Gripping Beast

Lorelei Michaels is the flamboyant lead vocalist/songwriter of the all female rock band The Sirens and she has always had a passion for myths and legends. Tonight was going to be the final performance of the band's very successful Legends tour but for some reason she feels that there is something missing in her life, something for which she is waiting. Her friend Dane gives her a Viking armband with a gripping beast in the design and tells her its unusual history of two lovers who had vanished while wearing the armbands. On this night of the band's last performance on the tour Lorelei is thrown into a time warp 1100 years in the past into a room full of Norsemen and finds herself being auctioned off by a slave trader. She is rescued by Erik Thorolfsson a merchant trader who takes her to his ship. When she recovers she is his prisoner and they are out to sea. She notices that her arm band with the gripping beast is missing; instead her captor Eric is wearing two of them. After a while she realizes that she is in some sort of parallel universe and not on a movie set, which was her first assumption, and when she tries to explain to Eric that she is from the 21st century he believes she is insane. What is Lorelei going to do about Erik the Viking, who treats her as his slave and expects her to obey him, even in bed? For a 21st century woman this is hard to swallow. Ms Teglia included a great deal of historical information in this book about Norse mythology which made for very interesting background to the story. She also has a remarkable sense of humor which shows up at the strangest times. When the heroine recites the Star Trek motto: "Our mission: To explore strange new worlds" the first time she has sex with our hero it was too, too funny. The Gripping Beast is book 1 of The Sirens series and this story moves from present day to Norse mythology in an instant and the reader is along for a great ride. What I loved most is that the author took the time to develop the supporting characters as well as the relationship between Erik and Lorelei, before they had sex half way through a 224 page book. The sex between them is unpredictable as would be expected between two people whose backgrounds are so diverse. The Gripping Beast is a terrific beginning to what this reader hopes is going to be a great series.

Lorelei is a modern day lead singer in a rock band. She has friends, wealth and respect but she feels she is missing something. When her friend, Dane, gives her an antique viking armband and tells her the story of 2 starcrossed lovers that share the armbands then dissappear without a trace she realizes she wants a man to love. As she puts the armband on before her concert, she makes a wish to find love and promptly disappears from her time. At this point the story goes hundreds of years in the past where Erik, a viking warrior,and his brother are shopping for goods to take back to their settlement. When Erik spots Lorelei, in her concert costume, on a slave auction block he feels an uncontrollable tug toward her. When the auctioneer actually puts his hands on Lorelei, Erik's control snaps and he swarms in to take what he considers to be his. At the last minute Erik regains control and ends up buying Lorelei as his love slave and heads off to take her to his home. Along their voyage lust and passion rage thru their bodies as Erik tries to comprehend the fact that the beautiful woman he bought might actually be crazy (why else would she claim to be from the future) and Lorelei tries to convince Erik that she is not his love slave. How will Lorelei prove that she is from the future? Can Lorelei learn to enjoy Erik's dominance? What will happen when Lorelei realizes her and Erik are the starcrossed lovers from the story Dane had told her? Read this book and find out what happens. This book had a great story that I really enjoyed. Erik was dominant and Lorelei was spunky. The dominant/love slave relationship was enough to keep the pages sizzling thru the entire book and I thought the author did well bringing this story together. The characters were not as indepth as I usually like, but this book is worth the read. I recommend this book and I will be checking out more books from this author.

Lorelei Michaels is the lead-singer and song-writer of the all-female band The Sirens. But despite her success and the love of her music, she is unhappy and unfulfilled because she still hasn't found that special someone. So when a friend lends her a Viking armband named The Gripping Beast after the animals depicted on it and tells her a beautiful story about true love connected to the band and one of his Viking ancestors, she wishes she could find that kind of love and passion, too. The next moment, she finds herself on a slace auction block in the Viking town of Hedeby! Lucky for her, Erik Thorolfsson sees her and charges to the rescue when a slave trader would rape her to make more money from the sale. While Erik sees Lorelei as his slave, i. e. his property to do with as he pleases, she finds it hard to accept the reality of the world she stumbled into. He wants her and in order to keep her safe in a world where a slave has no rights whatsoever, he feels he must teach her her new place. But although Lorelei feels attracted to him and definitely enjoys his love-making, she doesn't want to submit and obey, especially since she can't see a future between herself and Erik as long as she isn't an equal he can respect. Both will have to adapt and learn to accept the other if they want to make their love last... This is the first book I've read by Charlene Teglia, but it will definitely not be the last. Not only is it very erotic, but the characters and the world are well-developed, the conflict believable, the humour great and very entertaining, but the seriousness of the situation is not underrated. It reminded me of Sandra Hill's early Viking-Time Travels since there is a great sense of humour as well as some of the problems that would logically arise if a modern woman were confronted with the Viking-age. So this book is entertaining and erotic as well as intelligent. The sex scenes are quite explicit, so if you're into more subdued eroticism this would not be the book for you. Otherwise, I can definitely recommend it!

Lorelei is the lead singer of an all-girl rock band. She is talented, tough, and in control. Lorelei can handle anything coming her way, except maybe being thrown back in time. Her good friend, and fellow musician, Dane, tells her the story of a Viking and his love who vanished after he gave her his bracelet and they drank from the same cup on their wedding day. Dane gives Lorelei that bracelet. Lorelei puts it on and promptly vanishes before her show. She is transported to the time of the Vikings. Erik is trading in the village with his younger brother when he sets his eyes on a beautiful, enslaved woman. Instantly enraged, he and his men fight the merchant and take the woman to his ship. Lorelei is baffled by what is happening to her. She doesn't know where she is, or how she got there. Erik doesn't know what to make of his captive, so he assumes she is a madwoman. Their attraction is undeniable though as Erik and Lorelei begin to slowly accept each other. But Lorelei worries because her feelings for Erik are growing. She doesn't know when, or if, she will be transported back to her own time. Realizing that she has been searching for the love of a man like Erik her whole life, Lorelei doesn't want to lose him now that she finally found him. If she can convince him to believe her, Lorelei and Erik may be able to stay together forever. I very much enjoyed The Gripping Beast! It's a well-written romantic tale that captivated me from the beginning. Erik and Lorelei are strong characters who fit well together. Lorelei is beautiful, talented, and brave. Erik is handsome, domineering, and incredibly sexy. I would happily be Erik's slave anywhere! Their passion, while being intense, is both carnal and sensual. I laughed, then I sighed and had tears in my eyes at the end. The Gripping Beast is a book I intend to read again and again! Nannette Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed