The Last Viking
Sandra Hill
LoveSpell Timeswept Romance
April, 1998
ISBN 0-505-52255-1
Paperback, 391 pages.
Sandra Hill has written another Viking romance, and I can't blame her, really. There's something about tall, broad-shouldered Nordic men that appeals to a lot of women. Maybe it's the idea of having someone who'll take control. Maybe it's just the blonde hair.
_The Last Viking_ is a time travel romance, but it has a twist. Rather than the heroine moving backward in time, the hero -- the Viking in question -- comes forward to the modern day. Geirolf Ericcson is the son of a Norse jarl, or king, and a master shipbuilder. Caught in a storm in 997, his longboat is wrecked and he is sent forward in time 1,000 years to 1997, and lands on the coast of Maine.
Meredith Foster is a professor at a local college, and is in the process of attempting to complete her grandfather's lifelong project: the construction of a Viking longship using ancient methods and materials. Divorced and determinedly independent, she lives in her grandfather's house which just happens to be where Geirolf -- or Rolf -- washes up.
I have to admit that the book grew on me, the further into it I got. Rolf's introduction to the modern world -- including Breck shampoo, Tim Allen, and cars -- _is_ amusing. Rolf insists on calling Meredith 'Merry-Death'. He is occasionally charming; it's not enough to make this a fantastic book.
There are some basic proofing errors in the book that are jarring and pulled me right out of the story. Rolf has a magical talisman in his belt buckle that acts as a sort of universal translator that seems too contrived to satisfy, and the ending seems as hokey as the buckle. Add to that fact that the cover -- Meredith and Rolf covered only by the surf that breaks around them -- is not something you want to read in public, and the book loses marks.
Recommended:
