– The Magic of Wor(l)ds is a hobby, reviews and other bookish stuff on this site are done for free.
I’m grateful of receiving a free copy from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review of this book. –
Today I’m delighted to be on the ‘Beguiling her Enemy Warrior’ blogtour, organised by Rachel’s Random Resources.
To promote this book I’ll be sharing a guest post written by the author, but first I have some information
About the Author :
Lucy Morris has always been obsessed with myths and legends. Her books blend sweeping romance with vivid worldbuilding to whisk you away to another time and place filled with adventure. Expect passion, drama, and vibrant characters.
Lucy lives in Essex, UK, with her husband, two children, and two cats. She has a massively sweet tooth and loves Terry’s chocolate oranges and Irn-Bru. In her spare time, she likes to explore castles with her family, or drink bubbly with her friends.
Social Media Links:
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About the Book :
Kidnapped by the warrior
Tempted by the man…
Captured by the infamous Lord Rhys, a Welsh prince intent on revenge against her family, Viking healer, Helga, must keep her wits about her if she’s to be freed. Easier said than done when she desires him rather than fears him! Helga senses there’s good inside Rhys and feels compelled to reach his heart. First she must make him see there’s more to her than just his enemy…
Purchase Links:
Apple Books / Amazon
HarperCollins UK
And now it’s finally time for the
Beguiling her enemy warrior is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, set in the Welsh Dark Ages. It’s the third book in my shield maiden sisters trilogy, and follows the story of Helga the youngest sister of three Viking warrior women. Helga is captured by her family’s enemy, and ends up falling in love with her captor!
I wanted an ‘Excalibur’ feel with this book, combining the Welsh dragon legends with that of Norse mythology. The red dragon is the symbol of Wales and it has a far-reaching significance to the history of Wales and the royal family.
Vortigern, a Celtic king was searching for a place to build his castle, and decided on the hillside of Dina Emrys. However, a young boy (thought to be Merlin) warned him that two dragons lay sleeping beneath in an underground lake. When digging the foundations to the castle, Vortigern awoke the two dragons, one of which was red and the other white. The two dragons fought and the red dragon won. This was a prophesy for the coming of Arthur, whose father’s name was ‘pendragon’ (dragon’s head), and became the symbol of Welsh royalty throughout the ages.
I created my own Welsh dragon tale in this book as a nod to the legend…I can’t resist a story within a story, and I really loved adding snippets of Welsh mythology throughout the book.Extract:
‘What does it mean? Cadair y Ddraig?’
‘You pronounced that well,’ he said with a smile, ‘It means Dragon’s Chair. It is said that long ago a dragon clawed out that ledge so that it could have a pleasant place to lay in the sunshine and sleep. Then, one particularly cold winter forced it to crawl deep into the heart of the mountain for warmth and, in the darkness, it forgot to wake. Eventually, its fire dimmed and its scales turned to rock. Sometimes, on very hot days you can hear it…snoring.’
Helga giggled through a yawn. ‘What does it do on all of your cold and rainy days?’
‘It growls, but only very softly. You see…it does not realise it is asleep.’
‘How sad,’ Helga whispered, all merriment gone from her voice.
‘How so?’
‘To not even realise you are asleep…to never be truly living… I hope his dreams are sweet.’ Her words drifted away as she succumbed to sleep herself, but they had pierced him like a knife.
To never be truly living…
Why did those words cut so deep?”Helga and Rhys were the perfect characters for this story, as they come from two very different worlds, and there is plenty of family drama to add to the conflict of their romance.
Helga has always felt like the weakest link when it comes to her fierce mother and sisters. She has always been more content to stay behind the battlelines, and use her healing talents to help her community rather then fight like her two older sisters and mother.
After, writing Brynhild and Valda’s romances, I was keen to write about another kind of heroine. A softer, gentler character, who is strong and fierce in a different way. Researching about medieval medicine and herb lore, really opened my eyes to the untold history of ‘wise women’. The pillars of the community who cared for the health and wellbeing of those around them.
Being a woman is a dangerous life (some would argue it still is), but in medieval times childbirth and pregnancy was the number one killer of women. So, not only was Helga’s vocation important, it was essential for her community, and a skill that would have been passed down for generations.
Interestingly, one of the first medical books was written by a nun called Hildegard von Bingen in the middle ages who advocated for abortions if it saved the mother’s life, or was done in the early months of pregnancy. It suggests a kinder, more open-minded society than we might have originally considered.
In Helga, I tried to honour the many wise women throughout history who have tirelessly worked to protect the people of their community, not with sword and shield, but with knowledge and compassion.
Rhys and Helga transform their assumptions about themselves and each other throughout the book and that’s my favourite kind of romance.
The Magic of Wor(l)ds 