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The Celtic Fox
A Celtic Prince on a quest for love takes up his sword against Saxons, a witch, Irish pirates, an evil nobleman and much more.
Tryffin, searches for and finds his true love, Aelfrida, but to her, he’s a sworn enemy, she can never give her heart to him. Though Tryffin is a fearless champion in battling Saxons, fighting for Aelfrida’s love proves a greater challenge.
To save her foster father’s life, Aelfida, is forced to wed the powerful Prince, who led the war band she blames for slaying her parents. She‘s surprised at what a powerful temptation he proves to be to her body and her heart. Everything rest on the Saxon bride’s choice of vengeance or love.
Think Beowulf. Most people think of Beowulf as a Viking tale but it's Anglo/Saxon (the ancient Germanic tribes: Saxons, Angles, Franks, and Jutes). These are the tribes that later came to Britain or you can say England which is land of the Angles. Just like English is Anglish the Germanic language the Angles spoke. Some historians believe the Hengist in Beowulf is the same Hengist in the history and legends of the British King Vortigern and the Jute warlords he hired Hengist and Horsa who then conquered most of England with help from their war lord buddies they invited over - the Saxons, Angles, and Franks. These Saxon Wars led to the Arthurian legend. These Jutes, Hengist and Horsa came from Jutland which was in Denmark. In one of those too barbaric for the barbarian situations, the Danes threw them out of Denmark so they needed a new homeland. The Romans left Britain so it was vulnerable from attack by the Irish and the Picts in Scotland (Caledonia). So an overlord (a rich guy with lots of land) known as King Vortigern hired these Jute warlords to protect his land and the people on it. Of course they decided to take the land. I mean these were bad ass - too Barbarian for the Barbarians - war lords. And the reason I'm telling you about all of this is it's the backdrop of The Celtic Fox. The secondary characters from history and legend: Vortigern and his wife Rowena, who is Hengist's daughter and Hengist and Horsa. And also Vortimer who fought against the Saxons and his father, Vortigern. Also the climax of the book is the famous massacre legend of this period - the night of long knives. If you like Celts or Saxons or Vikings – and especially if you like all three – you will love this book and in addition to all of that - there is a sizzling romance between a Celtic prince, Tryffin, and a Saxon slave, Aelfrida. And of course there is magic, shape shifting and druids.
I also wanted to clue you in that In the story I call the Jutes – Saxons – because the original editor didn't understand and most people don’t understand who the Jutes are. So for clarity for the readers I refer to these Germanic tribes who come to Britain as Saxons.
Professional Reviews:
"One of the best novels I have read in a long time. It is written with such excitement and reality, it is hard not to feel you belong with the characters. The descriptive writing makes the novel come alive. I am especially impressed with the strong characters of this novel, both male and female. The conversations going on between the characters is written with just the right amount of detail making you hear and see what's going on. It is truly a novel that takes you back in time to a place where love blooms through, even in times of war, religious, and emotional hardship. Cornelia Amiri has captured the passionate love between two people many may not think would or should come together. Her marvelous writing makes you feel the passion and almost taste the kiss of this warrior prince.” Reviewer Tracy Farnsworth with The Romance Reader Connection
"Cozy up and let The Celtic Fox whisk you away to another place and time.
Tryffin, searches for and finds his true love, Aelfrida, but to her, he’s a sworn enemy, she can never give her heart to him. Though Tryffin is a fearless champion in battling Saxons, fighting for Aelfrida’s love proves a greater challenge.
To save her foster father’s life, Aelfida, is forced to wed the powerful Prince, who led the war band she blames for slaying her parents. She‘s surprised at what a powerful temptation he proves to be to her body and her heart. Everything rest on the Saxon bride’s choice of vengeance or love.
Think Beowulf. Most people think of Beowulf as a Viking tale but it's Anglo/Saxon (the ancient Germanic tribes: Saxons, Angles, Franks, and Jutes). These are the tribes that later came to Britain or you can say England which is land of the Angles. Just like English is Anglish the Germanic language the Angles spoke. Some historians believe the Hengist in Beowulf is the same Hengist in the history and legends of the British King Vortigern and the Jute warlords he hired Hengist and Horsa who then conquered most of England with help from their war lord buddies they invited over - the Saxons, Angles, and Franks. These Saxon Wars led to the Arthurian legend. These Jutes, Hengist and Horsa came from Jutland which was in Denmark. In one of those too barbaric for the barbarian situations, the Danes threw them out of Denmark so they needed a new homeland. The Romans left Britain so it was vulnerable from attack by the Irish and the Picts in Scotland (Caledonia). So an overlord (a rich guy with lots of land) known as King Vortigern hired these Jute warlords to protect his land and the people on it. Of course they decided to take the land. I mean these were bad ass - too Barbarian for the Barbarians - war lords. And the reason I'm telling you about all of this is it's the backdrop of The Celtic Fox. The secondary characters from history and legend: Vortigern and his wife Rowena, who is Hengist's daughter and Hengist and Horsa. And also Vortimer who fought against the Saxons and his father, Vortigern. Also the climax of the book is the famous massacre legend of this period - the night of long knives. If you like Celts or Saxons or Vikings – and especially if you like all three – you will love this book and in addition to all of that - there is a sizzling romance between a Celtic prince, Tryffin, and a Saxon slave, Aelfrida. And of course there is magic, shape shifting and druids.
I also wanted to clue you in that In the story I call the Jutes – Saxons – because the original editor didn't understand and most people don’t understand who the Jutes are. So for clarity for the readers I refer to these Germanic tribes who come to Britain as Saxons.
Professional Reviews:
"One of the best novels I have read in a long time. It is written with such excitement and reality, it is hard not to feel you belong with the characters. The descriptive writing makes the novel come alive. I am especially impressed with the strong characters of this novel, both male and female. The conversations going on between the characters is written with just the right amount of detail making you hear and see what's going on. It is truly a novel that takes you back in time to a place where love blooms through, even in times of war, religious, and emotional hardship. Cornelia Amiri has captured the passionate love between two people many may not think would or should come together. Her marvelous writing makes you feel the passion and almost taste the kiss of this warrior prince.” Reviewer Tracy Farnsworth with The Romance Reader Connection
"Cozy up and let The Celtic Fox whisk you away to another place and time.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 8, 2011
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Cornelia Amiri
87 books142 followersCornelia Amiri was introduced through books to the woman who became her favorite historical character, Boudica. The Celtic Warrior Queen made her start writing professionally. Cornelia loves history and in reading a book about the dark ages, she came across the rebel queen, who inspired Cornelia so much, she started jotting down notes, but they were fiction, visions of her involved in the Boudica revolt. Before Cornelia knew it, she’d accidentally written a rough draft for a novel. And she’s been writing books on purpose ever since. Drawing on her love of a happy ending, Cornelia has written over 40 published romance books.
Now, for the more mundane stuff — Cornelia Amiri and her muse, Severus the Cat, live amid the hustle and bustle of sultry Houston, Texas. When not writing, Cornelia loves to read, watch movies, and attend comic cons. She is currently working on a sequel to Rare Finds and a sequel to The Brass Octopus, which she is renaming and republishing as The Librarian and the Rake.
Now, for the more mundane stuff — Cornelia Amiri and her muse, Severus the Cat, live amid the hustle and bustle of sultry Houston, Texas. When not writing, Cornelia loves to read, watch movies, and attend comic cons. She is currently working on a sequel to Rare Finds and a sequel to The Brass Octopus, which she is renaming and republishing as The Librarian and the Rake.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 19, 2012
At around 16% I almost stopped reading, but I was waiting for an appointment so I decided to give this book another chance. I'm glad I did, although there are still plenty of things I did not like, and not that many that I did like.
Let me start by saying that I had a hard time reading this book because of the old language and words used. While in itself this is not a fault, but more of a personal preference, and certainly added to the overall period feel of the book, it didn't make it any easier to read. I had to wonder about many words, and without being able to google the meanings, I was lost for a while. Eventually I figured out that "thrall" must mean "slave" and "thane" must be "lord" (I'm still wondering why at the very beginning the author used words "slave", but then completely abandoned it for "thrall").
It felt like the book lacked transitions between events and actions, especially at the beginning of the book. It got better later one, but only slightly. Action jumped all over the place, without explaining how it got there or why.
For most of the book I wanted to slap some sense into Aelfrida. If I had to describe her feelings, it would be: He loves me, but oh no I can't give him my heart! He loves me not, I must get angry! But he must love me, but oh no I can't give him my heart! Oh he left me, he must not love me! Repeat through the whole book. I understand that she had a very traumatic experience when her parents were slain, but to hold on to her grudge for THAT long? When it was repeatedly explained that Tryffin wasn't at fault, that he grieved and tried to find her, that the event still haunted him too? Her stubbornness felt silly and frankly misplaced. She was born at the time when war and killings were commonplace, men went to war and women stayed behind. Yet she acted pretty immature for the lord's wife. Moreover, she constantly jumped to conclusions, acted (stupidly) on impulse, put Tryffin through a lot of crap because of misunderstandings (that she herself created). And most of the time I was left wondering what were her reasons for acting the way she did, because although we know the underlying reason, all that jumping around and lack of transitions did not help with understanding her character.
In fact, most of the time I kept wondering how ANY of the characters got where they did, or why they did certain things. The glimpses "inside" their heads were so slight, that it felt like characters had no depth whatsoever. If someone got killed, there was virtually no grieving or any other emotions. Some side stories with "bad" guys stayed unfinished .
One bright thing in the book was Tryffin. I simply loved him, although some of his actions were still pretty questionable for me. For once the main male believed in his wife, instead of jumping to conclusions when faced with possibility of another guy being around. He did not give up on Aelfrida even if she constantly rejected him, and I applaud him for that. His ability to shift into fox was kinda pointless, and did not serve any purpose in the story (even in the beginning, if the small event was omitted, the story would have still moved on without problems), and wasn't even mentioned again until the very end. What's the point to begin with?
Overall it was a pretty difficult read because of the old English, but add all the jumping events, and it became even harder. The characters were pretty flat because of the abrupt scene changes that didn't contributed to any character development. The "climax" was pretty anticlimactic, and didn't even feel like a big climax or the end of the story. I don't even know who to recommend this book to, I think it has a potential, but needs many improvements.
Let me start by saying that I had a hard time reading this book because of the old language and words used. While in itself this is not a fault, but more of a personal preference, and certainly added to the overall period feel of the book, it didn't make it any easier to read. I had to wonder about many words, and without being able to google the meanings, I was lost for a while. Eventually I figured out that "thrall" must mean "slave" and "thane" must be "lord" (I'm still wondering why at the very beginning the author used words "slave", but then completely abandoned it for "thrall").
It felt like the book lacked transitions between events and actions, especially at the beginning of the book. It got better later one, but only slightly. Action jumped all over the place, without explaining how it got there or why.
For most of the book I wanted to slap some sense into Aelfrida. If I had to describe her feelings, it would be: He loves me, but oh no I can't give him my heart! He loves me not, I must get angry! But he must love me, but oh no I can't give him my heart! Oh he left me, he must not love me! Repeat through the whole book. I understand that she had a very traumatic experience when her parents were slain, but to hold on to her grudge for THAT long? When it was repeatedly explained that Tryffin wasn't at fault, that he grieved and tried to find her, that the event still haunted him too? Her stubbornness felt silly and frankly misplaced. She was born at the time when war and killings were commonplace, men went to war and women stayed behind. Yet she acted pretty immature for the lord's wife. Moreover, she constantly jumped to conclusions, acted (stupidly) on impulse, put Tryffin through a lot of crap because of misunderstandings (that she herself created). And most of the time I was left wondering what were her reasons for acting the way she did, because although we know the underlying reason, all that jumping around and lack of transitions did not help with understanding her character.
In fact, most of the time I kept wondering how ANY of the characters got where they did, or why they did certain things. The glimpses "inside" their heads were so slight, that it felt like characters had no depth whatsoever. If someone got killed, there was virtually no grieving or any other emotions. Some side stories with "bad" guys stayed unfinished .
One bright thing in the book was Tryffin. I simply loved him, although some of his actions were still pretty questionable for me. For once the main male believed in his wife, instead of jumping to conclusions when faced with possibility of another guy being around. He did not give up on Aelfrida even if she constantly rejected him, and I applaud him for that. His ability to shift into fox was kinda pointless, and did not serve any purpose in the story (even in the beginning, if the small event was omitted, the story would have still moved on without problems), and wasn't even mentioned again until the very end. What's the point to begin with?
Overall it was a pretty difficult read because of the old English, but add all the jumping events, and it became even harder. The characters were pretty flat because of the abrupt scene changes that didn't contributed to any character development. The "climax" was pretty anticlimactic, and didn't even feel like a big climax or the end of the story. I don't even know who to recommend this book to, I think it has a potential, but needs many improvements.
Displaying 1 of 1 review