Publisher: Green Mermaid Publications
Publication Date: October 5, 2024
Page count: 322 pages
In the depths of his turbulent gaze, dark and violent as the stormy sea, swirling waves engulfed her, as if filling every empty recess of her parched soul with Divona’s healing waters.
Laguz. The Nordic rune for my element of water. It flows in
Skårde’s deep blue eyes. And, like the vision in the sea cave of the
thunderbolt I saw blazed across his chest, his sizzling current ripples through
my veins. How can he have this effect on me? I’m inexplicably drawn to him. A
magnetic pull I cannot escape. Yet, he is a Viking brute. Like the Norse
raiders who pillaged my Breton village and the Viking father who captured,
conquered, and claimed my Celtic mother. The loathsome enemy I now despise.
Exciting and enthralling start to this new historical romance series.
The Dragon of Denmark is the first book in author Jennifer Ivy Walker’s new Valiant Vikings historical romance series and what a fabulous beginning it is! Engaging, sympathetic characters, a history-rich plot with a wonderful romance, and paranormal mythical elements combine for a fantastic story that I didn’t want to end!
The main characters, Ylsa Rikardsdðttir and Skårde Haraldsson, come from different worlds but have much in common. Both the illegitimate children of 10th-century political heavy hitters, they are forced together to forge an alliance between their people. She’s a Druidic priestess and Celtic healer, the daughter of a Breton healer and Viking conqueror Richard the Fearless. When Richard abandoned Ylsa and her mother for a more advantageous Christian marriage, they became village outcasts, the symbol to their former neighbors of their Viking subjugation. Reading of her younger days was heartwrenching as she and her mother were both blamed for a situation, not of their making. I loved the descriptions of her preparations of herbal remedies and potions, learning magical spells and skills from Úlvhild, and her devotion to Divona and the visions she experienced.
Skårde is the son of Harald Bluetooth, the King of Denmark, and a captured concubine. Although reared to lead his people, the heir to his father’s throne, when the king marries, and the union produces another son, Skårde is set aside in favor of the now legitimate heir. Skårde, though, decides to excel in the service of his father and his people as their greatest warrior. But when he’s promised to wed to seal a political alliance in far-off Normandy, he’s deeply hurt, outraged, knowing he’s being sent to the far reaches of his father’s influence to neutralize his potential as a threat to much younger half-brother’s future. Skårde is an accomplished warrior and leader of men who has never been interested in colonizing or farming, let alone matrimony, and feels dishonored and trapped. However, he, once again, steps up to the plate. I loved his studied acceptance of this and Ylsa’s shared fate, his kindness and gentle, surprising gestures of understanding of her fears, and the scorching kisses they share early on as he and his bride begin to learn about each other. I especially enjoyed how Skårde’s grandmother, Gyda, and her people did so much to ease Ylsa’s feelings throughout this arranged and unwanted marriage, taking her under their wings as if she were one of their own.
Besides romance, the plot is filled with intrigue, suspenseful political machinations, myth, and magic, putting everyone in danger. The expansive cast of characters includes fictional and historical figures, and the descriptions of life at that time and in those places of the story were vivid and immersive. I didn’t want anything to interrupt me while I was reading, first because of all the interesting, detailed world-building and then because I was so caught up in what was going to happen with these characters that I’d become so invested.
I recommend THE DRAGON OF DENMARK to readers of historical
fiction who enjoy mythical, magical, and paranormal elements, as well as those
who enjoyed the recent Viking series on television.
Thank you so much for hosting and reviewing.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for organizing this fabulous promotional tour for Dragon of Denmark!
DeleteThank you for the review.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for this review, too. Isn't it fabulous? I hope it encourages others to read it as well!
DeleteThank you so very much for this incredible review of Dragon of Denmark! I am thrilled that you loved my novel because it was a totally new genre for me as an author. Your review was a fabulous boost of encouragement and affirmation for me as a writer.
ReplyDeleteBook 2 of the Valiant Vikings series--Wolf of the Nordic Seas--will be published very soon! Thank you again for this wonderful review!
Artwork is amazing, congrats!
ReplyDeleteWhat inspires your writing?
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt and giveaway.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a favorite book from childhood?
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great read. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHere's to an amazing weekend!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you enjoy in your spare time?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great cover! Sounds so good too. Thank you for the excerpt & your review! :)
ReplyDelete