The Viking She Would Have Married

In close quarters… With the Viking she’d loved and lost
A Shieldmaiden Sisters story—with her family fallen on hard times, Valda’s forced to join the crew on Halfdan Ulfsson’s merchant ship as he sets sail on the treacherous silk route. But this handsome jarl’s son is the man she’d planned to wed, until his bitter betrayal. Knowing she can never trust him, she must focus on saving her sisters…and not the intense connection that still burns between them!
Passion erupts when these bold, spirited Vikings are reunited!

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Author Bio

Lucy Morris has always been obsessed with myths and legends. Her books blend sweeping romance with vivid worldbuilding to whisk you away to another time and place filled with adventure. Expect passion, drama, and vibrant characters.
Lucy lives in Essex, UK, with her husband, two children, and two cats. She has a massively sweet tooth and loves Terry’s Chocolate Oranges and Irn-Bru. In her spare time, she likes to explore castles with her family, or drink bubbly with her friends.

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Tracy’s Review

The Viking She Would Have Married by Lucy Morris

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Shieldmaiden Sisters, #1

Release Date: May 24, 2022

After returning to Jorvik after professing her love to Jorund and learning he doesn’t share her feelings, shieldmaiden Valda Porunndottir aka The Blade settles in with her mother and sisters who are planning on retiring and buying a farm, but after a series of setbacks leave them without funds, Valda tries unsuccessfully to find work on the docks, when she is approached by her first love and successful merchant trader Halfdan, son of jarl Url and offered a position on his upcoming trip to Miklagard (Constantinople).

Halfdan doesn’t really have a trip scheduled, but after losing Valda once, he refuses to let her slip away again. He wanted to marry her, but at the time, was beholden to his father and couldn’t risk it. But he isn’t free to pursue her now either, having made a promise to his father to marry a bride of his choosing in order to help his half-brother Erik. Nonetheless, he sees this as fate and convinces her to join his crew.

They set out and Valda learns that Halfdan didn’t betray her all those years ago, but refuses to be his concubine when she learns of his promise to marry. She keeps her distance, but when she almost loses her life, she decides to grab what happiness she can and embarks on an affair with Halfdan, hoping she will be able to walk away with her heart intact. Halfdan is elated and vows to change her mind about leaving him at the end of the trip, and hopes to find a way to save his brother and have Valda. Proving the path to happily ever after isn’t always an easy journey.

This is the first book in the Shieldmaiden Sisters series, but if you read “A Nun For the Viking Warrior” you have already met Valda and her family. This book starts not long after the end of that book and takes place in Ancient England. The story is well-written and nicely paced with great characters and lots of emotion. The story is a classic second-chance romance and is filled with secrets, lies, misunderstandings, betrayal, warm love scenes, fascinating historical detail of a bygone era, and finally, a HEA that didn’t seem possible. I enjoyed this book, but honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of Halfdan, he is generous to a fault and a very decent man, but he wanted to have his cake and eat it too, and I am not sure he would have gone after Valda if his brother hadn’t reacted as he did, so not the perfect hero in my opinion. As mentioned, this is the first book in a new series and I am happy to recommend it and am impatiently waiting for the next book to release!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*