Header PromotionTaken by the Viking by Michelle Styles (Harlequin Historical, May 2008)
A Medieval Viking romance that easily transports the reader into the characters and scenery!
Haakon Haroldson comes to do business and get the money owed him but in a flash of a second mayhem breaks out and a religous man and one of his men goes beserk! A business deal turns into a raid and the high born Annis of Birdoswald beomes his captive and her Lindisfarne home far away. Can this high class woman find joy in her captivity as she is forced to work? Can she protect the monks? Can Haakon prevent a bloodfeud? Will one kiss lead to love?
Keeping with my new plan for shorter more off the cuff reviews here, I would just like to say that I easily found myself lost in his story --- the author has an exquisite sense for detail that allows the reader to see the landscape and scenes. I loved several parts of this Viking romance. I loved her look at Annis and her religion and the contrast with the monk's character. I loved the way the author made me feel the contrast between the two cultures as well as the secondary characters. I liked seeing the differenfe in class too. I felt in some ways this read like fiction without sacrificing the romance because Michelle Styles made me feel how the Viking community was. All those elements made the hero and heroine more real, more memorable to me...I cared for them.
I think this book is a good example of what medieval romance can be for people who love Medieval literature/history and romance. Michele Styles allows the reader to see domestic scenes that one just doesn't see in a ton of Old Norse literature. She combines impeccable research into the time period with her experience of writing in other periods to bring the story and time period more alive in the imagination and heart.
I hope this is the start of the series. I would like to read more about Annis, esp. how her religious feelings have developed as she sees the world now after the conclusion (no spoilers here!) and her romance with Haakon. It was a very powerful part of the story, shown visually as well as by the contrast with this one monk. I felt the resolution in the way she dealt with the cross she treasures but the idea still intrigues me to want more. Also, this book feels like the start of the series. The author did such a great job setting the scene and community that I hate to leave it. I am looking forward to writing a longer more thpugh out review of this one and revisiting this book in the next few days.
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net
Thank you
I enjoyed reading your review and look forward to reading your more in depth one when it comes..I am so pleased you enjoyed taken.The news has helped to make my day:)
And yes, there are several more Viken set books to come.
all the best,
Michelle S
An Impulsive Debutante* (M&BH Sept 08)*A Question of Impropriety (M&BH Nov 08)* Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife (Hh Dec 08)
website: http://www.michellestyles.co.uk * blog http://www.michellestyles.blogspot.com
Merri....
I read and reviewed this book, too. Loved it!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
I just finished reading
I just finished reading Michelle Styles " The Christmas Wedding Wager" and enjoyed it thoroughly. I have this one in my TBR pile and will be reading it soon. You put into words what I was thinking but couldn't seem to find a way to say it and your description helped. It's like she drops the reader right into the time period and thus you soak up all the ambience and nuances of that time period. From Ancient Rome to Victorian England to the days of the Vikings, it's like reader is sitting right there. Thanks for your review.
Joan
TAKEN BY THE VIKING
I have several of this author's books on my shelves but I am trying to focus on Medieval historicals stack first. I am looking forward to reading her Roman ones and her Victorian one.
I am so glad there will be more! I am not sure I can put it in words but one of the things that really excites me about Medieval romance is that it brings the Medieval times to us modern readers with new insights.Even though I have read tons of Medieval literture, both Carol Townend's HIS CAPTIVE LADY and Michelle Styles' TAKEN BY THE VIKING made me see known things with new insights. I think this is what happens when a great author combines historical research with artisitic vision. One alone doesn't seem to cut it but both together are extraordinary. For me, Medieval romance is not a substitute for Medieval literature but something unique in its own right because, done well, like these two books are, Medieval romance brings something new to the table. I have to say, lots of my school profs and colleaugues are totally into things like Medieval romance, Medieval fantasy etc for that very reason.
Thanks Miss Mona. I really did not want to leave the world she created. It was so vivid and real to me. Once I opened the page, I was totally into the scenes. Even when I had to take a break to fix a cola or fill the dog's water bowl, I was still in the world she created because it was so there for me. I loved seeing the more domestic scenes. I love Old Norse literature but it really lacks some of the woman's viewpoint and finer details at times. Those details, available through historical research, are nice to see put into stories. I think that is one of the things a great historical romance can do. Anyhow, I loved the main characters but I loved the way she did the secondary characters too. It was like being able to see the whole community.
One thing I have to add --it is very nice to see Harlequin add many elements to Medieval as I have seen in my past two HH reads. Vikings, Saxons as well as knights. The whole Medieval period is so rich tghat I am happy to see the scope.
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net
It is through the reading
It is through the reading of historical novels that I have expanded my knowledge of history and how people lived in those times. In the last little while I have learned about life in Wales before the advent of the Saxons and Normans into their territory and what life was like in Spain during the Moorish period rather than the Catholics of a later period. I have also learned through my reading that Ireland was a Viking outpost before it was populated and governed by the Irish. It is nice to read and learn and see life in other places and time periods.
Joan
Joan, I very much like
Joan, I very much like reading historical romance and esp. Medieval romance. Sometimes history can be dry and detached whereas historical fiction makes me think of history in ways it was lived and makes people feel real. Michelle Styles book and also Carol Townend's book eally did that for me. I really want to read the Roman ones when I catch up on my Medievals. Roman and Western.
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net
Merri....
I have to confess something to you. I hadn't really thought of Taken By The Viking as medieval. You'll probably laugh at me, but when I see the word 'medieval', my fiction side thinks of princesses and knights.
I mentally envision Richard Gere as the beloved Lancelot in the King Arthur movie from a few years ago (love that one btw). My nonfiction side thinks of rats, bloodletting, and the Black plague. Yuck! 
Methinks I spent way too much time studying the Canterbury Tales time period in my English lit class. 
LOL! So do I need to re-adjust my thinking? Probably, because Haakon and Annis's story would be in the same time frame, just different cultures, wouldn't they? That adds another interesting spin on this delectible story for me! 
Also, do you like regency and victorian historicals, too? I've just ordered both of Bronwyn Scott's latest books, Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady and Pickpocket Countess, and was wondering if you've read either of them. I haven't seen their reviews on eHarl yet...but then that might be an oversite on my part - I'm still not the greatest at navigating our sweet site. Working on it, though!
I'm getting a wee bit too smiley-happy, aren't I?
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Amanda, I have read them both and throughly enjoyed them. They are full of humor and twists and turns as the hero and the heroine try to how out do each other. They are both from the Regency period which is one of my favourites.
Joan
The sequel to Taken by the Viking
I have just learnt that Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife is a December 2008 harlequin Historical release. So that answers my question about when they were planning on releasing it.
Okay I am a bit over excited.
Michelle S
An Impulsive Debutante* (M&BH Sept 08)*A Question of Impropriety (M&BH Nov 08)* Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife (Hh Dec 08)
website: http://www.michellestyles.co.uk * blog http://www.michellestyles.blogspot.com
Thanks for the update on
Thanks for the update on the release of next story in your Viking series. I would also like to thank you for the marvellous stories you have given us so far.
Joan
Joan...
Yes, the Regency period is very elegant! I also like the decades right before it - the late 1700's. Glad you liked the books. I'm looking forward to reading them!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Michelle....
I saw Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife listed under your name and was wondering when it was going to come out. Since it's slated for December, does that mean we'll be able to buy it in November? We can usually buy books on eHarl before they come out anywhere else.
Ooh, and wait a minute.... I also noticed two other books coming out before your December one. And they sound more Regency by their titles. Are they a series?
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Viking and Medieval
Michelle, thanks for the update. 2008, YIPEEE!
One of my best friends, the one who got me started reading romance, is totally into the Regency time period. I would probably be interested in just about any historical time period. There is one that was put out about the 1920's I think, I forget the title, which I have in the TBR and am dying to read. I am trying to catch up on the Medievals I have in my stack but I would like to get to the other time periods. I am really embarrassed I have a huge hole in my reading between 1500 and to 20th century. I am very intrigued by the Victorian period. I adore Anthony Trollope who was a Victorian writer. My dh and I watched the whole set of DVDs called THE PALLISERS based on a series he wrote and we were totally addicted to it. Even after some 12 DVDs, we were bummed it ended. I just have not read a ton of Victorian books or Victorian-set books so I feel sort of unfamilar with the period.
Amanda, the Middle Ages runs from about 490 to 1500. I have noticed that on many romance websites, the categories are Medieval and Viking romances can be a part of the Medieval category on some and a separate category on others. Maybe romance separates them so that readers easily can tell Viking from knights stories in the same way Presents, Desire and HR are different? I have no idea. I group them together because I love them both.
The Viking period really, really intrigues me. Iceland is kind of my fantasy country, a place that enchants me and has since I was a little girl. Norway was my grandmother's favorite country. My dh's ancestry is definitely Viking...Swedish and Norwegian. For the purposes of the Medieval review site I am building, I just love the Viking culture too much to exclude it! I have 3 loves when it comes to Medieval--- the Anglo-Saxon period (Beowulf), the Arthurian (knights) and the Viking. I am thrilled to see Harlequin publishing romance that encompasses all three!
I have been very excited about TAKEN BY THE VIKING and had it on my nightstand for a while. Now after reading it, I am even more excited that we will be getting another one not too far away. I was so into the world Michelle Styles created. It was like being there. To anyone who hasn't read this one yet, I would just have to say that Michelle Styles really does an exceptional job with description that draws you into the scenery and her characters just are so rich that I felt like I knew them.
One other thing, I'd like to say. I love the book cover art on TAKEN BY THE VIKING I would love to have this cover as a small poster to put in my reading room! Ideas for the 60th anniversary? I have a few book covers from other publishers that I intend to frame and put in this loft that we are hoping to turn into a reading room. This one small bookstore in NC used to have book posters all over the walls. I'd kind of like to duplicate that with some of my favorite books.
I love this cover.
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net
cover flats
Merri -- Email me at Michelle@michellestyles.co.uk with your postal address and I will send you a cover flat of Taken. Not a small poster, but you could probably have it cut and framed. Authors tend to get several cover flats...
Iceland is fantastic. Really beautiful. I would love to go back. Equally I love Norway.
I would say that the Viking eera is definitely early middle ages. it does tend to be reviewed as a medieval.
Amanda --
An Impulsive Debutante is the sequel to A Christmas WeddingWager and takes place in 1847. I ended up writing it because my daughter begged to have Lottie Charlton's story. And Lottie ended up becoming one of my favourite heroines...
A Question of Improiety is the start of a Regency duo. and takes placein the Tyne Valley in 1813. It deals a bit with the start of the railways. The sequel to that comes out in the UK in March 08.
The dates for both on my signature are UK dates but they will becoming out in the US. I am just not sure when. Scheduling is a black art.
Michelle S
An Impulsive Debutante* (M&BH Sept 08)*A Question of Impropriety (M&BH Nov 08)* Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife (Hh Dec 08)
website: http://www.michellestyles.co.uk * blog http://www.michellestyles.blogspot.com
killing book budget
ok these blogs are officially killing my book budget
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
TAKEN BY THE VIKING
Michelle, thanks. I love book cover art. You cover is beauty! I love that one scene in ther book too.
Small is good too! I just want to frame and display all this great cover art.
Christa, this book for me just made me lose myself in the story. We are not getting much rain in the Denver area, but this is the kind of book I used to love reading on a rainy day as a kid---just forget everything else and get inside. I love rainy days for reading!
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net
Merri....
Ah, yes, a rainy day *sigh*. Had a lot of those days around here lately! But it gives me a good excuse to read. Of course I also like to read on sunny, partly-sunny, cloudy, stormy, murky, and snowy days too! And that's not even counting at night! LOL
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
reading weather
I think any weather is perfect reading weather. And now with so many repeats on tv I don't think my Tv has been on the last three days.
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
reading
I agree ---any weather is great for reqding. My two favorite times to read are rainy days and esp. when it is snowing. This is exactly the kind of book I like for those times too so December is a great release date for Michelle Style's next book! We have a fireplace now too. Summer has already started and I am dreaming of winter. Amanda, I wish some of your rain would hit here first so you would get less.
Merri
Hildie's blog: http://blog.hildie.net