Title: The Shaman’s Bride
Author: Laura Strickland
Genre: Historical Romance (Viking)
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb:
Daughter of a Viking berserker and a Celtic slave, Gyda Tolljursdottir is part warrior and part Seer. When her Sight gives warning of darkness and danger coming from the sea, she vows to defend her Faroe Island home, whatever it takes.
Norse shaman, Lodvar Haraldsson has come from Iceland seeking his destiny, and the woman who has long whispered to his heart. Though he neither trusts nor respects the jarl he follows, he'll trade far more than his conscience to find her. When old hatreds flare, can their love endure? Will Lodvar choose to make the ultimate sacrifice for Gyda's sake?
Excerpt:
Two women in the chamber, Lodvar thought, while his inner senses clamored for his attention. Two women—might one of them be she whom he had sought so long? He frowned as he met the gaze of the woman who had addressed him. Near his mother’s age, she had a stark, well-hewn look about her and a brown birthmark on her cheek. Her hair carried a reddish gleam in the firelight. Most certainly, she did not look Norse.
Could she be the one he was meant to find? The thought caused him a jolt of disappointment. Surely not.
Yet she suggested he felt familiar to her, that they might have met…
“Mistress,” he said cautiously, “I do not think so.”
“I suppose it would not be possible.” Disregarding Gunnar’s mild glare of surprise—in his world, females did not speak out of turn—the woman went on, confident in the possession of her right. “Who is your mother, back in Husavik?”
Another surprising question. In Husavik, one’s mother did not matter. Only one’s sire counted.
“My father was the jarl’s man, Harald, and kept the great hall for him.”
Now the woman—wife of the berserker jarl, she must be—looked surprised. But she shot a look at Gunnar before placing a hand on Lodvar’s arm. “We will speak later.”
“This is my wife,” Tolljur Magnusson confirmed it. “And my daughter, Gyda.”
Daughter? Could she be the one?
Lodvar turned his gaze to the younger woman, even as Gunnar did also, and found he hoped so.
Hoped so.
For Gyda was a beauty. Indeed, difficult to believe such a flower had come from that stark woman and this bear of a man. Tall she was for a woman, yet delicately made with a body equal parts strength and grace. Ashen hair tumbled in a spill of waves down her back, and something in her fair, oval face caught at the heart.
Lodvar met her eyes—pale gray like her father’s and set wide in that exquisite face, and hope rose violently in his chest.
Against all reason, he wanted it. He wanted her to be the one.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09NT9N4QM/ref=sr_1_2
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09NT9N4QM/ref=sr_1_2
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-shamans-bride-laura-strickland/1140675093?ean=2940161053676
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-shaman-s-bride-the-viking-brides-book-2-by-laura-strickland
Giveaway: I’m one of the authors participating in the Be Mine Bookish Giveaway and you can win an e-copy of The Berserker’s Bride by Laura Strickland.
Runs February 1 - 28 and is open internationally for many prizes. Winners will be drawn on March 1, 2022.
Author Biography:
Multi award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Her first Scottish Historical hero, Devil Black, battled his way onto the publishing scene in 2013, and the author never looked back. Nor has she tapped the limits of her imagination. Venturing beyond Historical and Contemporary Romance, she created a new world with her ground-breaking Buffalo Steampunk Adventure series set in her native city, in Western New York. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, the latest of whom is a little boy named Tinker, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura's mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Social Media Links:
Author Website: www.laurastricklandbooks.com
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000002632317
Author Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Strickland/e/B001KHSACW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Author Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/760146.Laura_Strickland
Author Twitter:
Laura Strickland Author @LauraSt05038951