Olivia Norem

I thought this was really good. You have to bear in mind that this was no a time period for equal rights, but women are mostly for trading in exchange for land or an heir.
Our heroine, Aestrid Karisson is rescued from the evil Picts by an opposing group of Vikings who do not see eye to eye with her father. After the initial introduction of bad treatment as they mistake her identity, she becomes the object of wooing from Veleif Kollsvein, Viking prince as his advisors have strongly suggested he take her as his bride to make peace and expand their territory.
Aestrid may not have much power in this world but although she is ignorant of his plan she fights him tooth and nail and proves to be a worthy opponent. I thought she was brilliant to be so brave and strong, and it was refreshing that although she does struggle to fight her physical attraction to him she will not cow or bend to his wishes.
There are some very funny moments although obviously times were different and I didn't like that at times he used brute force to control her, but he's a Viking and part of his flaw is arrogance and he cannot show weakness in front of his people.
There are some funny moments also from interaction with his men and their growing respect for her.
I would love to read another book about other members of the group.… (meer)

This was a fun little bit of brain candy. Kate is an accomplished professional thief who comes from a family of thieves. There’s conflict between her and Murray, the head of this little gang of international thieves. She’s being sent to Scotland to acquire a few items. That’s where she bumps into Simeon who is trapped in an enchanted mirror. He’s been there since 7th century and his style of ordering Kate to free him doesn’t go over well with her. The flirtation and lusty looks start immediately.

The pacing is fast, the characters simple and easy to grasp, and the sexytimes are hot. There’s that fun adjustment period as Simeon has to figure out 21st century plumbing, dress codes, and women. Then there’s the quest back to 7th century Scotland and a battle with the evil witch Isobel.

Besides the sexytimes, there’s insta-lust and near insta-love between our two main characters. There’s immediate insta-love between two minor characters later in the story which I rolled my eyes a little at. The characters are pretty one dimensional but I wasn’t here for deep characters and integral plot. The lust and flirtatious behavior between Simeon and Kate was amusing and sometimes had me chuckling.

I especially liked Kate’s hand to hand combat skills. She was no fainting daisy… well, except that once. She’s not above using tactics to keep Simeon from harm, which was great. I wasn’t too thrilled at her chosen profession but perhaps she’s ready for career change.

Simeon… well, his name kept me thinking of ‘simian’, as in monkey or ape. It’s not Simeon’s fault, but I couldn’t help but mentally picturing a well muscled ape in a kilt. As a character, he was good in the bedroom and rather just typical archetype the rest of the time.

Kate’s brother, Ian, was fun but we don’t get much about him. We get even less on Sofia, Simeon’s sister. Also, I would have liked more about the witch Isobel as her motivations were pretty thin. All together, it was a fun bit of fluff though I would have liked a different name for Simeon and a little more character depth. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Greg Patmore has a beautifully rich Scottish accent for Simeon. I really enjoyed how he played this character and I especially appreciated his performance for the bedroom scenes. However, his female voices need more femininity. Quite a bit more femininity. His pacing is good and he did have distinct voices for all the characters. 4/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Olivia Norem. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (meer)