Tempted by the Runes by Christina Courtenay is a Viking time-slip (dual time) romance, which skilfully interweaves past and present.
This is the 4th book in the series, but reads perfectly well as a standalone (I haven't read the previous books).
Madison Berger is visiting Dublin with her parents and brother for the Clontarf Viking re-enactment festival, held in St Anne's Park. Her parents have been attending such events for as long as Maddie can remember. These events have given her a taste of what life has been in the Viking times.
Maddie is not just a visitor, as she's been asked to do fortune-telling with runes. "She'd become quite proficient at it in the last couple of years, and even believed she had the second sight, as she was sometimes able to predict the future".
While her brother goes on a pub crawl with his mates, Maddie is bored to death, staying in the hotel, and ventures out for a walk along the banks of the Liffey, still dressed up in her Viking outfit. Mudlarking, she conveniently stumbles upon a small antique knife with runes. "Pale in the fading light, it looked like a small piece of bone, but there were markings on it - a design of some sort."
Having read the runes, Maddie recognises that the lucky find is not just a knife, but a time-travel device. "They existed. For real.Maddie knew that because first her sister Linnea had found one, then Linnea's best friend Sara. And now they were both living in the ninth century, courtesy of a magical artefact".
Maddie is super excited: now she can time travel too and have her own adventures. She only intends to have a quick visit to the 9th C. "Maybe I could just visit briefly? Check it out?" she murmured. It would only be for a very short time; she'd be back before anyone even realised she'd gone. What harm could it do?" What harm indeed?! Whenever someone says these famous words, you just know, it's not going to end as planned.
Having travelled to Dyflin, ad 875, Maddie is attacked by four men who consider her an easy prey.
Geir Eskilsson has come to Irland to buy some thralls and a larger ship suited for his cargo. He is on the way to the harbour, when he is alerted by the screaming and shouting. Geir can see that the young woman is holding her own, but she is one against four, and he runs to her rescue.
Maddie gets hurt in the attack, being knocked unconscious. She wakes up on a ship travelling to Iceland, with the man who has saved her from the attack. She discovers that Geir has left his family in Sweden, hoping to establish his own settlement in Iceland.
Geir believes it's the Norns (entities which control the fate) that have brought Maddie to him. His brothers are married to the time-travellers, so he recognises the pattern. He proceeds to travel to Iceland, refusing to take Maddie back to Ireland. They strike a deal - she will stay with the crew for a while and help establish the settlement, then she is free to travel back in time.
Maddie agrees, "staying here would be an exciting challenge, and it could also be fun - establishing a settlement, building houses, growing food, living in tune with nature. It was what she'd yearned to do in her own century, but there it was much more difficult to achieve".
As time goes, and the settlement is taking shape, the new rhythm of life seems to suit both of them. Maddie finds this life satisfying, she is doing something "useful, productive, and every task was important". There is a chemistry between them, but Maddie doesn't allow Geir to get too close. After all, she does plan to return to her time.
Their settlement is small and compact. The nature is harsh, but not without its rewards. They hunt and fish, grow crops, pick berries, build barns and improve their living conditions, but they are not prepared for a raid.
It's not just the raid and single combats that have to be won. Will Geir be able to win Maddie's heart and persuade her that her runes might be telling the truth she tries to avoid?
Maddie is truly maddening. In appearance and attitude she reminds me strongly of another annoying time traveller, Brianna Fraser from the Outlander series. In fact, they could be twin sisters. Both bring in their modern-day attitudes and sensibilities to the distant past and try to instil their views on the historic characters. Aren't they concerned about interfering with the timeline? They might not be born at all, if they keep meddling in the affairs of the past and changing the historical events.
Many times I felt sorry for Geir, he didn't deserve to be cancelled rebuffed at every opportunity, and criticised for thinking the way his contemporaries did. He is way too accommodating to all Maddie's whims, and too open to be "re-educated". She gives him the silent treatment, when he doesn't jump to do her bidding and give freedom to the thralls as soon as she demands it.
Maddie is sulking, when she doesn't get what she deems should be done, with all the attitude of the uncompromising Millennial. Would a 9th C Viking be so indulgent of a woman who insists that only her way is the right one?!
I found the chapters dedicated to establishing the settlement, preparing food and land for crops, building the house, most fascinating. The description of the big house, its interior and sleeping arrangements is most absorbing. These were the pages I found more gripping than Maddie's romance. As a close community, they had to be self-sufficient, making all their clothes, furniture and tools, growing all their food as well as hunting/fishing. You get the sense of how crowded and busy their house is, how strange to the modern mind their sleeping arrangements are, how all the available space is used for everything.
The story is well-researched and full of interesting facts of life in the 9th C.
Tempted by the Runes is an enjoyable time slip romance, with enough magic, history and a good dose of escapism to enchant and amuse you.
This post is part of the blog tour for Tempted by the Runes.
Many thanks to Christima Courtenay and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
Purchase Links
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tempted-Runes-stunning-evocative-adventure-ebook/dp/B08TTVCDLB/
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/tempted-runes-stunning-evocative-adventure-ebook/dp/B08TTVCDLB/
Author Bio –
Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK.
Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings.
Christina is a former chairman of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014), and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes.
Tempted by the Runes (time travel published by Headline 9th December 2021) is her latest novel.
Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).
Social Media Links –
https://twitter.com/PiaCCourtenay
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