The Winter Serpent [Paperback]

Maggie Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Doireann is the proud daughter of a Scottish chieftan, her beauty renown through the land of her father, and yet she chose to remain unbound and alone, free from submitting to the desires of any man. As the tides of war and pillage reach her homeland, she finds herself sold into the hands of the fearsome Viking pirate Thorsten, the wild leader of the frenzied Norse Bear Cult. She must survive the humiliation of being Thorsten’s woman, through pagan rituals and violent battles, as only her pride keeps her from submitting to his passion…

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: e-reads.com (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585868957
• ISBN-13: 978-1585868957
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,995,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Maggie Davis, a Southerner/Northerner born in Norfolk, Virginia and raised in New York City, is the author of over 30 bestselling novels, including The Far Side of Home, Eagles, Stage Door Canteen, Rommel's Gold, and A Christmas Romance. The latter was featured in Good Housekeeping Magazine and made into a hit CBS Sunday Night Movie starring Olivia-Newton-John and Gregory Harrison. She has written for The Georgia Review, Ladies Home Journal, Holiday, and other national magazines, and has been a feature writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She taught three noncredit writing courses at Yale University, where she was assistant in research to the chairman of the Department of Psychology. She's also been a guest writer-artist at the International Cultural Center, Hammamet, Tunisia.

Writing as Katherine Deauxville, she is the author of the bestselling medieval novels Blood Red Roses, The Amethyst Crown, The Crystal Heat and Eyes of Love, as well as the science fiction novel Out Of The Blue, the comedy The Last Male Virgin, and the murder mystery Southern Fried Trouble.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Marvellous tale of one woman's fight for pride!!, November 25, 2002

By 

Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Winter Serpent (Paperback)

I love historical romances, but often bemoan the past few years where the majority of historical romances are 99% romance and 1% history. You often wonder why the writer bothered to set it in a historical era when they book is virtually a contemporary romance with a horse tossed in for show. I love history as much as I do the sweeping passion, so I am delighted there are still a few writers out there that remember the HISTORICAL. Maggie Davis is one of the best historical romance writers around. I love her OUT OF THE BLUE, HUSTLE SWEET LOVE and THE LAST MALE VIRGIN (rumour has it Hollywood is looking to do it as a movie - cool!!). However, I am shocked her historicals have often not gotten the attention they deserve.

The Winter Serpent is heavy on history and it is absolutely amazing!! It is a gritty story of a Scot's lass, beautiful and strong-willed, who will let no man break her pride. Dorieann is the beauty daughter of a Scots Chieftain and Pict mother. Her foster brother kills her father and assumes control of the Scots Clan. He desires Dorieann, but she refuses his advances. In his fury, he sells her to the Viking settles, fierce warriors of the Norse Bear Cult, believing she will kill herself rather than submit to them. Dorieann is surprised to learn she has been bought for Thorsten, their leader. She survives, adjusts, and earns Thorsten's approval so much that he takes her as his wife. This is not the way her stepbrother wanted her fate to go, so he begins to ferment trouble for her and the Vikings.

Maggie Davis pulls no punches as she gives you a true historical romance, full of details and realistic portrayals of a woman surviving, yet keeping her pride and spirit, making life the best she can in a world that was very harsh to woman.

Applause for her not taking the easy road, but sticking to a believable depiction of a woman of fire. So if you want more historical in your historical romance, this wonderful tale of the Scots, Picts and Vikings is just your cup of tea!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really good book!, August 15, 2006

By 

Mari (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Winter Serpent (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was excellently written, very engaging and vivid. There is a lot of rich historical backgrounds and descriptions, but it never gets boring. This book does not include explicit descriptions of sexual encounters, and that is a very welcoming fact, since as we all know the paperback romance novels are full of them, and they are almost always sound silly and unrealistic. The only problem that i have with Winter Serpent is that it is not really a "romance novel". The heroine hates the hero in the beginning, as she is sold to him as a slave, and she does not really like him all that much at the end of the book either. Giving the fact that they remain apart for the larger part of the book I fail to see the "passion" that the back cover promises. I think that marketing this book as a "romance" does it a huge disservice. I thought that this book was excellent, had a very authentic feel and the amount of actual research that must have went into it was huge! I would describe it as a story of a strong and determined young woman who intends to survive the obstacles in her way, tries to adjust in extremely difficult situations and basically makes the best of what her life has to offer. But romance or not it is still deffinately the book worth reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your typical Viking Romance, December 3, 2008

By 

Wren - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Winter Serpent (Paperback)

If you think that this is one of the typical, silly romance novels featuring a hunky Viking and a California chick disguised in a tunic and a tartan, you are wrong!

This is a very well written novel about survival in the Dark Ages. The atmosphere in the novel is perfect: It is as dark as it should be, brutal and depressing at times. Thorsten and Doireann are true medieval characters who reflect the cruelty and the superstitious character of the period without making us dislike them.

Still, The Winter Serpent is an enjoyable read. Maggie Davis knew how to enter the elements of hope, compassion and love in this novel without taking the easy course for creating too likeable, too modern characters.

In short I can guarentee you a satisfying read, you will not be disappointed if you buy this book.