Review: A Nun for the Viking Warrior by Lucy Morris

Title:	A Nun for the Viking Warrior
Author:	Lucy Morris
Series:	HMB Historical
Pages:	288
Category / Genre(s):	Harlequin / Mills & Boon Historical
Trope(s):	Viking Romance
Point of View:	Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h)
Location:	Kingdom of Northmannia (present day France)
Setting:	912 AD – Viking
HEA:	✔️
Release Date:	1st October, 2021

Delightful and rich Viking romance

This is Lucy Morris’s second novel, the second of hers that I’ve read and also the second of hers that I’ve enjoyed immensely. Much like her first novel (The Viking Chief’s Marriage Alliance), we’re sticking with the Viking theme with this story set in Northmannia (present day Normandy) in 912 AD.

We get started right into the action with Amée finding her life’s course suddenly thrust from taking her vows into the last place she ever planned to be. Married. And to a huge, hulking blonde Viking who claims to be the lord of her childhood lands.

Amée is a delightful heroine and I liked her from the first. She tries so hard to be good, and to find her place in the world but she always feels like she’s falling short. It was hard not to feel a real connection with her and immediately want her to get her heart’s desire. She is rightly fearful over her changed circumstances but I admired the way she couldn’t quite reign in her real nature – fierce and willing to stand up for herself and others.

Jorund is my favourite kind of hero. He’s a huge, hard and powerful Viking warrior – but underneath he’s a little bit broken and unsure. The way he feels so unworthy and unloveable but can’t help but yearn for Amée’s love – it was so yearny and delicious. I loved it. It’s my always adored ‘the big, bad hero just needs a hug from a good woman’ thing.

“…Ms Morris’s attention to historical accuracy and detail is second to none.”

Speaking of that, this book had a nice sizzle to it – descriptive but not overly explicit. But it still packed quite a punch as the build up of sexual tension between Amée and Jorund was magnificent. When you add in both their fears and how they danced around each other and their attraction, by the time they got down to it, it was satisfying to more than just our main couple. Happy sighs.

What I especially enjoyed about Ms Morris’s previous book, The Viking Chief’s Marriage Alliance, was the richness of historical detail that was woven into the romance. This book was no different and painted an intricate picture of the landscape and life of medieval France and the people that lived there. I also love the way that the writing is so clever as to never feel that we’re being bogged down in history yet such a vivid impression was shown to us as readers. After the fact, I’ve realised that much of the information about events and wider secondary characters was all based in fact, cementing my prior belief that Ms Morris’s attention to historical accuracy and detail is second to none.

Overall, this was a rich, romantic and delightful Viking/medieval story with characters I was really rooting for and a satisfying and sigh-worthy love story. This book has really lived up to the promise of her first and I wish that I could have lived in the world of Amée and Jorund for longer. Recommended and very worthy of 5 stars.

* I received this book in exchange for my honest review*

Lucy Morris lives in Essex, UK, with her husband, two young children, and two cats. She has a massively sweet tooth and loves gin, bubbly and Irn-Bru. A member of the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association, she was delighted to accept a two-book deal with Harlequin after submitting her story to the Warriors Wanted submission blitz for Viking, Medieval, and Highlander romances.

Writing for Harlequin Historical is a dream come true for her and she hopes you enjoy her books!