2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations as well as Library Journal Best E Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere series Victoria also writes romantic historical fiction as Emery Lee Look for her new Highland saga coming summer of 2017. com Blog site_link site_link authorvictoriav Pinterest site_link site_link Goodreads site_link T ABOUT VICTORIA VANEVictoria Vane is a bestselling award winning author of smart and sexy romance Her books have received many accolades to include the 2016 Red Carpet Award for Jewel of the East.
2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations as well as Library Journal Best E Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere series Victoria also writes romantic historical fiction as Emery Lee Look for her new Highland saga coming summer of 2017. com Blog site_link site_link authorvictoriav Pinterest site_link site_link Goodreads site_link TUBE site_link ACCOLADES 2016 Red Carpet Finalist for ROUGH RIDER2016 Red Carpet Finalist for JEWEL OF THE EAST2015 Red Carpet Finals for SLOW HAND2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Tempatations 2014 Rone Nomination for The Sheik Retold also LASR Best Book 2013 NomineeTHE DEVIL DEVERE SERIESLibrary Journal Best E Book Romance 2012.
LR Cafe Best Series Nominee 2012 A Wild Night s Bride Night Owl Reviews Top Pick IRC Reader s Choice historical romance nomineeInd Tale Magazine Rone nominee The Virgin Huntress Night Owl Reviews Top PickInd Tale Magazine Rone nominee The Devil You Know Night Owl Reviews Top Pick The Romance Reviews Best Historical Romance Nominee LR Caf Best Historical Romance nominee 2012Ind Tale Magazine Rone nominee The Devil s Match Night Owl Reviews Top Pick The Romance Reviews Top Pick LASR Reviews Book of the Month December 2012 Swept Away by Romance Best Historical Romance of 2012 LR Caf Best Author Nominee 2012 Swept Away by Romance Favorite Author 2012Ind Tale Magazine Rone nominee A Devil s Touch Swept Away by Romance Best Novella 2013 nominee A Breach of Promise.
December 2011 Ellora s Cave Night Owl Reviews Top Pick Reading Romances 5 flames and Pen Award TBR Pile 5stars Book of the month winner September 2012 LASR Erotic Reviews 5 STAR Book of the Month Nominee The Romance Studio 5 Sweetheart Nominee TRS CAPA Nominee 2012 site_link 3. As I read this book I Kept picturing the TV show Vikings because of the characters names and the whole Valhalla.
They are both left lost and lonely once again I loved the story but thought it might have been a little bit rushed toward the end of the story I would have liked to see interaction between Bjorn nd Gwened s husband over what would become of the lands But otherwise I loved the book and can t wait for 105 Bjorn and Gwened both had deeply personal issues from their past that had to be faced and overcome Bjorn lost his wife and newborn son in one night while he was out raiding years ago and had been begging for forgiveness from his gods since he felt like he had betrayed them Gwened had lost the man she loved.
Pleasurable read I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys well researched and steadily paced historical romances I relished it so much that I am now determined to go back and catch up with this series soon My full review is published at Reading Between the Wines Book Club Please check it out there 105 Title The Bastard of BrittanyAuthor Victoria VanePublisher Kindle WorldsSeries The Wolves of Brittany 3Reviewed By Arlena DeanRating FiveReview The Bastard of Brittany by Victoria VaneMy ThoughtsI loved this series e that featured Gwened who was the Countess of Poher who had been engaged for a short time to Hugo Adele a healer working with vulerary herbs who was Gwened s foster sister was marriaged to her brother Rudalt This is quite a interesting read as we find both of these two men so very different However sadness came upon them and Gwened learned that her betrothed Hugo had died during a attack by Viking marauders and it seemed that Gwened couldn t get the truth of what had happened on their hunt from her brother It was quickly after the death of Hugo we finds that Gwened has been betrothed again to the son of Judicael of Poher Now who in the world was this person Was this a politic move With Hugo being dead it was found out that Judicael had another son not only Hugo but Mateudoi who had been born sickly The story behind all of this is rather sad but we find the Mateudoi was been secretly taken away and tended to by a nurse maid and when Judicael learned of this it was ordered that he be taken away and sent to the Abbey at Redon as an oblate But Mateudoi was able to survive at the monastery and seemed to be doing well there with his studies So.
Brittany Gwend had been back in Poher for two months and had still had no word from Mateudoi Had he petitioned for a annulment in Rome now he was near the correct age Why had Mateudoi not let her know what was going on with him When army of Vikings invaded Brittany and now wanted to see Gwened who was in charged What had happened to Duke Rudalt As this story continues on we get a well told story of the conquering of all Brittany Not only had these pagan armies had come to pillage but they were now staying So now we find that Brittany was now vulnerable under the Viking control. I loved this part when Gwened finally meets Bjorn Vargrsson in Vannes I will say at this point the story really picks up and this author really gives the readers one intriguing read It was quite interesting seeing Gwened and Bjorn s reaction to each other What happened after Bjorn was injuryed by the wild boars What had happened to his wife Astrid that he still had such deep feelings for that he had remained loyal Oh.
Where she would spin all baskets of wool into fine thread doing beautiful embroidery and tapestry work of her family history I could only imagine how beautiful that was to look upon Why was this such a interesting point in this story What will happen as Bjorn learns about Gwened marriage to Mateudoi and what had happened to Hugo Why was Gwened so surprise to see that these Norsemen Vikings were nothing like she thought they would be Did they really want to settle peacefully in Brittany How was Bjorn so different from her brother Rudalt in the way he ruled I will really stop here and just say this was a quite a novella that was indeed featly written Be ready for all of these question and to be answered from this read The ending will be even interesting in how the story ends especially with that big secret that only Gwened and Bjorn would keep Would I recommend this series The Wolves of Brittany 3 in The Bastard of Brittany YES 105 The third brother arrives in the spotlight Bjorn had me intrigued from book one He s quiet.
ABOUT VICTORIA VANEVictoria Vane is a bestselling award winning author of smart and sexy romance Her books have received many accolades to include the 2016 Red Carpet Award for Jewel of the East Norsemen plus the raids YES I Love it. Gwened is forced in to a loveless marriage with Hugo s younger brother and is basically just passing the time by When she hears of the Viking raids she runs to her sister she is book 2 of the series to see if she can help aid them She is stunned to hear her sister is married to one of the Vikings and WILLINGLY none the less GASP right Gwened and Bjorns have a soft truce and begin to respect one another When a night of passion soon turns into confusion her betrothed just days before they were to be married She was deeply shocked and hurt when her parents decided to quickly force her to marry the malformed 14 year old brother of the man she loved The alliance was much important to them than her happiness She was devastated to be forced to marry a 14 year old malformed boy studying to become a priest who was not interested at all in even trying to give her a child as an heir His interest was the Church and and how it would be affected Gwened and Bjorn were both shocked by their attraction to their enemy Needless to say they both tried desperately to deny their attraction Read book 3 of the series The Bastard of Brittany to understand the dynamic between these two so beautifully explained by Victoria Vane Her characters have depth and are very well developed The plot is interesting and holds your interest until the very last page I really didn t want to put the book down until I was finished much to my husbands dismay I can easily recommend this book and the entire series as a do not miss read I m curious to see if this moves further in perhaps a continuation of this series or a newly developed series taking up from where this one left off A MUST read in my opinion 105 If you are a follower of the DeWolfe books by Kathryn LeVeque this series of books by Victoria Vane is for you It begins with the Vikings and how they came to conquer Brittany and settled it the years after 907 Three brothers Valdrik Ivar the Red and Breton decided to claim Brittany castle by castle and do it with care and as peacefully as possible The thought was to marry the noble women and begin to become as civilized as possible for the time period This clearly lays the ground work for the invasion of England in 1066 105 This is a fast paced and short read Even so we have the history of the characters Both Gwened and Bjorn were really meant to be together as both of them suffered losses and they can t move on. This novel reminded me of the TV series Vikings but the way Bjorn and his brethren conquered Brittany wasn t bloody and tension filled I surmise that we re spared the details As I ponder on the title it s not exactly Bjorn who s the bastard but his and Gwened s son the future king of Brittany 105 As usual Victoria Vane indulges my love of writing This time I finally was able to read the story of Bjorn from her De Wolfe Pack Series of novellas and I enjoyed it immensely Picking up on the continued conquest of Brittany by the three brothers we see Bjorn keeping Vannes safe through Valdrick s recovery he awaits the trek to the final piece of the kingdom known as Poher What he least expects is the stubborn Countess of Poher the sister of the late Duke Rudalt to make her presence known in an effort to halt further invasion as she is made aware of the threat to her home Unaware of the recent alliance through marriage between her sister in law Adele and the newly crowned King Valdrick Gwened too is shocked by revelations She realizes her efforts will not be successful and as she is not permitted leave until Bjorn discovers her true nature she quickly acclimates to her situation The two are curious and cautious of one another and yet cannot help feeling compelled to learn Bjorn is suffering from the deaths of his wife and children seeking some form of life beyond his guilt ridden existence filled with desperation for forgiveness while Gwened is trying to salvage the only thing she has left her home Though she had been forced into a marriage with no love no chance at happiness she is also facing the embarrassment of an impending end to it Bjorn however only wants to begin again to find a way to survive his sadness Thus when she beholds the wonder of Vikings not set on destroying and plundering the land but willing to learn to settle to share customs as Bjorn opens up her eyes to an entirely new existence they cannot fight the pull of passion New alliances are formed the conquest of Brittany continues and love is found in unique places in this third installment Bjorn is sweet intriguing and swoon worthy while Gwened has a will of iron and strength to behold I thoroughly loved reading their tale and seeing the story unfold further It s definitely a must read 105 
Turning the last page I felt the saga of the three brothers had been skillfully ended Bjorn the last brother of the three Vikings that had invaded Brittany had now secured most of the land with the last stronghold being in Polar With her parents and brother now dead and her husband away getting an annulment of their marriage Lady Gwened was summoned to negotiate with the savages that had taken over What she finds it a somewhat peaceful setting with the people having agreed fidelity to the Norsemen Determined to stop the invasion to her home in Polar Gwened realizes that her hopes are in vain as alliances have already been made She is not allowed to leave the castle she is thrown into daily contact with Bjorn and finds that he is not the savage man she expected Bjorn has no intentions of marrying after his wife and child had been killed years ago and knows he will never feel love again But as they spend time together the undeniable attraction between them slowly erupts As is her way the author brings the story alive and you do not want it to end Another great addition to the Wolves of Brittany 105 Turning the last page I felt the saga of the three brothers had been skillfully ended Bjorn the last brother of the three Vikings that had invaded Brittany had now secured most of the land with the last stronghold being in Polar With her parents and brother now dead and her husband away getting an annulment of their marriage Lady Gwened was summoned to negotiate with the savages that had taken over What she finds it a somewhat peaceful setting with the people having agreed fidelity to the Norsemen Determined to stop the invasion to her home in Polar Gwened realizes that her hopes are in vain as alliances have already been made She is not allowed to leave the castle she is thrown into daily contact with Bjorn and finds that he is not the savage man she expected Bjorn has no intentions of marrying after his wife and child had been killed years ago and knows he will never feel love again But as they spend time together the undeniable attraction between them slowly erupts As is her way the author brings the story alive and you do not want it to end Another great addition to the Wolves of Brittany 105 A lovely novella length historical romance I would very much like to have my bed back It is a large bed he remarked adding with a grin there is room for two The Bastard of Brittany by Victoria Vane is a lovely novella length historical romance perfect to cozy up with on a cold afternoon It is the story of Lady Gwened of Poher and Norseman Bjorn Vargrson the last of the three half brothers to have his story told in the author s World of de Wolfe Pack Wolves of Brittany series I found it easy to jump right into the story even though I d not read the previous two novellas and I had no issue whatsoever picking up the story and connecting with both main characters. The author writes that many of the characters and events in this series are either true or inspired by actual people or historical events She was stoked to pen this particular jewel by The Baueax Tapestry a fascinating 220 foot long example of Norman embroidery which depicts the events in this tale After reading this I was motivated to search for pictures of the stunning tapestry which can easily be found online. This story takes place about one hundred and fifty years before the Norman conquest of England As the story opens our heroine is suffering from the loss of her husband to be just before their wedding and then being forced to marry a scholarly man who believes sexual relations are distasteful She is unhappy and unfulfilled Our hero is a widower who still mourns the loss of his family and blames himself for their deaths even though he wasn t present He s done his share of raiding in the past and has been instrumental in putting his brother on the throne of Brittany but he is level headed and ready to settle down Gwened and Bjorn are both likable and I thoroughly enjoyed the slow build up of their romance. Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from The Bastard of Brittany Hearts do not break her mother corrected with an arched brow Whether we like it or not they continue to beat until we die Wickedness He laughed Pleasure is the greatest gift the gods ever gave us There are many means beyond copulation to achieve release If I am willing to share this gift why would you reject it He gazed down at her tambour and the sketch she had just completed of him battling the boar Gwened fought the urge to snatch it from view Tis a good likeness he remarked But perhaps you could make me bigger he added with a grin. I savored this trip back to ninth century Brittany As with all of Victoria s books The Bastard of Brittany is a well written Gwened learns of Mateudoi s studies and deformity to which there is not cure and he was only fourteen years old And Gwened was to marry him Now to find out why this marriage had to take place sure quickly I am going to say you will have to pick up the well written read to find out. We find that Bjorn has lost his family and his life has been torn apart so he does these sacrifices with boars in the hope of gaining and seeking solace for his soul However this didn t seem to be working for him as he wonders what must he do to free the pain in his heart and guilt that continues to haunt him I loved his his brother tried to reason with him in letting him know that their fates was in the Gods hands Seeing that his brother Bjorn needed a change of scenery Valdrik talks him into going to the southern lands of Frankia. Gwened is now married to Mateudoi are leaving for Vannes where he lived as a monk eat little studied and pray and never came to his wife s bed What troubled Gwened was that their were no heirs for Brittany Would Mateudoi consent to this What had happened that brought about problems between Rudalt and Mateudoi Again you will have to pick up this read to find out. As the story goes on we find Valdrik and Bjorn in the mist of quite a battle with the Norse Franks Neustrians and Aquitainians Who will survive this bloody battle What will happen as it seems like Mateudoi is wanting an annulment and has left with the Abbot of Redon without telling Gwened of his leave What will happen when Gwend planed to travel by horseback back to Poher The story continues as we find Brittany is without a strong ruler What will Valdrik have to do during the bartering that he would be well rewarded for his sacrifice What had happened for that to come to light Kissing whose feet This had to do with a treaty showing a proper demonstration of goodwill Now after the sealing this bargain when that dubious kiss Valdrik his two brother and three hundred hardened Vikings warriors set out to conquer the kingdom of Brittany. Now what will happen next in the Carhix Castle in Poher I forgot to mention how I loved how Gwened would apply herself to the embroidered cloth as her mother had from the distaff and spindle a widower who still mourns the loss of wife and children but he s also a raiding Viking helping put his brother on the throne of Brittany Ivar the Red was full of sensational action and intrigue along with sizzling passion so I was well primed to move into The Bastard of Brittany. The Bastard of Brittany is the third of the Wolves of Brittany series I have no idea if its the last book as I felt there was room for to come when this one ended and yet he is the final of the three half brothers so not sure there But what I am sure about is that this series of stories must be read in order All three books cover roughly the same events but offer parallel stories with the three brothers and the women in their stories The first story Breton Wolfe has Valdrick and Adele telling of the invasion of Brittany and takes things to the point of the siege on Quimper Then Ivar the Red has Ivar and Emma summarizing the invasion from a new angle and taking things just past the siege to thwarting a retaliatory invasion from the Franks near the border And now The Bastard of Brittany summarizes the invasion from yet another angle and covers what was going on back at Vannes and on to Poher with Bjorn and Gwened taking over the narration. I found this one went by fast for me from start to finish and yet it wasn t any shorter than the others Nothing really leaped out at me though I felt a quick connection to both Bjorn and Gwened I loved that though they have private pain they go on for the betterment of others Bjorn is a caregiver whether it was to his lost family or to the people of the lands he now oversees I love that Gwened has the potential to be such and indeed kept things going in Poher while her boy husband was growing up It was a steady paced story taking the tone of the main characters in it I do love how each pairing in this series are drawn well and very different from the others no cookie cutter romances here Gwened is rightly upset and angered about the invasion but she is reasonable and practical too Bjorn doesn t allow Gwened to rile him and is also reasonable and not uncaring of her plight Gwened and Bjorn share the sorrow of burying lost loves and then forced to push on The element of the arranged marriage with a new romance for this pair while Gwened is still marriaged might have sat uneasy with me except for the character and circumstances of young Mateudoi who was Gwened s husband He was married to her when he was fourteen and he s barely twenty at the time of this novella Like Gwened he truly is unhappy not unkind or disrespectful Sexual relations are distasteful to him and unwanted yes he is asexual and that is perfectly alright though its not thought well of by others Truthfully other than one real high point of conflict this one is low angst and its slow burn rather than sizzling I adored Ivar and Emma s story but I also enjoyed the break from the drama with Bjorn and Gwened They come together but not in the beginning and not without the hesitancy of a virginal heroine and a hero who is finding his way through the confusion in his mind about his past grief and moving on. My only real niggle was that I felt things were left at a suspenseful point and somewhat unresolved Now this might be intentional and left for another book I suspect it is but I get so caught up in things that I am impatient for all the threads to be tied off. All in all I have really enjoyed this trip back to ninth century Brittany with events and circumstances of the characters feeling historically accurate even while the romances pull one in with sensual enemies to lovers pairings Those who love good historical romance and don t mind novella length reads should definitely give these a try. My thanks to the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review 105
| The Bastard of Brittany: De Wolfe Pack Connected World (The Wolves of Brittany Book 3) By Victoria Vane |
| English |
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| Kindle Edition |