SILK DREAMS

Author: Diana Groe ISBN: 0843958693 7/2007 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: Medieval, Viking, 1100 Constantinople

In a strange land of flashing swords and swirling silks, spicy aromas and hot breezes that feel like a lover's breath, Valdis is utterly lost. Constantinople is so vastly different from her homeland in Scandinavia. And the harem she's forced to enter so very treacherous. Her family cast her away for seeing portents of the future, and now her visions are turning even more ominous: they foretell the death of the one man who could help her escape, an exiled Viking who braves the wrath of a kingdom to awaken her passion one sinful pleasure at a time. To save him, Valdis must play a high-stakes game of power and seduction that will either get her killed or finally allow her and her love to live their...SILK DREAMS.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Diana Groe's SILK DREAMS is set in 1100 Constantinople. This setting was a great departure from most of the romance novels out there today, filled with perfumed ladies dressed in silks, wicked harems with their eunuch guards and handsome Vikings willing to defend their damsels to the death.

Vladis is an unusually tall and beautiful young woman, born in Scandinavia to a family of moderate wealth. But days before her wedding, she is struck with one of her spells in front of her betrothed and his family. In modern times this spell would be called a seizure, but in a world steeped in superstition, these spells are looked upon with great fear, and all dreams of a good life are shattered for Vladis when her family sells her into the slave market.

Erik Haimdalsson was banished from his homeland a convicted murderer. By brawn and brain he ascended the ranks in the emperor's service, and is now a Varangian Guard in an elite force who would protect the emperor at all costs, and who fear no man. But when he first sets eyes upon Vladis on auction in the Byzantine slave market, he knows a very real fear of losing all to possess this beautiful creature!

Groe's vivid descriptions of medieval Constantinople sweep the reader away from the very first page. With great detail to court politics and intrigue, she weaves the history of these times with a sensual love story that is a very satisfying read! The strength of character and loyalty shown in both Vladis and Erik warm the heart, as the chemistry between the two warms the blood.

If you are looking for a romance novel with a refreshing setting, a suspenseful plot, and a satisfying love story, Diana Groe's SILK DREAMS delivers pleasure for all the senses! Happy reading!

Deana Monteleone