The Shipwreck

Book 0: The Warrior Maids of Rivenloch

by Glynnis Campbell

Genres: Historical Romance; Ancient World Romance; Viking Romance; Enemies to Lovers; viking romance; forbidden romance; single parent; women warriors; Pict; shipwreck; outcast; Scottish; tortured hero

Synopsis

Top 10 Viking Romance Bestseller!

From USA Today bestselling author Glynnis Campbell...A Norse marauder ends up shipwrecked and at the mercy of a Pictish warrior maid with a grudge against Vikings and a little girl in need of a father.

When his wife and children die, Viking marauder Brandr has nothing left to live for, so he sails away on one final voyage. A storm at sea leaves him shipwrecked, alone, and barely alive on a foreign coastline. Along the Pictish shore, Avril, a warrior maid and the victim of a Viking berserker, banished from her ancestral home of Rivenloch to a seaside cottage, dreams of the day she'll raise her sword, take back the castle that is rightfully hers, and find her half-Viking daughter a proper father. Discovering a broad-shouldered, fair-haired, broken castaway washed up on her beach among the wreckage of his longship, she takes him captive and binds him in chains. She refuses to be a Viking's victim again...never imagining that soon her fiercest enemy will earn her trust, invade her heart, and enthrall her senses.

THE SHIPWRECK
Origin Novella for The Warrior Maids of Rivenloch
Damsels in shining armor...riding to the rescue! Deirdre, Helena, and Miriel, three kick-arse Scots wenches known as The Warrior Maids of Rivenloch, aren't about to become any man's chattel, until they meet heroes who are strong enough to tame their wild ways and worthy enough to win their wayward hearts.

Length: 34,000 words = 178 pages
Rating: R-rated for passionate passages

In This Series

The Warrior Maids of Rivenloch
9th Century – THE SHIPWRECK (a novella)
9th Century – A YULETIDE KISS (a short story)
1136 – LADY DANGER
1136 – CAPTIVE HEART
1136 – KNIGHT'S PRIZE

Key Themes: Viking historical romance, adventure stories, strong women, Scottish brides, ancient Picts, shipwreck, women warriors, Viking invader, captive, hostage, ransom, outcast, exile, princess, single mom, child of rape, missing father, stories with humor

More Historical Romances by Glynnis Campbell

The Warrior Maids of Rivenloch
THE SHIPWRECK (a novella)
A YULETIDE KISS (a short story)
LADY DANGER
CAPTIVE HEART
KNIGHT'S PRIZE

The Knights of de Ware
THE HANDFASTING (a novella)
MY CHAMPION
MY WARRIOR
MY HERO

Medieval Outlaws
THE REIVER (a novella)
DANGER'S KISS
PASSION'S EXILE
DESIRE'S RANSOM

Scottish Lasses
THE OUTCAST (a novella)
MacFARLAND'S LASS
MacADAM'S LASS
MacKENZIE'S LASS

California Legends
NATIVE GOLD
NATIVE WOLF
NATIVE HAWK

Release date: January 8, 2013

Publisher: Glynnis Campbell

Print pages: 178

Sample

THE NINTH CENTURY
EASTERN COAST OF PICTLAND

The Viking was staring at her again with his penetrating eyes. Avril didn't think she'd ever seen eyes so blue—as blue as a summer sky, nay, a robin's egg. Rattled, she turned aside to add another log to the fire.

"I think your arm is broken," she mumbled. Why she'd told him that, she didn't know. After all, it didn't matter. She wasn't about to fix it for him.

"It's a wonder my head isn't broken," he said with a humorless smirk.

She blushed at the reminder of her unchivalrous blow and picked up the poker again, eager to change the subject. "How is it you know my language?"

"I learned it from a Pict slave."

She clenched her teeth. A slave? She jabbed at the glowing coals, but refused to rise to the bait. Maybe she should turn HIM into a slave.

As if he'd read her mind, he asked, "What do you intend to do with me?"

She'd been asking herself that same question all morning. For the moment, she'd hold him hostage. If any of his men turned up alive, she might be able to bargain for her safety with his life. But she wasn't sure there were survivors. Even if there were, there was no telling whether he was of any value to them. The Northmen didn't seem to have the same regard for life as her people did.

"I haven't decided yet," she said.

"If you're going to kill me," he growled, "get it over with."

She frowned. Kill him? In cold blood? Obviously, he knew nothing about chivalry. She straightened with pride, planting the poker between her feet like a blade.

"I can't do that. Unlike you, my sense of honor prevents me from slaying unarmed men."

He lifted a brow in mockery. "Give me a blade then," he suggested.

Avril gave him a sardonic smirk. She wasn't so foolhardy as to think she could easily triumph over a gargantuan Northman. But she didn't appreciate his insulting attitude. "I may be honorable, but I'm not soft in the head."

He half-smiled. "You look soft to me."

Her composure slipped, but only for an instant. "I assure you, you wouldn't be the first man I sent limping from the field of battle."

His eyes narrowed suggestively. "And you wouldn't be the first woman I laid out flat on her back."