An interrupted wedding, a past that resurfaces…

Synopsis

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. But now 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 married—to him! As the warrior steals her away passion reignites, but can Ædwen ever trust Stefan again when he left her alone, devastated—and carrying his baby…?

My review

Saxon maiden Ædwen isn’t looking forward to her forced marriage, arranged by her own father. But for the sake of her secret, she has no option.
But when the moment has arrived to speak the vows, she is shocked to have the wedding interrupted by Stefan, a Viking Ædwen has a past with. Because one year ago, Ædwen and Stefan spent time together, and had also fallen in love, until Stefan discovered that Ædwen’s father is responsible for the murder of his family.
Stefan wants to stop the wedding for his own reasons, as Ædwen is already married, to him… And he takes her against her own will with him. Yet he didn’t expect old passions to resurface that easily. Nevertheless, Ædwen is not ready to trust her old lover and husband again, especially as he already abandoned her once, and leaving her pregnant and alone…

I always enjoy reading stories about Vikings. I always enjoy reading stories about second chances. So of course I enjoyed reading this story, as it just has both! And as it’s from the hand of an author I know, things couldn’t just get any better!

I felt sorry for Ædwen, because not only did she lose the love of her life, Stefan, a year ago because of something her father did, but she is also forced to marry a complete stranger. And the only reason she is agreeing with it, is for the sake of her daughter that has been taken away from her, by the same person (a.k.a. her father) that arranged the marriage.
Just how much can someone endure???

To make things even worse, she is doing whatever her father wants, because of her daughter, only to see it all crash and burn with the reappearance of Stefan…

Now, you would think it would be a joyous moment, the past lovers, or rather the married couple, being together again. But it’s the absolute contrary! Because Stefan not only doesn’t trust Ædwen as she kept it a secret from him that her father is responsible for his family to be killed. But he also believes that Ædwen did even something more horrible…

I could understand both characters, them being very wary of each other, not trusting each other and even keeping secrets from each other.
But while there is still a lot of mistrust, I loved it reading how after everything that has come between them, that passion that they once had for each other, is still there, ready to be ignited with the more time Ædwen and Stefan are spending together.

It was sweet to see how despite the one year that they were apart, how at ease they are with each other. And with ‘at ease’ I mean their subconscious just recognize each other…

We also see that trust needs to be built (again). Especially with a year since seeing each other the last time, and how it ended sourly, it’s clear that things won’t be solved that easily. There is not only a lot to talk about, to clear the air, but there are also new revelations that need to be digested.

There is one thing that was rather frustrating for me… and I am saying this on a funny note, so don’t go panicking! 😊 do you have any idea how annoying it is to write the name of  Ædwen (constantly copy – pasting the first time I typed it…) or just knowing how to pronounce that name? 😊

But I can easily say that I truly enjoyed reading this story about second chances, about forgiveness and about understanding. And most important, how love can and will always find a way, and even give you the greatest surprise and reward of them all!