Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox
Brothers of the Wild North Sea
By Harper Fox
Tags: Historical Romance, established relationship, new relationship, Viking, mm romance, adventure, drama, suspense, mm slash, monk, review, June, Fox, good, angst, magic realism
Length: 346 pages
Rating: Good
Blurb: His deadliest enemy will become his heart’s desire.
Caius doesn’t feel like much of a Christian. He loves his life of learning as a monk in the far-flung stronghold of Fara, but the hot warrior blood of his chieftain father flows in his veins. Heat soothed only in the arms of his sweet-natured friend and lover, Leof.
When Leof is killed during a Viking raid, Cai’s grieving heart thirsts for vengeance-and he has his chance with Fenrir, a wounded young Viking warrior left for dead. But instead of reaching for a weapon, Cai finds himself defying his abbot’s orders and using his healing skills to save Fen’s life.
At first, Fen repays Cai’s kindness by attacking every Christian within reach. But as time passes, Cai’s persistent goodness touches his heart. And Cai, who had thought he would never love again, feels the stirring of a profound new attraction.
Yet old loyalties call Fen back to his tribe and a relentless quest to find the ancient secret of Fara-a powerful talisman that could render the Vikings indestructible, and tear the two lovers’ bonds beyond healing.
Warning: Contains battles, bloodshed, explicit M/M sex, and the proper Latin term for what lies beneath those cassocks.
I'm happy to say that, this book did not start out in the way that I expected. That is to say that "Brothers of the Wild North Sea", doesn't follow the typical set up for a M/M romance novel. In that, the story involves more than: hot single guy meets hot single guy, they hit it off or they don't and then make like bunnies. Don't get me wrong the bones of that basic formula are here but they are messier. Harper Fox always manages to add a little bit more to her stories and I appreciate that. For me it makes her stories more realistic, they aren't clean cut but tangled up like many things associated with human feelings and relationships. However, beneath all of that is a story that still relies on love and happy endings--combining the elements to make a compelling story.
"Brothers of the Wild North Sea", is a story about home, responsibility and love. I really enjoyed watching the evolution of Cai's character of the course of events. Fen, took a little more time to get into and believe. Which in some ways I think worked really well. As the reader I wanted to believe Cai but was still uncertain like the other monks. The juxtaposition of my own thoughts against those of the various characters was interesting.
In the end even this story did not follow the course that I expected. Harper, took the 'expected' actions and turned them into something more. That is one of the things I have enjoyed about reading her work. I might come up with some of what's going to happen but never all of it.
All in all this was a fun story to read for all the heartache involved in it. If you like the idea of star crossed overs, working against the odds to be together this is a good book. If you are looking for fluff and happy bunnies then you should probably look elsewhere.
By Harper Fox
Tags: Historical Romance, established relationship, new relationship, Viking, mm romance, adventure, drama, suspense, mm slash, monk, review, June, Fox, good, angst, magic realism
Length: 346 pages
Rating: Good
Blurb: His deadliest enemy will become his heart’s desire.
Caius doesn’t feel like much of a Christian. He loves his life of learning as a monk in the far-flung stronghold of Fara, but the hot warrior blood of his chieftain father flows in his veins. Heat soothed only in the arms of his sweet-natured friend and lover, Leof.
When Leof is killed during a Viking raid, Cai’s grieving heart thirsts for vengeance-and he has his chance with Fenrir, a wounded young Viking warrior left for dead. But instead of reaching for a weapon, Cai finds himself defying his abbot’s orders and using his healing skills to save Fen’s life.
At first, Fen repays Cai’s kindness by attacking every Christian within reach. But as time passes, Cai’s persistent goodness touches his heart. And Cai, who had thought he would never love again, feels the stirring of a profound new attraction.
Yet old loyalties call Fen back to his tribe and a relentless quest to find the ancient secret of Fara-a powerful talisman that could render the Vikings indestructible, and tear the two lovers’ bonds beyond healing.
Warning: Contains battles, bloodshed, explicit M/M sex, and the proper Latin term for what lies beneath those cassocks.
I'm happy to say that, this book did not start out in the way that I expected. That is to say that "Brothers of the Wild North Sea", doesn't follow the typical set up for a M/M romance novel. In that, the story involves more than: hot single guy meets hot single guy, they hit it off or they don't and then make like bunnies. Don't get me wrong the bones of that basic formula are here but they are messier. Harper Fox always manages to add a little bit more to her stories and I appreciate that. For me it makes her stories more realistic, they aren't clean cut but tangled up like many things associated with human feelings and relationships. However, beneath all of that is a story that still relies on love and happy endings--combining the elements to make a compelling story.
"Brothers of the Wild North Sea", is a story about home, responsibility and love. I really enjoyed watching the evolution of Cai's character of the course of events. Fen, took a little more time to get into and believe. Which in some ways I think worked really well. As the reader I wanted to believe Cai but was still uncertain like the other monks. The juxtaposition of my own thoughts against those of the various characters was interesting.
In the end even this story did not follow the course that I expected. Harper, took the 'expected' actions and turned them into something more. That is one of the things I have enjoyed about reading her work. I might come up with some of what's going to happen but never all of it.
All in all this was a fun story to read for all the heartache involved in it. If you like the idea of star crossed overs, working against the odds to be together this is a good book. If you are looking for fluff and happy bunnies then you should probably look elsewhere.