‘Under the command of the King’s guard, this marriage cannot go ahead,’ he said, his deep, authoritative voice resounding around the church.
Ædwen’s heart momentarily stopped beating. The people in the church fell into an awed hush. Lord Werian and her father lurched forward.
‘Why ever not?’ the priest asked, lowering his Bible.
‘Because it would be unlawful, Father,’ Stefan said, reaching Ædwen’s side, stepping into the shaft of sunlight streaming through the window. He looked like a dark angel—or the devil—sent to torment her. His eyes were smouldering like embers, hinting at the anger beneath, and his scathing stare looked down into her face. ‘For the lady is already married. To me.’
Her Secret Vows with the Viking is a delicious and lusty forbidden romance.
A year ago, Viking Stefan’s clandestine marriage to Saxon maiden Ædwen was torn apart by the shocking discovery that her father murdered his family. Unable to forgive his wife for hiding the truth, Stefan left. Until word reaches him that Ædwen is about to wed again…
Forced to marry at her father’s command, Ædwen’s stunned when Stefan bursts through the church doors and announces that she’s already wed—to him! As the warrior steals her away, passion reignites, but can Ædwen ever trust him again, when Stefan left her alone, devastated—and carrying his baby…!
Sarah Rodi is one of my insta-buy authors. I don’t need to know what the book is about because I know I will love it. I am pleased to say that, once again, Sarah has created an addictive romance that I could not put down. I spent my Thursday night devouring this book and might have had a slight book hangover for work the next day, but it was worth it. The pacing of this book is a bit slower than some of Sarah’s other books, but that’s not a bad thing. The main focus of this story is Stefan and Ædwen’s relationship, which needs to clear up the many miscommunications and misunderstandings between them. If you love your romances filled with forbidden romance, miscommunications, second chances, secret babies, and one-bed situations, then you will love the relationship between Ædwen and Stefan.
The overall story was fabulous. Stefan and Ædwen’s people are warring, and even though there isn’t an enemies-to-lovers feel to their relationship, their people are enemies, which gives their relationship this fabulous forbidden feel to it. The chemistry between these two jumps off the pages, and no matter how much the two MCs might deny it, they still have some strong feelings for one another. There is definitely lots of lusty attraction between them. They may not trust one another and may not like each other, still, they both don’t deny that there is this carnal attraction between them that they just can’t (and don’t) ignore. If you like your romances spicy, then you will enjoy Stefan and Ædwen’s journey to falling back in love with one another. I like the story’s structure. If you are a fan of time-slipping, then you will devour this book. As the story progresses, Sarah weaves in these flashbacks of when Ædwen and Stefan first meet, and we get to see how they fell in love with one another. I’m not always a fan of time-slipping, but it really worked well in this case. It gave the story some depth, and we could see the connection that these two had and why things fell apart for them.
Her Secret Vows with the Viking is another fabulous and addictive story by Sarah Rodi. If you are looking for a forbidden second chance romance to sink into this summer, then definitely add this book to your TBR.
Thank you, Harlequin Historical and Rachel Random Resources, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
