Beloved Viking

From the back of the book: A REBELLIOUS ANASAZI BEAUTY - Banished from her tribe, tossed on the winds of rage and sorrow, Shala was desperate. Then she heard the mountain lion scream and found the wounded warrior. Eric, the great, golden-haired Viking, frightened her with tales of a wild, distant land...thrilled her with his strength and virile beauty...awakened dreams and desires that would blaze in her heart forever. A WARRIOR FROM AN ALIEN LAND - A fearless leader of men, Eric was doomed to die alone in a vast, unknown wilderness seething with strange, savage creatures. Then the exquisite Shala appeared to help and heal him. But when he wold take her back to his clan, she fled. Outraged by her defiance, Eric enlisted the aid of her own people-the astonishing Anasazi-to pursue her into the farthest regions of the land. Haunted by the memory of her tender touch, he would risk everything to enfold her in his powerful arms, to bury his face in her long, raven tresses...to find her again and never let her go. This was my first book by Betty Brooks. This wasn't the typical Viking story revolving around a raid, taking prisoners and going back to their homeland, the setting for this was early Americas. Without looking at the map in the book, I could tell the muddy river their langskip traveled and got stuck in was the Mississippi. I liked Shala - although very young, she was strong and stood for what she believed in, even though it cost her family and friends. Not wanting the Shaman is what made her an outcast, but she had learned a skill set that helped her to survive. Shala had a big heart and a lot of her troubles in this book revolved around trying to help a friend out of an undesirable situation...although their decision to run away actually saved the the Eagle Clan from trickery from the Desert Clan. My only problem with Shala was that she made too many assumptions and failed to talk things out. In the end it just created a cycle of misunderstandings between her and Eric. Eric is an alpha - he wanted things his way, even though he was in a foreign land. I liked that he found a way for him and Shala to communicate, and even though he knew he was stronger than her (even wounded), Eric didn't try to force himself on her. What I didn't like about Eric is he always wanted things his way, like assuming that Shala would want to just up and leave her homeland to go live with people with very different ways. I also thought Eric could've told Shala much sooner how he felt, maybe she would've confided in him more instead of thinking the feelings/caring was one-sided....but when have men ever really been too upfront with their feelings. Overall, I think it was a good story and worthy of purchasing the sequels....Eric's brother Garrick (Viking Mistress) and his sister Brynna (Warrior's Destiny).