have sweet tender and even touching moments but it's a LONG road till that occurs. The first few chapters or more is angst-y, full of sexual tension, explosive chemistry, sizzling seduction and defiance.
However, the historical details need to be fleshed out and the dialogue - meh. The characters and supporting cast were given depth and were enjoyable. Dialogue could be improved. But top marks for the romance.
March 1, 2016
Highly entertaining
Having just discovered this author, this is her second book I have read. The beautiful Alisande is brutally betrayed by the men in her life. Her noble father betrays the Vikings and his own people,and flees leaving his family to face a Viking attack. She is then taken for ransom by the Vikings. Johar with little regard takes her to chieftain Ivar, who forces her to fight for her life as a slave in a pit against another hulking Viking. Johan, and others abuse her as she is forced to be a slave.
A very authentic portrayal of the harsh conditions of the times.
Having just discovered this author, this is her second book I have read. The beautiful Alisande is brutally betrayed by the men in her life. Her noble father betrays the Vikings and his own people,and flees leaving his family to face a Viking attack. She is then taken for ransom by the Vikings. Johar with little regard takes her to chieftain Ivar, who forces her to fight for her life as a slave in a pit against another hulking Viking. Johan, and others abuse her as she is forced to be a slave.
A very authentic portrayal of the harsh conditions of the times.
September 23, 2013
It took till about half way through the book to actually get into the story. It was better as I was getting to know the surrounding characters and now I want their stories. Are we going to get their stories Karolyn Cairns?
The hero and heroine are likable. What the heroine went through was tough and in the end it got to be too much where it had that 'Jumped the Shark' feel, which was disappointing. I also felt it was repetitive as in ' didn't I just read that in the last sentence?'....
I still want the other characters stories though!
The hero and heroine are likable. What the heroine went through was tough and in the end it got to be too much where it had that 'Jumped the Shark' feel, which was disappointing. I also felt it was repetitive as in ' didn't I just read that in the last sentence?'....
I still want the other characters stories though!
March 22, 2014
Although it did seem a little long in parts, I truly did like this book. It had some questionable stuff in it, but for me that only adds to the realism. Being in that ara you would know most of this happens anyways. So if you have problems with that don't read it, but you will have missed a really good book. I like bickering, fight scenes and funny stuff. There is also fiery passion. So this book has something for everyone. You should give it a try, I will be reading more of this author. :)
September 16, 2012
LOVED this book! I don't give out a lot of 5-stars, but this one deserves it, IMHO. It has a little bit of everything in it.
February 3, 2016
I felt like I lived about 100 lifetimes by the time I finished this. Man, Allisande went through some things. I honestly wondered how much more she could take. But, I was entranced the whole time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews