Η Καρδιά της Μάχης: Ο Κέλτης Βίκινγκ

Heart of the Battle #1

by Lexy Timms, Στέφανος Καράμπαλης (Translator)

Σε έναν κόσμο που μαστίζεται από το σκότος, αυτή θα είναι η σωτηρία του.

Κανείς δεν έδωσε στον Έρικ τη δυνατότητα να επιλέξει αν θα πολεμήσει ή όχι. Το καθήκον απέναντι στο στέμμα του ανήκε. Η κληρονομιά του πατέρα του παρέμενε παρά τον θάνατό του.

Η ομορφιά της υπαίθρου που την περιβάλλει συνεπαίρνει τη Λίντζι, που θα έκανε τα πάντα για να προστατεύσει τη γη του πατέρα της. Η Βρετανία δέχεται επίθεση και επόμενος στόχος θα είναι η Σκωτία. Αν και τώρα θα έπρεπε να επικεντρώνεται σε μνηστήρες, οι άνδρες της χώρας της έχουν πάει στον πόλεμο και εκείνη είναι μόνη της.

Αγάπη θα υπάρξει, αλλά θα λύσει πρώτα το πάθος για την επαφή με τον εχθρό τα γερά της δεσμά;

* Αυτό το βιβλίο ΔΕΝ είναι ερωτικό. Είναι μια ρομαντική ιστορία αγάπης.
** Το βιβλίο 1 τελειώνει με σκηνή κορύφωσης της αγωνίας.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Amazon, Fantasy

145 pages, ebook

First published April 12, 2015

About the author

Lexy Timms is a mom, business woman, dreamer and writer. She finally decided to write her first romance novel and Saving Forever is her debut story.

Reviews

[Emmeline (The Book Herald) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Dark Shadow Publishing Via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

As honesty would have it- I absolutely disliked this book. There. I said it!

I don't understand, honestly i don't. Why do some authors with next to no knowledge on a historical period think they can just write about it? Like "Ha, I want to write a historical Novel, but I'm just going to have a crap load of inaccuracies in it. Oh well, YOLO!"

You know why inaccuracies irritate me? I'm a history University Student! I student 3 months studying Scandinavian vikings! At least make it believable for crying out loud! But honestly, even if you don't really care if there are inaccuracies, you'll still get irritated because this book is that unappealing.

So I got this book right, I read it and when the story really gets started, the book freaking ended at 68% that's right. Not at 100% but at 68%

WHAT. THE. HECK!?

NO THANK YOU!

Ohhh so you think this is a Historical Romance yea? Well, the entire freaking 68% (which is 100% of the book!) THEY NEVER MEET! I'M SERIOUS! again, WHAT. THE. HECK!?

The girl protagonist? Irritating. The guy protagonist? kills and pillages, but he really doesn't want to, he'd rather settle down. So I'm like okay... and then, well, he goes all 'I'll-kill-you-if-you-disrespect-me' or we're vikings, pillaging is what we do! hmm...but didnt you say you didn't like pillaging a second ago?

Oh and Linzi (main girl) all she can think about is of rolling-in- the- sheets with a guy, but she's portrayed as so innocent and yet, she'd rather have any man...as long as he's blond.
Good thing the guy she meets in the last 5 seconds of the book is Blond! Otherwise, he'd get the boot!
What. a. shallow. chick.

She's just a very dull, and honestly stupid generic female. Its irritating!
She's impulsive and not...a good character.

Literally though, when she does see him- the guy is bleeding to death and her eyes zeroes in on his lips. Not taking in the fact that he could potentially be a blood thirsty rapist. As long as he's blond and handsome its cool right!? yup! She has her priorities straight!

This book gave me a headache and it's now in my 'read-if-you-hate-yourself' shelf.

One of the main reasons i wanted to read this is because in the blurb it was like, 'This is not an erotica, it's a romance.' Well this book wouldn't know romance if it hit it in the face! Plus, there was an overabundance of the words 'Loins' in here...just because you gave it a different name, doesn't mean you didn't have an emphasis on the male genitalia!

I'm sorry, but that's my honest opinion.

Good day to you book!

-The Book Herald.

Tweet me @thebookherald

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in three hours this morning. It was an impulsive read and I have no regrets. Going through the ways of war in the days of the Scott's and Vikings of Davenport. Ah! I loved this! And I'm already on number two!

[Debby *BabyDee* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hit or miss? A "Miss" for this first time read by the new author. This was an audible listen. Some of the history was a bit off and story undeveloped in places. I understand the plot but found it slow going.

Only take away was the narration by Hugh Loughlan who did a good job of narrating.

2-Stars

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just so bored reading this that I skimmed a lot of their POVs until the end when the mains meet up- but still was not that into it.

[Caroline Greyling · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m going to break rank here and deviate from my usual review style because I’m that annoyed! I love cliffhangers when I read a series, but there has to be a decent story arc in each installment. If you’re going to call it a novel, it needs to have some kind of dilemma and resolution, to some extent at least. If you’re going to call it a romance, it needs to have two characters who meet, fall in love and either do or don't end up together.

I’ve never been so frustrated with a novel before. But let’s be honest, this isn’t really a novel. It’s the introduction or first three chapters of what could be a great novel - but that’s it. The story is a scene setup, with no character development at all. The characters themselves have the seeds of greatness. The writing is promising. The potential story is intriguing. The historical accuracy is lacking, but one could even overlook the ‘pills’, ‘paper’ and ‘pencils’ if the plot was good. To end a ‘historical romance’ before the characters have really even met is simply unfair. I feel completely cheated by this book and angry enough not to buy the next one, even if the story is promising…

[Kath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author. I love a good Viking story and The author really captured my attention the story had me hooked from the start. The story built slowly, I couldn't wait for Linzi and Erik to meet, when they did BAM to be continued in the next book.... I really hate Cliffhangers with a vengeance!!
This was well written, however the author really let her story down with errors made in historical facts. Research is so important and this is what makes a good story believeable. giving it a generous 3 stars.

[Quinty (Taylor's Version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

At least try for some sort of historical accuracy

[Annamaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hell no! *facepalms until the end of time*
I'm giving two stars instead of one just because this book was short.
What the hell happened here? Did the author want to talk about war or about two teenagers who couldn't control their loins? Did she want to do both? By all means, but just do it right! The descriptions of wars, feelings and characters were just dry and with no depth. "They fought... There was an axe... Corpses on the floor... two men were talking... Erik killed them... Erik was pissed... He wanted a wife... and children... so angry... And so turned on... Oh wait? When did the fight end? Oh well... Linzi instead had to take care of her sick father... Very sick father... So she decided to spend the day outside with a friend getting a tattoo and talking about boys... Oh look! A very dangerous and muscular Viking! I have to kill him... How? By groping him, right?"
I understand this was a romance but if you want me to like it you have to give me something more than that.

I kindly received this book from its publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Dot Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a RIP-OFF! If you're thinking of downloading this free "book", don't waste your time unless you want to pay to see how the story may end. I must have downloaded this "book" before I started reading the one star reviews. THIS ISN'T A BOOK - it's the BEGINNING CHAPTERS in a book. Based on what I see, the "book" is in 3 parts, and you pay for parts 2 and 3. What a TERRIBLE marketing strategy! If an author is incapable of giving audiences a complete book, then it says to me that the author isn't very good and that the only way they can make money is by stretching their story into multiple books. Well, it doesn't work, Ms. Timms. You should take notice of authors like Melissa Haag, whose first book in the "Judgment of 6" series was a free and complete book. I enjoyed it so much that I purchased everything she has published to date and will continue to purchase her books. I will never again purchase anything you have written. I'm just sorry I wasted several hours reading this incomplete wannabe book.

[Ara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter wank

Anachronistic, geographically challenged "story" in which very little happens. Only 65% of the ebook is the actual "novel", the rest is the start of the next one (no thanks) and adverts for other books by the author, who seems to churn them out with far more thought given to quantity than quality.

If I could give zero starts I would.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

cliffhanger!!!!!

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sweet humanity, this book sucks. Historical inaccuracies up the wazzoo, contemporary NA characterizations, and to top it off, this is only the first 12 chapters of a three-part serialized story.

The most glaring screw up has to deal with Erik (the hero) and his merry band and killing and pillaging Vikings...who are also Celts....from the kingdom/country of Denmark, making them Danes as well ?????????? For a group of commanders who don't want their enlisted men to rape the townswomen because it would taint their "pure" Saxon blood, it seems they couldn't decided on what group they belonged to, so they belong to every group (except of course the dirty English, yet they were fighting near the Scottish border). Look, I did not major in European history (modern American history was my concentration), but even I know that keeping the blood of rank-and-file fighting men "pure" was not much of a concern; in a very vile way, raping was seen as a right of the victor to the spoils of war.

Not for these confused commanders - they just want everyone dead, so that the people of northern England/southern Scotland will be terrorized and thus, kneel before them as their conquerors - except no one piped up and said "hey, if we kill everyone, there won't be any English people subjected to our rule."

Don't even get me started on how Erik was drinking coffee with his men on the mornings before battles....in England....in 876 AD.

Linzi (the Scottish heroine with a name spelled to damn cutesy to be taken seriously) is more concerned about boys and getting a free, huge rose tattoo from her BFF who has enough experience to do so because she gave herself one (in between her breasts yo). Linzi is seventeen and ready to mix it up with blonde English local boyLuke (older brother's friend) or Erik, who she meets at 68% into the story - where this part of the story ends. Pretty much any blonde will do.

Much spelling and grammar mistakes; formatting for the NOOK is off as well.

If you want to read this, I suggest you get all three parts at once because they are a quick read and ends with cliffhangers. I can't do anymore of this historical inaccuracy or the NA characters, so I won't be continuing with the other two volumes.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book needs to be pulled and fix. There are some major issues with this book. Historically, this author has NOT done enough research. Honestly it felt like they failed high school world civ history class.

First- Vikings are not Celts. Celts were Indo-European who came from the Alpine area. Coffee didn't hit Europe until the 15c. A poor farming family wouldn't of had something like a mirror either... and a farming family would of made their own bread at this time as well. And Vikings have been know for being super clean, even when raiding... Please don't waste your time reading this book or buying it... and the author really really really needs to study history and get an editor...

Oh yeah- forgot to add this to my Amazon review- a tattoo... in this year? no.... and a friend wouldn't be giving her a rose one either... it would of been a Celtic woad- which is normally used for battle but most of the time it wasn't permanent- AND- the word Tattoo being used this way is Tahitian. And it came around the 1760s from explores/sailors in the Pacific Ocean when they hit those islands...

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a historical romance that will transport you back to the time of the Vikings. The vivid descriptions make it easy to visualize the beautiful countryside and the hard-fought battles. This story is told from both Linzi's and Erik's point of view and gives you an interesting perspective of both sides of the war. The ending is an exciting cliffhanger. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in Book 2.

[Jessica Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linzi is a girl who is coming into her womanhood. She wants what most girls her age want a family of her own and a good mate. With a war brewing on the outskirts of the country side she is worried for her brother and father. Her brother goes off to war with his friends. But will she see either one ever again. She discovers a horse and a fallen man on the ground wounded. Will she kill him or will she help him.

[Lea's *~*Book Nook*~* · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely fell in love with Erik. Take that sexy viking any day of the week! This book was a great surprise. The character build is great. I don't feel like anything was rushed. I couldn't put the book down once I picked it up. Cliff hanger wasn't awful. actually quite sweet, and can't wait to read book two!

[Marcie Wegner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lexy does a good job writing from both Erik and Linzi's perspectives. She does a really good job setting the story and then leaves you hanging with a giant cliffhanger. I am anxiously waiting book 2 to find out what happens next.

[Maritza · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so wrong that I had to finish it. I may not know anything about Vikings but I had some reservations about tattoos??? and some of the language??? It wasn't so wrong as I was motivated to finish. So wrong that I won't be able to finish, unless I get next book free as well.

[Emma Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully written book that actually transported me to the books world. I also loved her characters and the way they were written. I can't wait to read the next one!

[Caridad prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good

I enjoy reading this book very much I really like it .hopefully all the next books are as good as this one

[Marlo Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celtic Viking by Lexy Timms

Excellent ebook and I enjoyed reading it but felt it was too short in length. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Cheri Tipler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taboo = Tattoos

The stories of our beginnings of Celtic/Viking. Wars and the spoils and disgrace they carry, Love, Treachery, Power, Jealousy, & Overcoming the odds of why?

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is a great book to read

[Velvetink · Rating 3 out of 5]

ended suddenly - way too short.


kindle

[Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

YOU CAN'T END IT LIKE THAT. WTF?

[Gwen Marsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Celtic Viking” was a free eBook available to download on Amazon. I downloaded it … and got what I paid for.

By the title alone, I assumed perhaps the main character was half-Celt half-Dane/Norse. I was NOT expecting the author to mistakenly interchange Celts and Vikings (and even Saxons) throughout the entire story. Unfortunately, though the biggest inaccuracy, it was not the only inaccuracy, this book is rife with them. The author obviously didn’t research their book as well as they should’ve.

The main male character, Erik, is as un-Viking as a Viking could be. I understand modernizing your character (to a certain extent) to fit with the morals of the 21st-century reader, but there MUST be some realism in historical fiction. He basically spends 75% of his portion of the book whining and condemning his men for fighting and killing. He is a Viking, come on.

Linzi was bleurgh; I really don’t have an opinion of her. I didn’t like her big brother, he was overly protective and annoying. I had to flip past the conversation between Martha and Linzi about the tattoo, it bothered me too much.

Unfortunately, the author also obviously didn’t hire an editor. I understand, when you independently publish a book mistakes are made, I get that (god knows I made more than a few myself when I indie-published my first book!), so I personally can forgive a couple of grammar or spelling mistakes that went amiss if the story is well-written, but the historical inaccuracies were outrageous. I was bothered so much by the referring of Danes as Celts; in the first instance I was stuck re-reading the lines for a few minutes, trying to digest what I’d read when Erik the Viking referred to him and his Danish men as ‘Celts’, and I cringed every time I saw that mistake repeated thereafter.

The cover of the book is lovely although not fitting to the time period (the woman looks like she’s wearing a prom dress and with that red rose across her shoulder it certainly does not give the impression of a historical book set in 872AD – perhaps more like a fantasy book?). For all the complaints, I honestly do think the story is written well to a degree, I just don’t understand why the author didn’t go the extra step and hire an editor or even a few beta readers to look over the book before publishing. I went through the author's profile on Amazon and saw that this was the fifth or so book she’d published? Well, technically it was the third book since the first was one story published in three parts.

Speaking of books published in multiple parts, though it does state in the description on the Amazon page, “Celtic Viking” is the first of a three-part series, it really shouldn’t be. The story itself ends 64% of the way through the eBook. Publishing three short parts that could easily be published as just one book irritates me. I don’t intend to buy the other two books so this really doesn’t affect me, but this is a marketing ploy I wish would end.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danish Vikings invading England stuff

The protagonist is the younger son of the King. Tjeir father is dead and Nathaniel has taken his place. Eric has long led the troops in war, but now, he has 2 power hungry men to deal with. One is a man who styles himself the new king of England, the other a weasly butt kissing cousin. The first has dead eyes and it's obvious he only wants power. The tension between them runs high. Erik is starting to detest fighting, and wishes more with each battle that he could settle down on a farm, with a wife and a brood of kids.
Linzi's brother has finally joined the militia in town. The Vikings are moving further north and will likely soon be attackingnthe Scots. Desoite the fact the Scots and English have fought over the land dbetween them, now they're joining forces, and they seem to be making inroads against the Vikings, who may just be a tiny bit too smug at this point.
Then Erik is downed by 2 arrows - shot, he is fairly sure, from his own camp. He manages to get the arrows out, and get on his horse for a while.
AfternLinzo's big brother leaves, her father becomes quite ill. She does what she can for him, then goes to the herbalist to see if she will trade for medications. She does, adding a cryptic message before she hands over the pills and the directions for taking them. Linzi stops at the bakery for a promised treat and receives much more: fighting tips for self defense; how to find out if a man is a Viking; and more bread from the baker, who insists on sending her home with more. Lonzi's mother doed a few years ago andnshe jas outgrown, accordingnto jer, all but 2 of her dresses - according to the women who help her, all of them are too tight and too short. On her return, she gets one of the pills into her dad. Then she goes to the well for water. She sees a beautiful horse, which she waters. Suddenly, she realizes it is too fine a horse to belong to a farmer and that it must be Viking. Then she hears the moans of a lump ar the edge of the field, and realizes this wounded Viking must be finished off because she and her father are sitting ducks...but he is huge. As she tries, he says the exact words the herbalist told her earlier that she would hear & which would make sense to her once she heard them.
The rest moves now to Part 2, Celtic Rune.
The story isn't very long, and they're not available on Kindle Unlimited. The next 2 are $2.99 each, which IMO is a bit steep for a one or 2 book story divided into 3 books. The writing is solid, though.

[Space Cowgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pillaged and 🔥Burned

Adult Adventure, Romance in Northern England , 872 AD.
The book has two young people living desperate, ancient lives in ancient Northumbria.
The male character, Erick🐺🔪, is the second son of The 👑King of Denmark. He is a skilled warrior and leader of his viking men, but he detests the pillage and burn tactics of his older brother, heir to the throne👑.
The other main character is a young woman💃 living on a rural farm. Her brother insists on joining the English army against the Vikings. That leaves only her and her father at the farm. Her father soon falls ill from fever, and is bedridden. Meanwhile the Viking raiders army grow closer.

The book ends in a cliffhanger. I was extremely disappointed in this, as there were a lot of other excerpts and teasers for other books that took up more than 35% of the entire volume. 👎
I would rather have seen the conclusion of this book.

[Hailey Stalter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a freebie I noticed in what I believe was my BookBub email. I really enjoyed it. It was a rather quick read, and I managed to finish it in only a couple of hours. The writing was fast paced and even though the POV skipped between the two main characters I didn't lose track of what was happening. I'm not sure of the accuracy of the time frame this is placed and some of the things that are mentioned in the story, but really I don't care much because it's fiction and none of them are too outlandish. The writing wasn't too cheesy or too corny, and I enjoyed the connection to family that Linzi had. There were a few grammatical errors, but none so bad as some of the other freebies I've read in my day. So overall I'd probably give it a 3.8/5. I can actually see myself reading the next in the series. I'm a sucker for Viking romances, damnit.

[Ronnae Stately · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite this book being about Vikings there wasn’t much in there other than them trying to fight Englishmen for their land in Northumbria. We just get a view of one particular Viking named Erik who just happens to be a prince of Denmark. We find out about why he is fighting for land that he could really care less about. He actually wants a family of his own and to settle down and be a farmer. Then there is Linzi a young Scottish woman whose family owns a sizable piece of land outside of Northumbria and whose brother has decided to leave the farm and go fight with his friends agains the Vikings. Once he leaves their father falls ill and Linzi has to find a way and the courage to go get him medicine to get better. But the next morning she finds Erik lying in their field half dead because someone on his side tried to kill him. The thing is does Linzi kill him in the end?