VIKING UNCHAINED

Author: Sandra Hill ISBN: 0425222950 7/2008 CONTEMPORARY TIME TRAVEL Publisher: BERKLEY

Thorfinn is a fierce Viking warrior grieving for his lost son, Miklof. Lydia is a modern woman grieving for her dead Navy SEAL husband. Thorfinn shoots through time, one thousand years, and is convinced that Lydia's son Mike is his own Miklof. Lydia thinks Thorfinn, who claims to be a time-traveling Viking, has one oar missing from his longboat. Thorfinn is tempted by the odd woman...especially when she chains him to her bed. Lydia is tempted by Thorfinn when he teaches her that there are some tricks only a Viking male has in his repertoire. Is it really time travel, or a miracle? Could it be possible that sometimes God, or the gods, meddle in the lives of mankind... When destiny demands two time-crossed lovers must meet?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I have loved Sandra Hill's Viking books for as long as they have been published. Heck, I love anything Sandra Hill writes, so this book was an absolute treat for me!

Finn is the absolute best hero that I have ever read about. I loved him to pieces from the start. A total alpha male in his own time, he is a complete chauvinist pig when he gets thrown forward into the present day. He is absolutely hilarious, ticking woman off everywhere he goes—and stopping hearts at the same time. He has no concept of how women of our day and age act, and is constantly making comments to his family members about getting their women under control. He is gorgeous, built like a brick house and totally aware of his own sex appeal. The women love him and he knows it, but from the start, he only has eyes for the beautiful Lydia and her son. He is sure that they are a reincarnation, of sorts, of the unfaithful wife that he had in his own time and their son, and he is determined to have a relationship with "his son" whether Lydia likes it or not.

Lydia is a bit more difficult for me, and she is the sole reason why I couldn't give this book a Top Pick read. She is feisty, beautiful and completely faithful to her dead husband years after his death. All of these things I love about her. I found her to be a very interesting character for the most part. She goes out on the town determined to start living again, never for a minute guessing how much her life is going to change just by taking that one little step.

But here's the problem. For a lot of the book, Lydia is only drawn to Finn because she thinks he is her dead husband brought back to life. Even the morning after, when it is perfectly clear that she had just been overwhelmed upon meeting Finn and seeing his resemblance to her dead husband, she goes on and on quite a bit about it which I found to be annoying. For about one whole chapter I was shaking my head, thinking that she seemed a bit unstable over the whole thing. But, at the end there is a reason for all of this and it does come out, and it made me see a little clearer the purpose behind it all. So, for a chapter or so I had to just trudge on and forgive this little indiscretion because I loved the book so much!

Being reunited with all the old friends that I have read about and loved in the past was also a huge plus, and made me want to dig out all of my Viking books and give them a whirl again! Lovers of Sandra Hill and time travel romance alike are going to love VIKING UNCHAINED!

Kristal Gorman