The Viking's Woman [Hardcover]

Heather Graham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1990

Lady Rhiannon had defended her land against what she had thought was a Viking invasion. But the handsome barbarian, who had led his ships to her coast and vanquished her in battle, was the charismatic Eric of Ireland-a man invited by Rhiannon's uncle, King Alfred himself, to help England fight the hated Vikings. Rhiannon had fought the person she believed was her enemy-and lost. She would have to pay the price of her mistake-marriage to the man she hated above all else: Eric...

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Dell Book; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440206707
• ISBN-13: 978-0440206705
• ASIN: B000DZKN9K
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,382,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times and USA Today best selling author, Heather Graham was born somewhere in Europe and kidnapped by gypsies when she was a small child. She went on to join the Romanian circus as a trapeze artist and lion tamer. When the circus came to South Florida, she stayed, discovering that she preferred to be a shark and gator trainer.

Not really.

Heather is the child of Scottish and Irish immigrants who met and married in Chicago, and moved to South Florida, where she has spent her life. (She has, at least, been to the Russian circus in Moscow, where she wished she was one of the incredibly talented and coordinated trapeze artists.) She majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred and fifty novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, horror, and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages, and has had over seventy-five million books in print. She has been honored with awards from Walden Books, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA and more. Heather has also become the proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf region. She is also the founder of "The Slush Pile Players", presenting something that's almost like entertainment for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ERIC WAS NO HERO..., May 3, 2005

By 

skyy - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Viking's Woman (Mass Market Paperback)

As a lover of period and epic romantic novels, I was sorely disappointed that this novel contained no romance at all. Eric was so abusive to Rhiannon, I thought I had mistakenly bought a self-help book on the signs to determine if you're lover is abusive, instead of a romance novel. I enjoy fiesty, independent heroines and saw no real problems with Rhiannon, other than her reason for falling in love with a man like Eric. I cringe at the number of times he grabbed her by her hair, yanking it brutally; or ruthlessly throwing her on the bed before diving on top of her with all his weight, even while she was pregnant. The almost-rape left me cold and detatched. I cannot understand the motivation for Eric. I know he wanted and coveted land, but his personality was woefully lacking in charisma, humor and warmth. Eric was just another handsome character that was unworthy of the brave and intelligent heroine. I know men of that period considered women as property, whom they could treat as they please and abuse at will....but who want's to read about it in a romance novel?

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the time, March 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Viking's Woman (Mass Market Paperback)

I don't usually bother to write reviews of books, but this is one I can't fail to write my opinion of. I am in love with the Viking era, read as many romances set in this time period as I can find, and an a member of a reinactment society. Yet this is the first Viking romance I couldn't bring myself to finish.

The history is fine, but even the setting was not enough to keep my attentions. Something just doesn't work about this book. We get both a tortured hero and a near-rape forced seduction all in one. No man who is a man commits rape, and there is simply not enough to this plot to overcome the hero's terrible failings.

I was disgusted.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 and 1/2 stars - 2nd in the Viking Trilogy - Great Viking Romance!, September 15, 2010

By 

Regan (San Diego) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Viking's Woman (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second in Graham's Viking trilogy (Golden Surrender, The Viking's Woman and Lord of the Wolves).

Set in 9th century Ireland (Eire), England and the north coast of France, these are the stories of Prince Olaf of Norway, the first Lord of the Wolves, and his bride, Princess Erin, daughter of the Irish High King, the Ard-Righ of Tara, and their descendants. I warn you that the Viking men are strong willed, arrogant and domineering, even if the two in the last two books are half Irish. Their women are independent, stubborn and courageous and can fight with the best of the men. They have no intention of allowing a Viking male who has taken everything from them to dominate them. But then wolves and the cubs of wolves mate for life or so says the druid who is advisor to the Irish king's family and these men are wolves. Each of the marriages is arranged over the objection of the females who fight the husbands who have laid claim to their lands and to them.

This, the second story, tells of Rhiannon, King Alfred's favorite niece who has lands on the Saxon coast of England, and Eric, second son of Olaf, King of Dubhlain in Eire (who we encountered in Golden Surrender). Alfred seeks Eric's aid to fight against the Danes, his enemies, and to defend Rhiannon's lands as most of her men are fighting with Alfred. But the message to tell Rhiannon that Eric is coming at Alfred's invitation is diverted through treachery and when Eric comes to her castle in his Viking ships, she thinks he's attacking and she defends. In the ensuing fight, she wounds him with her own arrow. When Alfred learns how Eric was greeted, he knows he must make up for it as he needs Eric's sword. So he decides to give both Rhiannon and her lands to the Viking lord. But while Eric wants the land badly, he does not want the woman. He has loved once and lost that love and does not desire to wed. Meanwhile, Rhiannon loves one of her own people, Rowan, who she believed she would marry. Though he doesn't want her, Eric consents to the marriage thinking he'll send Rhiannon to Ireland and be rid of her. She is forced to marry him in a hasty ceremony. As predicted, Eric does not treat her well. The wedding night is somewhere between a seduction and a rape (it has elements of both). It is a battle between them for most of the book. But love wins in the end.

Graham's writing is, as always, very well done with superb historical references woven into a complex love story that befits the cultures of the hero and heroine. I recommend it.