When past and present collide in an unexpected way…

Synopsis

A love that will change them forever

A treasure that will bring them home

West Mercia, AD 873 – Merewen’s settlement is on guard against the outside threat of the ‘Heathen’ Norsemen. But for Merewen, the real threats come from within, as her future is cruelly snatched away from her.

Eirik, a Norseman, finds himself abandoned and injured after his uncle’s plunder of Mercian land goes wrong. He thinks his fate is sealed – until Merewen saves his life.

Hereford, Present Day – Left reeling after a huge betrayal, Alix moves to her grandfather’s farm in Hereford to heal her broken heart. There, after being given a family heirloom, she soon finds herself haunted by memories of a life she never lived, a relationship she never had, and a time in which she never existed.

Local farmer Noah is being hounded by the police to find the Viking hoard that his sister and her criminal boyfriend stole from his farm. Noah must prove his own innocence while struggling to decipher the curious connection he has to newcomer Alix – a bond that seems to transcend their own reality.

As they search for the lost treasure, Alix and Noah start to feel the whispers of a love they never expected, one powerful enough to echo through history.

My review

After having her heart broken by two people closest to her, Alix couldn’t be more happy to move to her uncle’s farm in Hereford. Being away from her family, Alix hopes to let her heart heal and with a new job she hopes it will all work out for the best. Weren’t it for the fact that strange things are starting to happen, ever since she has been gifted a family heirloom. Because every time she touches the crystal pendent, she is brought back in a faraway past, with a man she has never met, with a life she has never lived. And when she meets her neighbour Noah, on whose own farm has been found a Viking hoard, things become even more intriguing. Because while Noah wants to protect his sister, he cannot avoid the fact that she and her criminal boyfriend have tried to sell illegally all that has been found, causing even Noah being haunted by the police. Noah is determined to find the rest of the reassure, while at the same time he tries to understand the connection he has with Alix. Could there be a link with Merewen and Eirik, who met in West Mercia in AD 873? Merewen just has all her future snapped away from her, in favour of her own sister. With no happy prospects in sight, Merewen is wary when she discovers a hiding Norseman, Eirik. Eirik is tired of the plundering and just wants to settle down, even if that isn’t what his uncle wants. And when Eirik is injured and abandoned, he thinks that this is it. But he didn’t count on Merewen and her ways to heal people. With so different lives, how do Alix, Noah, Merewen and Eirik connect with each other, through time and space?

Is there a better feeling than knowing when you start a book, not only with a dual timeline, but also from an author that you just know that will pull you in her story and will captivate you?

I am always very curious when reading dual timelines, how those two stories will connect. And yes, perhaps the way it works out isn’t something I would believe in the real world, but in books anything can happen.

What I liked in a strange way in this story, is how alike all the characters are. Both Alix and Merewen are facing a betrayal they didn’t expect, ruining in fact the plans that the both of them had. And it felt also significant that the betrayal they had to endure, was done by the same connection.

But what I liked about both characters, these women, despite the heartbreak, are strong women. They have been hurt but are determined to take their future in their own hands, and find in their own way happiness again.

Especially in Merewen’s story, we see how this woman, limited in doing what she truly wants, finds a way to do what not only is what her heart tell her to do, but what in fact is just the right thing to do. Even if that means helping out someone who could perfectly be your enemy.

With Alix and Merewen we see how people around us can hurt us, but we see how strong women can be, and how life can turn around.

The same can be said of Noah and Eirik in a way.

Both Noah and Eirik are in a place in their lives they don’t actually want to be anymore. Noah’s life is turned upside down by his sister and her boyfriend and their criminal activities. And while it is obvious what the right thing to do, just like a real big  brother, Noah wants to protect his sister, and believe in the good of her.

Eirik has had enough of going from place to place, plundering and even killing. All he wants is to settle down, but because of loyalty, he keeps on doing the plundering even if his heart isn’t in it. Out of loyalty he does what he doesn’t want to do, but that loyalty and love is not reciprocated as after a fight he is just being left behind without a second thought…

And it was in a way bittersweet, seeing how Eirik is grippling at his life, fearing this may be the end for him, then seeing an angel, obviously being Merewen, to his rescue.

I loved reading how each character, at a bad time in their lives, find each other. Perhaps they don’t have the best first meetings, but reading how slowly they start to see each other in a different light, and understand each other, just warmed my heart.

While each character has own trauma, problems to get over, finding a companion, a friend, an ally, helps to move on, to see a way for a different direction.

And that is the strength of the story, or rather stories. Because no matter what curveballs life throws you, no matter what betrayal you have to endure, no matter in what era you are living, all it can take is meeting one person who is able to change just everything…

I truly found this a great story to read, bringing past and present together in a beautiful way, showing us not only how people can hurt us, but how people can heal us…