Help A Bitch Out - SOLVED!

HaBO: Chieftan Hero Helps Heroine Escape from Family

You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!

Fawn is looking for a book that she needs for research. And re-reading, obviously. 

I have been referred here and am praying you can help me as I have searched in so many ways and am unsuccessful in my attempts so far. My description is below. I believe I read it in the 90s.

It was about a Saxon girl being given in marriage by her horrible father and brothers (the father and brothers are messy and abusive) to a Nordic or Viking chieftan in marriage. The father/brothers are abusive in the extreme by enslaving the girl, demeaning her, and later trying to examine her maidenhead. The girl is scared to be married away to such a man.

She runs away to lose her virginity on her own terms only to lose it to her groom unbeknownst to her at the time. He ends up protecting her from her horrid family and giving her a good life and a HEA.

I cannot remember author or title and have searched everywhere. I would like this book to include it as a reference for a large paper I am doing on the evolution on the genre. I love your site and hope I can help others out and I hope someone knows of my book. Thanks. 

Do you recognize this book? 

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  1. Olivia says:

    “The Viking’s Woman” by Heather Graham?

    Ugh, I feel like I’ve read it before but can’t remember which one it is….

  2. Lisa J says:

    My first thought was The Viking’s Woman, too.  Then I went and read the description and I don’t think it is.  I’m sure I’ve read this one, but I can’t remember the title.

  3. donna marie says:

    90’s and vikings makes me think Catherine Coulter or Betina Krahn, but this doesn’t sound like any of theirs. Sorry, once again no help.

  4. Sara says:

    I also am suffering from the ‘holy crap, I know I’ve read this before’…. though it could be because Vikings, etc are a huge part of my catnip mix since I first discovered Romancelandia.

    Is it Virgin Bride by Tamara Leigh? I read this as part of literally one of the first handful of actual romance novels I ever could sneak into the house growing up, so would have been circa ‘94-96. The very first was Pagan Bride by the same author, and to this day I can still remember almost verbatim.

  5. Olivia says:

    If it helps, historicalromancewriters.com you can search books by time period and there is a Vikings and Saxon category, if the OP feels like going through all those. There seem to be quite a lot of Sandra Hill, so maybe that. I have a feeling this was something I read when I still checked out books from the library, because otherwise I would own it if I’ve read it.

  6. Cassandra B. says:

    It sounds a bit like an early Johanna Lindsey. I know she wrote some Viking books. Not sure if it is a good match or not, I read the JL’s early books years ago and have not returned (way too much old-skool nonsense).

  7. Emily says:

    I agree—it sounds like one of Johanna Lindsey’s.

  8. Mary Beth says:

    How about Josie Litton’s Come Back to Me?  It’s been ages since I read this trilogy but they were all about Vikings and Saxons.  This is the third book and I think it could be a possibility!

  9. Rachel says:

    The closest Lindsay looks to be “Fires of Winter” with Garrick Haardrad (?? I didn’t pick up on that name in the 20 re-reads of my youth!) and Lady Brenna, but she is captured and “no barbarian would enslave her noble Celtic heart… despite him claiming her with a primitive abandon.” Thank you for the opportunity to tour my dusty shelves, but I’m a little wary of a re-read. What about Christina Dodd or Julie Garwood?

  10. Cassandra B. says:

    I am fairly certain it is not Julie Garwood. She has at least one book that has Saxons, but the hero in that book is Norman and I can’t remember Garwood with any Vikings. Not sure on Christina Dodd, I haven’t read her in a while, but what I remember of her historicals were all 19th century.

  11. ashley says:

    Don’t know what this is but I want to! need me some vikings

  12. emily says:

    Sometimes I feel like what i would love from sbtb is a few “catnip” posts, because VIKINGS. I have never sampled the nordic waters! What is the appeal?

    “not viking vampire angel navy seals though” is also THE GREATEST TAG

  13. h says:

    praying it’s not “season of the sun” by catherine coulter. i think that’s the only viking romance i’ve ever read and BIG UGHs all around.

  14. Mary Beth says:

    Hi- I am fairly certain that you are describing Come Back to Me.  The following is an excerpt from an Amazon review submitted by ‘A Customer’: The Norse Dragon, the man who loves women, was a great character. Though normally open to any new adventure, he dreads his arranged marriage with a Saxon lady he knows nothing about. But he is determined to support his brother Wolf’s efforts to maintain the shaky peace between Saxon and Norse and is resigned to his fate. He has come to England to the home of his friend the Hawk who has loaned him his lodge in the woods to spend some alone time before the wedding.
    He stumbles across a young boy, who turns out to be a woman in disguise, desperately fleeing and hiding something. Loathe to let a woman wander about alone and curious about her circumstances, he makes a bargain with her to stay with him for a couple of days hoping to find out who she is and what she is running from. And since she won’t tell him who she is, why should he tell her who he is? Thus they pass a few days companionably and inevitably are attracted to each other.
    But the Saxon lady Rycca has had very bad experiences with men, starting with her own brutal father and brothers. When she meets Dragon, she is completely thrown – he is like no man she has ever met. Ever kind, funny and at the same time smart and strong. Surely she has stumbled into some strange land! He can’t be for real! She decides she must move on and takes off in the night only to be caught on the road by said father and brothers. Once again, she is rescued by the Dragon.
    Surprise, surprise they discover they are betrothed to each other! The rest of the book centers on the growing relationship between Dragon and Rycca, their attempts to build trust and understanding and ultimately to discover who is trying to destroy them and thus the Saxon/Norse alliance.

    I hope that this helps.  It is so frustrating to remember a book that I want to reread and simply come up blank with the title/author!

  15. mel burns says:

    Yep….Josie Litton.

  16. Fawn Acuna says:

    Thank you everyone.  It is definitely the Josie Litton novel.  I have reviewed it and that was the one I was thinking of.  This was such a success and I really appreciate everyone helping.  Big major thanks!

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