VIKING BRIDE ~ NEW RELEASE!

My new historical romance is released on Amazon Kindle today!

Here's the link : tiny.cc/ik7wgz

VIKING BRIDE is set in the Hebridean island of Lewis sometime around AD1040. It begins with the news that a marriage has been arranged that will break the hearts of two young people and force others into rash actions that have unsuspected consequences. There's lots of action and excitement as well for those who like a little more than a love story. 

Here’s the blurb ~

It was a marriage no one wanted, least of all the bride. 

She knew the groom loved someone else. But how would you avoid a forced marriage? Arrange a swift abduction? An accident? What happens when a third party takes a hand in the game and changes everything?

When chieftain Ragnar and his friend Grettir force the marriage on their offspring they have no idea of the powerful feelings they will unleash, nor the dreadful consequences that will follow. Set in the Hebrides in the eleventh century, it's  a time when  Christianity was taking hold in Viking communities slowly settling down as farmers and neighbours, but the old familiar gods had not quite been forgotten.

And heres's the cover: 

In AD 1040 MacBeth was High King of Alba and the Vikings were settling down in various parts of Scotland as neighbours and farmers. Emerging facts about the Vikings over the last few years would have us see them as less than rampaging warriors anxious to lop off heads, and more as settled neighbours; but I think they would still be a dominant force in any area they chose to settle and very dangerous to those who dared to argue with them. Among themselves, I am sure they were as happy, miserable, compassionate, cruel, cynical, greedy, envious and bloody-minded as people everywhere can be today. How they managed to blend in with the local populations makes a fascinating story. 

Northumberland nudges the border with Scotland and shares a good deal of its history. Ullapool is almost as close as London, and most of my holidays (apart from going to France in latter years) have been spent north of the border, including several in the Hebrides. I bicycled through the Uists one year when I was a good deal fitter than I am now, stayed in an old farmhouse in Arnol another year and various B&Bs throughout the islands later still. Got caught in a rainstorm on a gorgeous beach opposite Scarp and I can tell you it was a long, wet walk back to Hushinish!

I can’t say why I’ve always been interested in Scottish history, except that it began when I was about twelve with a book about ~ as you might guess ~ Mary Stewart. There is something in the air and the landscape of the west coast and the islands that resonates with me. A lady from Scotland turned up in my mother’s family tree about four generations back, but I really cannot blame it all on her! The land and the history simply proved more attractive to me than England and all those kings named Henry.

I have a degree in English and worked in academic libraries in the north east of England until retirement a few years ago. That’s when I began writing seriously and there are now twelve novels with my name on them – all historicals bar one. I hope you will enjoy my latest story and in the hope that you will, here are the links to follow: 

My Facebook Author page: @JenBlackauthor 

My books are listed on Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jen-Black/e/B003BZ8JNQ

My blog is https://jenblackathor.blogspot.com. I would be delighted to see you at any or all of them!