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Heart #1
The Valiant Heart
A beautiful heiress and pawn of the king . . .
Dispossessed of her lands by the marauding Norsemen, Brienne Beaumanoir is brought from cloister by royal decree and offered as a bride to her enemy.
A golden warrior of the North . . .
Sent to escort his father’s promised bride to the Barony of Valsemé, Rurik Atlison finds himself entranced by the dark-haired beauty and his passions set aflame.
Love unexpected, bringing peril to all . . .
Tormented by their desires, Rurik and Brienne resist giving in to their yearnings and endangering their people.
But destiny will not be denied . . .
Their love will burn brightly through all the ages to come as Norse and Frank meld into a new people — the Normans.
Dispossessed of her lands by the marauding Norsemen, Brienne Beaumanoir is brought from cloister by royal decree and offered as a bride to her enemy.
A golden warrior of the North . . .
Sent to escort his father’s promised bride to the Barony of Valsemé, Rurik Atlison finds himself entranced by the dark-haired beauty and his passions set aflame.
Love unexpected, bringing peril to all . . .
Tormented by their desires, Rurik and Brienne resist giving in to their yearnings and endangering their people.
But destiny will not be denied . . .
Their love will burn brightly through all the ages to come as Norse and Frank meld into a new people — the Normans.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1991
93 people are currently reading
790 people want to read
About the author
Anita Gordon
10 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
aka Kathleen Kirkwood
aka Kathleen Kirkwood
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
November 15, 2016
Of Swords and Service.
Anita Gordon does a superb job of wrapping a fictional love story around a dynamic period setting. Usually when I read about Normans, it involves William invading England circa 1066. Here, the story is set about four generations earlier, and the Northmen/Norsemen have just established the first duchy in France through Rollo. The hero of our story, Rurik, is Rollo's nephew, and his life is fraught with conflict: Norman/Frank, Christian/pagan, good son/bad son. Amid it all, he lusts for his father's promised bride, Brienne. The poor, golden, hunk of a man just can't catch a break.
Well, actually, he does catch the biggest break of all. Brienne loves him, too. The core of this story is how these two maneuver villains, obligation, politics and faith to find their happily ever after. It's a good story, filled with stellar secondary characters and enriched by truly superior descriptions of time and circumstance. I learned a lot about how the cultures of the Franks and Vikings mixed through language, customs, and religion. These facts were interwoven throughout the fictional story, making the telling all the richer. Only a handful of authors do this really well, and Anita Gordon is one.
I've become used to reading stronger heroines, but I suspect Gordon was true to the era, and depicted Brienne as the tool of men and their ambitions that she was. Luckily, she was quite a beauty, desired by all. This drove a lot of the plot. Sometimes being kind and good is enough, and in this story it was enough for me. Well, that and lots of sword fights.
Anita Gordon does a superb job of wrapping a fictional love story around a dynamic period setting. Usually when I read about Normans, it involves William invading England circa 1066. Here, the story is set about four generations earlier, and the Northmen/Norsemen have just established the first duchy in France through Rollo. The hero of our story, Rurik, is Rollo's nephew, and his life is fraught with conflict: Norman/Frank, Christian/pagan, good son/bad son. Amid it all, he lusts for his father's promised bride, Brienne. The poor, golden, hunk of a man just can't catch a break.
Well, actually, he does catch the biggest break of all. Brienne loves him, too. The core of this story is how these two maneuver villains, obligation, politics and faith to find their happily ever after. It's a good story, filled with stellar secondary characters and enriched by truly superior descriptions of time and circumstance. I learned a lot about how the cultures of the Franks and Vikings mixed through language, customs, and religion. These facts were interwoven throughout the fictional story, making the telling all the richer. Only a handful of authors do this really well, and Anita Gordon is one.
I've become used to reading stronger heroines, but I suspect Gordon was true to the era, and depicted Brienne as the tool of men and their ambitions that she was. Luckily, she was quite a beauty, desired by all. This drove a lot of the plot. Sometimes being kind and good is enough, and in this story it was enough for me. Well, that and lots of sword fights.
November 22, 2015
Lyting - What a cutie. His character is very likable and honorable. I adored him from the get go.
Aleth - Everyone needs a best friend like her. So sweet, and clever.
Rurik - My heart ached for him the whole time. A memorable Viking. Valiant. Passionate.
Brienne - Poor thing went through hell, but stupidly she brought on a lot of it herself.
***SPOILERS ***
Waite's mother heavy with child, from beginning to end of book?The time that span was enough to grow several women's bellies, a war and a lot of other things. The prediction of twins during the Viking age? Handheld mirrors to gaze at yourself while you comb your hair? These weren't even around during the time of Henry VIII!
84% into the book, I am furiously angry, and almost unable to keep reading!! How much more can this strained relationship take? Having Brienne continue to doubt her husband because he is of Norse decent was so annoying! Just the same as the "necessity" to convert Pagans into Christians. I understand it is historically based, but this book goes into some really strange supernatural ritual experiences that are inaccurate to real life, and it truly blurs the lines of history.
Katla was a deranged woman, and brought much conflict to the book, but come on. Some things are so far fetched that reality isn't even an option here.
Having Brienne come face to face with things she "thinks" her husband is doing behind her back, then turning and running away makes the vein in the middle of my forehead want to explode! This book actually caused me stress! What kind of woman catches her husband in something, then turns and runs? Any normal, hot blooded woman would get pissed off enough to confront the guy. Seriously.
So then, I skim through a bunch of unnecessary details, scanning the dialogue, only to find Brienne again goes through several other obstacles keeping her from Rurik. And the cliff jump, WTF? It left my blood boiling.
Way too much in this one book. The author completely strips away Rurik's heart, throws it on the ground, and stomps on it. What's the deal? How much pain and sorrow can be inflicted on a man before he dies from a broken heart?
Even for Brienne, it's like she lived a whole lifetime in a year and a half. I think I even sprouted three grey hairs a midst her struggles! My emotions are like a roller coaster, but more annoyed than anything. I feel if the book ended half way through, it would have been spectacular. I truly believe that the author didn't want to let her own characters go, so she wrote and wrote until she couldn't anymore.
For me, too long. I only read to the end because I HAD to know what happened. Then there was an epilogue. OMG!
I enjoyed the book all the way to the middle, then after that I felt the author should have had one more struggle and a happy ending. For me, there is way too much conflict on these pages. Perhaps the author could eliminate some of her ideas next time instead of cramming them all in one book? When you find yourself skimming for dialogue, you've grown bored.
The author can write very well, so I hope she reads this and takes my review with a grain of salt, and takes my advice with her future books because I truly think she has it in her to knock the socks of her readers. Just because you have a lot of cool stuff to put into the book doesn't mean that it all belongs there. Even with the happy ending, it didn't heal my heart from all the turmoil that it went through reading the book. I felt let down, and I am now unable to sleep.
**update, It's been a year, and I have since calmed down. LOL I have read several books since this one, and now realize that this author is excellent with her plots compare to others I have seen lately. Nothing has begun to stir my emotions quite like Anita Gordon. The only author I have read that can even compare was Renee Vincent. I long to find a book that makes me "feel" something again. I will be looking for a recent book by Anita next.
Aleth - Everyone needs a best friend like her. So sweet, and clever.
Rurik - My heart ached for him the whole time. A memorable Viking. Valiant. Passionate.
Brienne - Poor thing went through hell, but stupidly she brought on a lot of it herself.
***SPOILERS ***
Waite's mother heavy with child, from beginning to end of book?The time that span was enough to grow several women's bellies, a war and a lot of other things. The prediction of twins during the Viking age? Handheld mirrors to gaze at yourself while you comb your hair? These weren't even around during the time of Henry VIII!
84% into the book, I am furiously angry, and almost unable to keep reading!! How much more can this strained relationship take? Having Brienne continue to doubt her husband because he is of Norse decent was so annoying! Just the same as the "necessity" to convert Pagans into Christians. I understand it is historically based, but this book goes into some really strange supernatural ritual experiences that are inaccurate to real life, and it truly blurs the lines of history.
Katla was a deranged woman, and brought much conflict to the book, but come on. Some things are so far fetched that reality isn't even an option here.
Having Brienne come face to face with things she "thinks" her husband is doing behind her back, then turning and running away makes the vein in the middle of my forehead want to explode! This book actually caused me stress! What kind of woman catches her husband in something, then turns and runs? Any normal, hot blooded woman would get pissed off enough to confront the guy. Seriously.
So then, I skim through a bunch of unnecessary details, scanning the dialogue, only to find Brienne again goes through several other obstacles keeping her from Rurik. And the cliff jump, WTF? It left my blood boiling.
Way too much in this one book. The author completely strips away Rurik's heart, throws it on the ground, and stomps on it. What's the deal? How much pain and sorrow can be inflicted on a man before he dies from a broken heart?
Even for Brienne, it's like she lived a whole lifetime in a year and a half. I think I even sprouted three grey hairs a midst her struggles! My emotions are like a roller coaster, but more annoyed than anything. I feel if the book ended half way through, it would have been spectacular. I truly believe that the author didn't want to let her own characters go, so she wrote and wrote until she couldn't anymore.
For me, too long. I only read to the end because I HAD to know what happened. Then there was an epilogue. OMG!
I enjoyed the book all the way to the middle, then after that I felt the author should have had one more struggle and a happy ending. For me, there is way too much conflict on these pages. Perhaps the author could eliminate some of her ideas next time instead of cramming them all in one book? When you find yourself skimming for dialogue, you've grown bored.
The author can write very well, so I hope she reads this and takes my review with a grain of salt, and takes my advice with her future books because I truly think she has it in her to knock the socks of her readers. Just because you have a lot of cool stuff to put into the book doesn't mean that it all belongs there. Even with the happy ending, it didn't heal my heart from all the turmoil that it went through reading the book. I felt let down, and I am now unable to sleep.
**update, It's been a year, and I have since calmed down. LOL I have read several books since this one, and now realize that this author is excellent with her plots compare to others I have seen lately. Nothing has begun to stir my emotions quite like Anita Gordon. The only author I have read that can even compare was Renee Vincent. I long to find a book that makes me "feel" something again. I will be looking for a recent book by Anita next.
January 24, 2016
Great Viking Story set in Normandy
This is book 1 in the Heart trilogy (see list below), by Kathleen Kirkwood, a pen name for Anita Gordon and it’s a great Viking romance. It’s set in 912AD in Valseme, France, part of Duke Rollo’s Normandy where the Norsemen have settled.
Rurik, a Northman whose father, Gruel Atli, made Baron Valseme by Rollo, is given the Valseme’s heiress, Brienne, to wife. It seems King Charles desires to cement his relationship with the Northmen and Brienne has been biding her time in a convent. But just after the wedding, Atli suffers a heart attack and dies.
Even before her new husband dies, Brienne fell in love with his oldest son, Rurik. So when Duke Rollo grants Rurik’s request to give him Brienne’s hand, she is thrilled.
The story has an intriguing beginning as Rurik sends his brother, Lyting, disguised as a monk to the abbey at Levroux where Brienne is in training to be a healer. And it was a good thing, too, since Brienne’s French brother-in-law has designs on her to make her his mistress. Soon Brienne realizes it’s the Northmen who seem to be honorable.
Great writing and a story that will draw you in make this a wonderful Viking romance. The inclusion of real history reflects deep research, just like Kirkwood’s other stories (I read book 2 first not realizing it was the second—I do recommend reading the trilogy in order). Rurik is a worthy hero and Brienne does have a “valiant heart”.
If you’re looking for a worthy Viking trilogy of romances, this is the place to start.
Heart trilogy:
The Valiant Heart
The Defiant Heart
The Captive Heart
This is book 1 in the Heart trilogy (see list below), by Kathleen Kirkwood, a pen name for Anita Gordon and it’s a great Viking romance. It’s set in 912AD in Valseme, France, part of Duke Rollo’s Normandy where the Norsemen have settled.
Rurik, a Northman whose father, Gruel Atli, made Baron Valseme by Rollo, is given the Valseme’s heiress, Brienne, to wife. It seems King Charles desires to cement his relationship with the Northmen and Brienne has been biding her time in a convent. But just after the wedding, Atli suffers a heart attack and dies.
Even before her new husband dies, Brienne fell in love with his oldest son, Rurik. So when Duke Rollo grants Rurik’s request to give him Brienne’s hand, she is thrilled.
The story has an intriguing beginning as Rurik sends his brother, Lyting, disguised as a monk to the abbey at Levroux where Brienne is in training to be a healer. And it was a good thing, too, since Brienne’s French brother-in-law has designs on her to make her his mistress. Soon Brienne realizes it’s the Northmen who seem to be honorable.
Great writing and a story that will draw you in make this a wonderful Viking romance. The inclusion of real history reflects deep research, just like Kirkwood’s other stories (I read book 2 first not realizing it was the second—I do recommend reading the trilogy in order). Rurik is a worthy hero and Brienne does have a “valiant heart”.
If you’re looking for a worthy Viking trilogy of romances, this is the place to start.
Heart trilogy:
The Valiant Heart
The Defiant Heart
The Captive Heart
December 31, 2018
If you love historical romances, you absolutely need to read this book!
Brienne is a local French daughter of the nobility whose lands have been conquered by Rollo and his Norsemen. Rurik is assigned to deliver her to his father, who plans to marry her to secure his rule and to pacify the conquered French people. Along the way, Brienne and Rurik develop an intense attraction that threatens to ruin everyone's plans and thrust the region back into war.
Rurik is a man of passion, but he's also a man of honor. He refuses to compromise the beautiful Brienne, regardless of what his heart tells him, and he steadfastly supports his father's intentions. The way to happiness seems a lost cause for these two, but the author brilliantly reveals more depth and secrets to this story that give us the HEA we were hoping for.
This story is filled with adventure and historically realistic characters and setting. Reading it was literary escapism at its finest.
Brienne is a local French daughter of the nobility whose lands have been conquered by Rollo and his Norsemen. Rurik is assigned to deliver her to his father, who plans to marry her to secure his rule and to pacify the conquered French people. Along the way, Brienne and Rurik develop an intense attraction that threatens to ruin everyone's plans and thrust the region back into war.
Rurik is a man of passion, but he's also a man of honor. He refuses to compromise the beautiful Brienne, regardless of what his heart tells him, and he steadfastly supports his father's intentions. The way to happiness seems a lost cause for these two, but the author brilliantly reveals more depth and secrets to this story that give us the HEA we were hoping for.
This story is filled with adventure and historically realistic characters and setting. Reading it was literary escapism at its finest.
February 19, 2019
DNF at about 50% I'm not a big romance reader. A lot of romance books, or at least the ones I seem get my hands on, are super cringey and full of cliches. This one was no exception. I felt like it tried so hard to be a history lesson more than a story and combine that with the overuse of words like 'tis and twas and an emphasis on chivalry, I was not in the least bit impressed with the story. I waited until the very anticlimactic, bad sex scene to finally give up on it, though I probably should have stopped sooner considering how eager I was for it to end. The only thing that I really wanted to find out about was the end of the plotline concerning Katla, Rurik's unceremoniously dumped ex, but even that couldn't have kept me going as she and the other villains were swept to the side for rushed marriage and sex scene. I don't care about any of these characters. I don't care about their lives. All I care about is how I'm going to get my eyes uncrossed from rolling them so damn much.
September 30, 2017
Well balanced, fun read
It seems silly, but I think I admired the pacing of this novel the most. It was neither so quick that characters were too hastily introduced or antagonist too quickly dispatched, nor dragged out to the point of frustration and boredom. The details of the time period, language, and cultures reflected the knowledge of the author. The characters are interesting, though perhaps either needed more complexity or they had the complexity but it wasn’t explored enough. It was a very compelling read all the same.
It seems silly, but I think I admired the pacing of this novel the most. It was neither so quick that characters were too hastily introduced or antagonist too quickly dispatched, nor dragged out to the point of frustration and boredom. The details of the time period, language, and cultures reflected the knowledge of the author. The characters are interesting, though perhaps either needed more complexity or they had the complexity but it wasn’t explored enough. It was a very compelling read all the same.
February 12, 2022
It's not a bad book, but it felt too long with too many competing storylines. I can't say I was very keen on the magnificent, can't-do-any-wrong, cloister-raised wet blanket, and though the hero somewhat saved it for me, I simply got entirely too tired of their back and forth. Especially with the way everything he did seemed to shake the foundations of their relationship built on pure attraction. Ugh.
I also wasn't too keen on the divine intervention at the start, and its obsessive recurrence through the novel. I get that their religious differences were a way to add angst, but, seriously It might just be me, I can get fairly sensitive to religion slipping into my comfort reads.
Anyway. 3 star at a push. I wouldn't turn you away from it, but I wouldn't highly recommend it either.
I also wasn't too keen on the divine intervention at the start, and its obsessive recurrence through the novel. I get that their religious differences were a way to add angst, but, seriously It might just be me, I can get fairly sensitive to religion slipping into my comfort reads.
Anyway. 3 star at a push. I wouldn't turn you away from it, but I wouldn't highly recommend it either.
December 1, 2017
A delicious romance, one I devoured. The spirited Franconian Lady Brienne (whose last years had been cloistered away in a convent) and the Norse warrior were such a match, yet she was to be betrothed to his father as part of the French Kings plans to ensure Normandy and the Northman would champion his cause. This tale took many twists and turns, Brienne put her faith in god and duty and her fates path was revealed.
Another great read Kathleen Kirkwood.
Another great read Kathleen Kirkwood.
January 17, 2019
Missing passages
I would leave this as 5 stars but as this is a reprint I'm upset that many parts from the original book was left out thereful taking this from a 5 to a 3. I love Rurik and Breanne love story and its tragic that they felt the need to leave off good parts of this story. If I could request a refund I would. But as it stands I just stick to reading the paper book.
I would leave this as 5 stars but as this is a reprint I'm upset that many parts from the original book was left out thereful taking this from a 5 to a 3. I love Rurik and Breanne love story and its tragic that they felt the need to leave off good parts of this story. If I could request a refund I would. But as it stands I just stick to reading the paper book.
May 15, 2017
Yes, a romance, but very detailed and nicely written.
February 1, 2019
2.5
Meh. Mostly very blah, with a little bit of decent stuff toward the end. I won't be reading any more of these.
Meh. Mostly very blah, with a little bit of decent stuff toward the end. I won't be reading any more of these.
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February 20, 2022DNF 49%
February 16, 2017
I enjoyed this book. I did not know much about the creation of the Fiefdom of Normandy and that alone made the book interesting. I got the sense that the author researched this period and cared about getting it right. I have no idea how a historian would view the book but for a non-expert like me it was good.
There is a lot of description in this book. A lot. My feeling was that she might have spent so much time researching it that she wanted to get every last aspect down on the page. Sometimes I found it tedious while other times I was interested in every word.
For the most part I liked Rurik and Brienne and believed in their love. But there were a few times I wanted to smack them for not telling each other important things. But the thing that made me shake my head and drop some marks was a night of sheer stupidity on her part.
Still overall this falls in the 3.5 star range and I am glad I picked it up.
There is a lot of description in this book. A lot. My feeling was that she might have spent so much time researching it that she wanted to get every last aspect down on the page. Sometimes I found it tedious while other times I was interested in every word.
For the most part I liked Rurik and Brienne and believed in their love. But there were a few times I wanted to smack them for not telling each other important things. But the thing that made me shake my head and drop some marks was a night of sheer stupidity on her part.
Still overall this falls in the 3.5 star range and I am glad I picked it up.
May 11, 2016
I REALLY enjoyed this book! I lost myself within its pages quite quickly and couldn’t find my way out again. There were far too many “too late” nights spent reading “just one more chapter...”! It was actually this book that made me wonder why I stopped reading historical romance books a while ago...
That said, there were also some things about it that frustrated me. Not necessarily in a bad way, though, because in some weird way, I enjoy it when a book can bring about such emotions within me. For example, there’s plenty of events that happen that the characters think a certain way about, but I knew they were wrong, and spent a good deal of my time mentally flailing and SCREAMING at them to see things as they were (sorry if that’s cryptic, but I’m trying to keep this spoiler-free, and a lot of the events this happened with were plot points). As such, I got increasingly more and more frustrated when the characters didn’t see things as they were, and disagreements followed. But, as I said, I didn’t always mind this, as I like to have books bring about emotions.
Regarding the frustration, though, I found a lot of the times it was Brienne that made me frustrated in ways I didn’t always enjoy. She seems to have a knack for assuming the worst in every scenario, and, while it makes for some good drama and tension, it does get a bit redundant to the point I started rolling my eyes at her. The mental screaming and flailing turned to a desire to throttle her. She’s not a terrible character, we just wouldn’t be very good BFFs. Rurik, on the other hand, I liked. He was very personable and I really felt for him more times than I can count. He’s one of those characters I’d love to meet and have lunch with.
There were some events that I found a bit difficult to believe would actually happen, historical time period or not, but they weren’t too crazy over the top and didn’t really detract from my reading too terribly. At most it was a brief pause, squint, and re-read to make sure I’d seen it correctly, giving a little head shake in wonder.
All in all, though, I definitely think I’ll be reading the second book at some time.
That said, there were also some things about it that frustrated me. Not necessarily in a bad way, though, because in some weird way, I enjoy it when a book can bring about such emotions within me. For example, there’s plenty of events that happen that the characters think a certain way about, but I knew they were wrong, and spent a good deal of my time mentally flailing and SCREAMING at them to see things as they were (sorry if that’s cryptic, but I’m trying to keep this spoiler-free, and a lot of the events this happened with were plot points). As such, I got increasingly more and more frustrated when the characters didn’t see things as they were, and disagreements followed. But, as I said, I didn’t always mind this, as I like to have books bring about emotions.
Regarding the frustration, though, I found a lot of the times it was Brienne that made me frustrated in ways I didn’t always enjoy. She seems to have a knack for assuming the worst in every scenario, and, while it makes for some good drama and tension, it does get a bit redundant to the point I started rolling my eyes at her. The mental screaming and flailing turned to a desire to throttle her. She’s not a terrible character, we just wouldn’t be very good BFFs. Rurik, on the other hand, I liked. He was very personable and I really felt for him more times than I can count. He’s one of those characters I’d love to meet and have lunch with.
There were some events that I found a bit difficult to believe would actually happen, historical time period or not, but they weren’t too crazy over the top and didn’t really detract from my reading too terribly. At most it was a brief pause, squint, and re-read to make sure I’d seen it correctly, giving a little head shake in wonder.
All in all, though, I definitely think I’ll be reading the second book at some time.
July 13, 2013
I won this book through GoodReads First Reads
I did not finish this book, as I did not care for it. The characters did not engage me enough to read beyond the first 100 pages, and after picking it up and setting it back down several times, I gave up. I normally like romance books with a strong historical element when they are done well. This book, however, seemed like the author was working too hard to put all her researched information into the book, however. It felt like a rookie mistake to me, which is what made me google and and find out that the book is from the late '80's (won an award in 1988). I think many authors, when they are first starting out, do all the research into the time period and then try to cram much of the facts into a book, rather than simply using that information Ina more subtle way to write the story true to the times. It makes sense, if you spend hundreds of hours looking up things like what the common diet was and what type of saddle was used, you want to show off that knowledge. There was some information dump going on!
I did a little Googling of this book, and found it was originally published in 1991. The is a re-issue with some mild revision changes.
Original mass market paperback edition, Jove, The Berkley Publishing Group, August 1991.
Winner of the 1988 Carolina Romance Writers Award and the 1989 RWA Golden Heart Award
I did not finish this book, as I did not care for it. The characters did not engage me enough to read beyond the first 100 pages, and after picking it up and setting it back down several times, I gave up. I normally like romance books with a strong historical element when they are done well. This book, however, seemed like the author was working too hard to put all her researched information into the book, however. It felt like a rookie mistake to me, which is what made me google and and find out that the book is from the late '80's (won an award in 1988). I think many authors, when they are first starting out, do all the research into the time period and then try to cram much of the facts into a book, rather than simply using that information Ina more subtle way to write the story true to the times. It makes sense, if you spend hundreds of hours looking up things like what the common diet was and what type of saddle was used, you want to show off that knowledge. There was some information dump going on!
I did a little Googling of this book, and found it was originally published in 1991. The is a re-issue with some mild revision changes.
Original mass market paperback edition, Jove, The Berkley Publishing Group, August 1991.
Winner of the 1988 Carolina Romance Writers Award and the 1989 RWA Golden Heart Award
March 11, 2016
VERDICT : Plain love at first sight story
I have grown weary of love at first sight stories because there is no fun to watch them when they have already "fallen". I liked my stories robust, full of bantering and smouldering glances.
OUR HERO:
Rurik is the eldest legitimate son of the man our heroine is pledged to. Obviously he falls in lust with her first before he loved her and thus the tension between them, which had a lot of potential to be played on...but was short-lived. There is not much about him to praise or recommend
OUR HEROINE:
Lady B is our virginal sacrifice but with a bit more spunk. She too falls in love with Rurik. There is not much to comment about her as well.
OVERALL:
The characters weren't complex or 3D, thus I cannot recommend much about their personalities. There was nothing commanding about them nor the story. I'm fact the first 40% of the story was a BORE, because the author goes on and on about Lady B's life is the abbey....boring! let's get to the good stuff and let the sparks fly!!
JUST ANOTHER READ. NOTHING SPECIAL.
I have grown weary of love at first sight stories because there is no fun to watch them when they have already "fallen". I liked my stories robust, full of bantering and smouldering glances.
OUR HERO:
Rurik is the eldest legitimate son of the man our heroine is pledged to. Obviously he falls in lust with her first before he loved her and thus the tension between them, which had a lot of potential to be played on...but was short-lived. There is not much about him to praise or recommend
OUR HEROINE:
Lady B is our virginal sacrifice but with a bit more spunk. She too falls in love with Rurik. There is not much to comment about her as well.
OVERALL:
The characters weren't complex or 3D, thus I cannot recommend much about their personalities. There was nothing commanding about them nor the story. I'm fact the first 40% of the story was a BORE, because the author goes on and on about Lady B's life is the abbey....boring! let's get to the good stuff and let the sparks fly!!
JUST ANOTHER READ. NOTHING SPECIAL.
August 7, 2013
I won this book through the Goodreads Firstreads program.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It's pretty much my first straight historical romance and I wasn't sure going into it if I would like it, what with the torrid cover and its existence firmly in the Just Romance genre. Putting my prejudices aside, I rather liked it.
Brienne and Rurik are pretty much fated to have lots and lots of really passionate sex together and jump to erroneous conclusions that lead to hair-raising danger, really villainy villains, with a distressed damsel and a swooping hero who saves the day so they can go back to having lots and lots of really passionate sex.
I liked how completely melodramatic everything was. It made for good fun. I liked the religious struggle that sort of sifted its way though the plot. I like that the hero was Disney perfect, a champion of children and people with disabilities. It was exactly what I wanted from my first historical romance. I was not disappointed.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It's pretty much my first straight historical romance and I wasn't sure going into it if I would like it, what with the torrid cover and its existence firmly in the Just Romance genre. Putting my prejudices aside, I rather liked it.
Brienne and Rurik are pretty much fated to have lots and lots of really passionate sex together and jump to erroneous conclusions that lead to hair-raising danger, really villainy villains, with a distressed damsel and a swooping hero who saves the day so they can go back to having lots and lots of really passionate sex.
I liked how completely melodramatic everything was. It made for good fun. I liked the religious struggle that sort of sifted its way though the plot. I like that the hero was Disney perfect, a champion of children and people with disabilities. It was exactly what I wanted from my first historical romance. I was not disappointed.
May 17, 2015
Amazing!
Has a well written story ever been produced that captivates you word for word till the end....yes actually there is....this amazing story of love, hate, and children. I was fascinated by the historic aspects of the story which were well researched and over flowed onto each page. Every single character from the hermit living in a cave to the main characters were well defined and made you feel every emotion they felt. I can usually ascertain the ending of the story by the way the storyline plays out early in the beginning, but this one had me guessing at every turn! The ending had me in tears. I absolutely loved this book which is the longest e book I have read which in a day and age that everything is as short as possible I was grateful to get every second more I could with these characters. I will definitely purchase more books from this author as I am sure they will captivate me as this one did.
Has a well written story ever been produced that captivates you word for word till the end....yes actually there is....this amazing story of love, hate, and children. I was fascinated by the historic aspects of the story which were well researched and over flowed onto each page. Every single character from the hermit living in a cave to the main characters were well defined and made you feel every emotion they felt. I can usually ascertain the ending of the story by the way the storyline plays out early in the beginning, but this one had me guessing at every turn! The ending had me in tears. I absolutely loved this book which is the longest e book I have read which in a day and age that everything is as short as possible I was grateful to get every second more I could with these characters. I will definitely purchase more books from this author as I am sure they will captivate me as this one did.
August 20, 2016
This is a generally well researched Viking story set in the early days of Rollo's Normandy. The heroine is dismayed to learn that her king, Charles the Simple, has given her in marriage to one of the Vikings who invaded her land and killed her father. Along the way, she meets his son, Rurik, and naturally falls in love with him. Complications and misunderstandings ensue, along with lots of intrigue and clashes with numerous enemies.
The history is, as mentioned earlier, generally well researched. I wondered about a few points, like whether Vikings really had bedding ceremonies (I suspect not), but the politics and such were pretty accurate. Also accurate was the "Christianization" of the Norman Vikings, though the actual religious observance depicted here wasn't quite right.
On the whole I enjoyed this and look forward to the rest of the series.
The history is, as mentioned earlier, generally well researched. I wondered about a few points, like whether Vikings really had bedding ceremonies (I suspect not), but the politics and such were pretty accurate. Also accurate was the "Christianization" of the Norman Vikings, though the actual religious observance depicted here wasn't quite right.
On the whole I enjoyed this and look forward to the rest of the series.
July 20, 2015
Heartwarming
A wonderfully written story of the evolution of the Norsemen to Normandy France in Medieval Europe. The interference of the King in joining a Norseman to a Francwoman who had been placed in a convent by her father as a sacrifice to God in exchange for a blessing on his family. Brienne was unused to the ways of men and only knew her father brother and her ancestral lands had been marauded by Norsemen and feared for herself. All changed when her betrothed dies,of heart attack the night of their wedding nullifying the marriage. A great deal of misconceptions and treachery keeps Brienne and her new husband (first betrothed eldest) Rorek from a smooth marriage but triumph in the end.
A wonderfully written story of the evolution of the Norsemen to Normandy France in Medieval Europe. The interference of the King in joining a Norseman to a Francwoman who had been placed in a convent by her father as a sacrifice to God in exchange for a blessing on his family. Brienne was unused to the ways of men and only knew her father brother and her ancestral lands had been marauded by Norsemen and feared for herself. All changed when her betrothed dies,of heart attack the night of their wedding nullifying the marriage. A great deal of misconceptions and treachery keeps Brienne and her new husband (first betrothed eldest) Rorek from a smooth marriage but triumph in the end.
February 10, 2017
4 1/2 stars!
Deception, twists, jealousy, learning to trust, sweet love, ultimate sacrifice. All those words describe this story. Brienne and Rurik find that life can throw you some hard times, real fast, and as long as you hold strong you can overcome anything. The last half of the book held me on the edge of my seat at times.
I won this on Goodreads. I own the original copies of The Valiant Heart, and The Defiant Heart she wrote as Anita Gordon that I bought back in the mid 90s when I found my love for reading. I am going on the hunt through boxes for The Defiant Heart now so I continue with this family. :)
Deception, twists, jealousy, learning to trust, sweet love, ultimate sacrifice. All those words describe this story. Brienne and Rurik find that life can throw you some hard times, real fast, and as long as you hold strong you can overcome anything. The last half of the book held me on the edge of my seat at times.
I won this on Goodreads. I own the original copies of The Valiant Heart, and The Defiant Heart she wrote as Anita Gordon that I bought back in the mid 90s when I found my love for reading. I am going on the hunt through boxes for The Defiant Heart now so I continue with this family. :)
July 29, 2015
Could not put this down, started reading yesterday and finished this afternoon, I just had to know what happened to Rurik and Brienne. Some good twists and very good steamy bits ;) I'm glad Katla and Hastein got their just desserts but wish Rurik and Brienne weren't so pig-headed and stubborn when they could've saved each other a lot of heartache at various points in this book (could've slammed their heads together at one point lol). I also would've liked to know what happened to Lord Robert after they sent his arm to Charles, I did smile at that part. Really enjoyed this book and give it a 4.5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2018
This book seems extremely like the book "Malice Striker.” It almost is too similar to that story. Seems like the same villains. This book seemed to go far too long. While I love that have more content then recent series that release a book out in chapters, this was a bit too long for my liking.
Other then that the writing was good, the flow flawless. No grammar errors notable. Characters were believable and the lead female character was no pushover. She was strong and had a bit of gumption in her.
Other then that the writing was good, the flow flawless. No grammar errors notable. Characters were believable and the lead female character was no pushover. She was strong and had a bit of gumption in her.
January 10, 2016
I won this from a Goodreads giveaway ages ago. Unfortunately, I just wasn't into this. After trying multiple times to power through, I've finally decided to throw in the towel. I normally love historical romances, but this was very dull. The writing style made me feel like I was stuck in the middle of an assigned reading for school. If a year has gone by and I'm still struggling to get past the first few chapters, it's probably just not going to happen.
February 17, 2016
As far as historical romances go, this is wonderful. The characters were fully defined with even the minor characters having subplots. There were several twists and turns that kept you intrigued for what came next. The historical aspect was very accurate and added to the story. Kind of long and not filled with smut if that's all you're looking for, but if you're looking for an actual romance novel, it's great.
March 1, 2019
Brianne has spent the last ten years in a nunnery. Now she is being used as a pawn by her guardian the King to make a lasting peace between the Franks and the Norsemen. The problem is others have other plans for her and each plan is more hideous that the last. Another problem is she finds the man who was sent to get her intriguing. Too bad he is her betrothed son.
A truly good book with lots of hazards for Brianne. I enjoyed it.
A truly good book with lots of hazards for Brianne. I enjoyed it.
September 25, 2015
An EXCELLENT tale!
Kathleen weaves an excellent and intriguing story. Rich characters including secondary characters. This story was a great page Turner with a few surprising twists and turns. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Not a clean read in the intimate scenes but still tastefully written.
Kathleen weaves an excellent and intriguing story. Rich characters including secondary characters. This story was a great page Turner with a few surprising twists and turns. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Not a clean read in the intimate scenes but still tastefully written.
July 2, 2016
This book would make a great epic film. A five star story from start to finish, lots of action, a fantastic romance story. A must to read for all adult readers. I just want to read it again. I read the kindle version, so I just need someone to buy be the book, a hardback copy if there is one as this is a book to own and read again and again. As good as Pride and Prejuduce
March 10, 2016
3.5 Seemed a little long with a few too many stumbling blocks. Decent characters, lots of intrigue. A little bit of "would you kill the bad guy already" but I realize the good guys wouldn't have been good if they did.
July 25, 2016
The Valiant Heart (Heart Series Book 1)
The love story of Brienne and Rurik. Brianne has send more of her life at the Abbey of Levriurx. How she is being order by the king to marry. Can she find happened wit the man who time her father's land? OK story.
The love story of Brienne and Rurik. Brianne has send more of her life at the Abbey of Levriurx. How she is being order by the king to marry. Can she find happened wit the man who time her father's land? OK story.
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