#Review: Promises of the Runes by Christina Courtenay @PiaCCourtenay @headlinepg @rararesources #blogtour #Viking #histfic #timeslip #romance #RespectRomFic

I’m delighted today to be joining the blog tour – and with apologies, a little late – for the latest book from Christina Courtenay, Promises of the Runes, the fifth in this wonderful series, and sharing my review: published on 13th April by Headline Review, it’s now available as an e-book, in paperback and as an audiobook via Amazon in the UK and US. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading copy (provided via netgalley).

I was sure I’d enjoy the timeslip and time travel elements, and I already knew how much I always enjoyed Christina’s writing, but it’s now really difficult to believe that I was a little worried whether I’d enjoy the focus on the Vikings in this series. I’ve read and reviewed every single one – you’ll find all the reviews if you pop the author’s name in the search bar – and can honestly say that this series has just got better and better with every book. And don’t be put off by the mention of “a series” –  while it’s been lovely to become immersed in such an unfamiliar and wonderfully recreated world, and there are sometimes reappearances of familiar characters (which I always find rather a treat), there’s nothing to stop you picking up any one book and enjoying it as much as I did. Of course, if you’d prefer a real standalone. you could always try her last book, Hidden in the Mists – I really loved that one too, one of my 2022 Books of the Year, and you’ll find my review here. But this time, we’re back with the Runes series – and a book I was really looking forward to…

He travelled through time to capture her heart.

 

Ivar Thoresson is desperate for adventure. As an archaeologist specialising in Viking times, he wants nothing more than to travel back to the ninth century as his loved ones have done, to learn everything he can about the era which fascinates him. And whilst his adopted family have always made him feel loved, the chance to meet a true ancestor, the warrior Thorald, is a temptation he cannot resist.

 

But while Ivar is preparing to go, he uncovers an amulet which shows him a vision of an arresting woman with red-gold hair. Clearly in distress, she is pleading for help. Convinced of the power of the charm and its message, Ivar’s journey takes on a new purpose. He steps back in time determined to follow his destiny – and find the woman who has called to his heart.

Having been fostered by the Berger family, Ivar is more familiar than many with the possibilities of time travel – and as a Viking specialist at the museum, he’s irresistibly drawn by the idea of meeting his ancestors. He’s prepared well – a grounding in Norse, a punishing fitness regime, learning about armed and unarmed combat – and he now has the means, an engraved small pair of shears, that will help him on his way. But he also has a swan’s foot amulet that provides a link with a troubled woman from the past – someone he hopes he will be able to find and offer his protection. On arrival, he finds unexpected allies – he’s not the first traveller to pass that way – and wins over warrior Thorald who he accompanies on a voyage to reclaim a stolen inheritance, encountering en route the woman whose plea for help had reached him across the centuries.

There’s a breath-taking authenticity about the detail the author includes as she brings the ninth century to life – this is how research should be used – and she has an unparalleled ability to draw in the reader, and make you feel part of it. The male point of view for this book makes it feel a little different from others in the series – and a man certainly faces different challenges from those of the female travellers who’ve gone before him. Ivar himself is immensely likeable, sometimes struggling with the tasks needed to prove his worth, and never more so than when he becomes romantically involved and torn between his 21st century life and the Viking world where he increasingly feels he might belong.

The book’s romance is, I have to say, beautifully handled – and I found it strong and convincing too, emotionally engaging, and tinged with both hopelessness and frustration because of the circumstances of their meeting. All the characters are really well developed, and there’s a considerable amount of particularly well-written drama too – these were lawless times, and Ivar sometimes finds himself very uncomfortably in the thick of it. But there’s plenty of lightness too – it’s impossible not to smile at Ivar’s fascination with some of the tasks carried out by women, wanting to learn as much as he can during his stay, to the confusion of his fellow warriors. And as for when he wants to write a shopping list for his visit to market to see the settlement through winter, settling for scratching runes on a piece of bark – just one of those many lovely touches of detail. And yes, there are some characters we’ve met before in other books – but nothing that would cause a new reader any problems, just particularly interesting for those of us who’ve passed this way before.

You might be drawn to this book by the history, or by the idea of time travel – and you’ll certainly find the romance everything you want it to be. The best book in the series so far? Yes, I think it was – this series just gets better and better, and I do hope we have more to come.  I loved it – and would recommend it very highly to others.

About the author

Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a former chairman of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014), and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. Promises of the Runes (time travel romance published by Headline Review 13th April 2023) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).

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