New Review: Josie Litton’s COME BACK TO ME – An Independent Saxon Woman and a Powerful Norse Warrior wrap up the Viking trilogy

This is book 3 in Litton’s Viking trilogy—a saga of two Viking lords and one Saxon lord who must make marriages to bring peace between the Norse and King Alfred of Essex. In each case, the bride they get comes with a special gift, a gift of feeling, of calling and truth telling. This latter aspect, to me, gave the stories a more whimsical feel that is not characteristic of your classic Viking saga, but it seemed to work.

The first one, DREAM OF ME, was my favorite, a well written Viking story with historical accuracy in the details, the life of the Norse well described and an endearing romance between two strong willed people. Wolf was a worthy leader but not your usual Viking—-more of a merchant than your typical pillager. After the “perfect” couple of Wolf and Cymbra, it had to be difficult to find another pair that could hold the readers’ interest as well. Some readers may feel a bit of a let down with the second story, BELIEVE IN ME--a tale of the Saxon Hawk forced to take a bride not of his choosing, Krysta. Hawk was a very capable leader but without the stormy side that Wolf had, which made him such a compelling Norseman.

Finally in this third one we have Wolf’s younger brother, Dragon and the Saxon maiden Rycca. Dressed in her brother’s clothes, her hair tucked into a cap, Rycca flees an arranged marriage she does not want. In her effort to run away, she runs right into Dragon, who insists he tend her bump on the head that she got when she ran off a cliff. Neither will tell the other who they are. Little does she know he’s the man to whom her father would give her. Supposedly, Rycca has the gift of discerning truth from lies, yet when Dragon lies to her about the names of his horses, she does not recognize it. But the gift, such as it was, came in handy after they marry and there’s a big theft at Dragon’s keep in the Northland.

The story starts out a bit slowly, but picks up speed as they sail to the Norse country. Dragon, who was a lover of all women, finds himself content with his feisty new bride and Rycca, who didn’t want to give up her freedom, finds she has a fulfilled life being the jarl’s wife. It’s a wrap up to the trilogy: the first two couples make strong appearances, and there are threads from the first two books tied up in this one, so I do not recommend reading it as a standalone.

DREAM OF ME (Wolf and Cymbra)
BELIEVE IN ME (Cymbra’s brother, Hawk and Krysta)
COME BACK TO ME (Wolf’s brother, Dragon and Rycca)