The Tarnished Lady (Viking I Book 3)

Third in Sandra Hill's Viking Series, this novel was very well written with all of the elements of a romantic escape. Sandra Hill is such a prolific writer that at times I find some of her novels too quickly developed, but that is not the case with this book. With carefully constructed details about the romantic leads, revealed through each character's intimate thoughts, I felt as if these two people truly connected before pronouncing their undying love for each other. Both characters are flawed, Erik with his poor eyesight and Eadyth with her "tarnished" past, which makes them even more acessible and likeable.In Sandra Hill's Viking Series I give two novels a five star rating, The Bewitched Viking and the Outlaw Viking. The Bewitched Viking deserves a top rating based on the clever repartee between Tykir and Alinor. Not to mention, Tyker was a very enticing male character. While, The Outlaw Viking, thus far, has proven to be the sexiest of the series thanks to the masculine appeal of Selik. I rated The Tarnished Lady four stars due to the strained sexual tension between Erik and Eadyth in the beginning of the story. Because of the circumstances of their marital arrangement not much sexual chemistry ensues for a large portion of the book, but I think you will find their eventual discovery of each other quite passionate.

Eirik of Ravenshire wonders why the scowling, skinny,dowdy shrew has come to see him. Eadyth of Hawks Lair is seeking a husband; she tells Eirik that she would as soon marry his dog but she needs a husband with certain physical characteristics, those the same as her son. Eirik cannot believe her condescending manner, especially since she is coming begging a favor, plus the lady is an old harpy. Lady Eadyth has disguised her true physical features; she does not desire the lustful attentions of any man; she is independent, has her beekeeping enterprise and is always direct. But she needs a husband, one that she hopes will wed her and go about his business and leave her alone; if Eirik thinks her to be an older unattractive woman, all the better. Eirik agrees to the marriage. His brother Tykir shows up for the wedding, he recognizes the fact that Eadyth is in disguise and thinks it is a great jest; he does however advise Eadyth to tell Eirik the truth before it goes too far. Therein lies the problem and the follies that accompany Eirik and Eadyth. I heartily enjoyed this book; it is infused with lots of humor.

I don't know why some books have to portray a woman as being such a raging man hater and go overboard with the "i am woman, I am independent, I need nobody." It really gets old and and is overdone in this book. The story is good and the little details about the bees, etc., are good. The funny parts are really funny and I find myself laughing out loud throughout the book. If Eadyth wasn't such a grating woman, i would have liked it better. Eirik is a tremendous character and very well developed - in more ways than one. He was easy to love and deserved much better than the screeching Eadyth.

It was great. Had my husband about me because I would just start laughing

I love Sandra Hill novels and this was a worthy. It was humorous and romantic with minimum drama. The sexual pages were tasteful without being half the novel. Keeping with a strong storyline that was creative and enjoyable to read. Meaning it wasn't the same old romance novels that have been on the shelves these days. But, real strong creative substance of pages of enjoyment.

I have owned three copis of this book! They just kept "growing feet and walking away" LOL that's how great this book is. Trust me you won't regret purchasing this. Sandra Hill is an Awesome writer, one of my favs. On another note, look up The Ladys Tutor (not by S.H.) sorry can't remember the author. Another fabulous read!

I have read 8 books of Sandra Hill's and loved all of them until this one. It lacked interesting characters and kept repeating events over and over. The main characters got very boring and there were not any new adventurs to take them on. Maybe if they went into a time travel adventure they would have been more interesting. I was bored and didn't like this book. I will finish the other books in the series hoping they will be as good as the first ones in the series. I do love the Viking series and the time travel series. Everyone has a bad day now and then.Lets hope this was the only one.

Sandra Hill is my favorite Author! There is no greater book.

Good book but the heroine annoyed me quite a bit. She propositions the hero, gets him to marry her but then wants to live her life as though she was still all by herself,by her own rules. She defies him at every turn, challenges his authority all the time and doesn't care enough to stop. Her lies as well didn't sit well with me. The first lie was really a misunderstanding but she doesn't correct the mistake. Instead she fosters the lie and it grows until it's eventually discovered by the hero. Ok, granted at that point they didn't really know each other so she didn't trust him. However, later in the book (towards the end actually) after they've both confessed how much they love each other and all that she still lies (or tries to lie) to the hero. This annoyed me most of all!!They both had to learn & grow in the relationship and the hero had got to a point where he respected her enough to talk things through with her beofore taking any actions. Instead when they agreed on a course of action she'd always disobey and in the end when she was threatened, she tried lying to the hero because she didn't trust him enough to deal with the issue. From the beginning to the end of the novel she acted like she knew best, lying to justify her actions. She only promises to change at the very end of the book. For me it was too little too late.I would've preferred it if they had the talk where she promised to change her behaviour maybe in the middle of the book and to see her actually trying to change. I didn't believe her in the end and I felt sorry for the hero because it seemed to me like she would carry on telling more lies because she felt she was doing it for the best and hurting the poor man.I would read more from this author though. I hope her next heroine is more likeable.