Spotlight & Giveaway: The Norse Protector by Leigh Ann Edwards

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Leigh Ann Edwards to HJ!

Hi Leigh Ann and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Norse Protector!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Torunn the Strong is a beautiful descendant of a Norse goddess sent to earth from another realm. In her entire lifetime she has never seen a man and has been made fearful of their brutality and lustful ways. Brandr is a handsome, brawny Viking warrior who has mostly known pain and betrayal and prefers to avoid women and most everyone. Fate intervenes when Torunn enters his cave in need of shelter and starts a tale full of love, passion, danger and adventure.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

The three women sat at the bedside of their cherished sister, Eydis… Eydis the Perceptive, her birth-given title. A potent elixir had been administered and now Eydis seldom woke. It was a relief to them, for when she slept her tormenting pain appeared to be finally eased.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The series was nearly called The Lost Highgardians, but I knew I wanted Viking in the title as well so went for the Vikings of Highgard.
• I was inspired to write this series largely because of my Norwegian ancestry. My grandmother (Nana) was always immensely honored to have Viking heritage. Her father (my great-grandfather, Hans Emil Olson Sundby) was from Norway and came to Canada when he was nineteen. Nana always proudly claimed our line was traced back to Erik the Red. I used to tease her and ask if she should be boasting about that when the Vikings were supposedly violent raiders. She would always only smile. The Vikings were also great explorers and sailors. They did discover North America over a thousand years ago and that is definitely something to be proud of. I have always been very interested in reading books or watching films or television series about Vikings so it wasn’t a stretch to want to write a series about them.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

Brandr is tall, strong and protective. He likes to think he is cold and unfeeling, but he is actually gentle and has a tender heart, not to mention he is incredibly sexy. (well once he bathed and cut his matted hair and wild beard.)

I was surprised at the humor and funny banter shared between the two main characters as they both tend to be a little serious, especially Torunn. I was also surprised at how sweetly naïve Torunn could be.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

Torunn showed up in Brandr’s cave the previous night. He has chosen to live alone and was not pleased when she arrived. He makes it known he would like her to leave as soon as possible. Torunn has never seen a man before and they are now discussing his appearance.

There was a muskiness about him that might have been appealing if he’d bathed in recent times. She grimaced and held her nose.
“Do you not bathe or wash your garments?”
“Are you suggesting you’re offended by my scent?”
“I’m merely questioning when you might have last bathed.”
“I couldn’t say. I don’t recall. Bathing causes predators to hunt humans. When you emit the scent of the animal furs you wear, they are inclined to think of you as one of their own. I swim in the nearby lake in the summer but haven’t been in human company for some time. I haven’t needed to bear concern I might offend anyone with delicate senses.
She turned up her nose and held it once more.
“You’re saying I smell then?”
“Can you not notice the smell yourself? The scent of a nidhoggr is no less powerful or affronting.”
“A nidhoggr?” He squinted his eyes as he looked at her. “I don’t know what you might refer to.”
“Do men not comb their hair and this hair on the face?”
“A beard,” he informed her.
“Are they always so unkempt?”
“You are most uncomplimentary, Torunn the Strong. You criticize my scent and scrutinize my appearance. Why would you find my lengthy hair odd when your own peculiarly long hair surely drags on the ground when you walk when its loose from its plait? I suppose you’d have no need for a broom to sweep your shelter if you keep it as such.”
She narrowed her eyes at his own uncomplimentary words and glowered at him as he placed his hand to her thick plait and gently tugged on it.
“I care not regarding your appearance or how putridly unpleasant you smell, for in but a raven’s call we will be parted!” In her temper she’d forgotten to use the words used here in the world of humans.
“A raven’s call? Your small measure of time is a raven’s call?” He grinned.
Once more, she chose to ignore his words. “If you would simply inform of the path to descend the mountain, I will leave you to your peace and solitude.”

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I want people to learn some about everyday Viking life beyond what we believe of
the savage raiding, drinking, warring and exploring. I also want people to escape into Torunn and Brandr’s world and be entertained and touched by their love story.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I am presently working on Book Three in the Vikings of Highgard series: The Norse Explorer. The next upcoming release is Book Two in the series: The Norse Sorcerer scheduled for October 2019. Books Three -The Norse Explorer and Four-The Norse Conqueror will follow in 2020.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Copy of ebook of The Norse Protector (Vikings of Highgard Book 1)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: There seem to be a lot of people who don’t find blond men as appealing as men with dark hair. (I, however, have always been drawn to blond men) I was more than happy to write a book about a blond-haired hero and we are in Scandinavia. After seeing Brandr on the cover of The Norse Protector and perhaps having read the book, what do you think of blond-haired men now?

 
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Excerpt from The Norse Protector:

The Realm of Highgard
The three women sat at the bedside of their cherished sister, Eydis…Eydis the Perceptive, her birth-given title. A potent elixir had been administered and now Eydis seldom woke. It was a relief to them, for when she slept her tormenting pain appeared to be finally eased.
Throughout her life she’d been smaller than her older sisters. Since she’d taken ill, Eydis had become much thinner and appeared nearly child-like on the immense bed in what had once been their mother’s chambers in the Solveigian fortress.
“Her time draws near,” Brenna the Healer whispered as her eyes filled with tears.
Brenna’s twin sister, Asta, Seer of Spirits, silently sat at the end of the bed, her eyes filled with sadness.
She, Torunn the Strong, the eldest sister, held Eydis’s small hand, uncertain if she was aware of their presence any longer. When she began to waken, it was clear every movement…every breath, was agonizing. Brenna immediately reached for the elixir and held it to her lips, but Eydis opened her blood-red eyes, touched her hand, and shook her head.
“No more, Brenna,” she said in a raspy breath. “I must speak to you, my beloved sisters…while I’m still able.”
Her voice was weak, her tongue thick from the elixir, but she began. “Above all, I wish for none of you to bear guilt because of me and this cursed affliction…not you, Torunn, because you couldn’t protect me…or you, Brenna, because you couldn’t save me…and not you, Asta, because you blame yourself for me becoming ill. No one is to blame!” She slightly shook her head, took a long breath, and spoke again. “Although my heart shall forever remain here with each of you, my sisters, by this day’s sunset this sorely afflicted body will die.”
Their own hearts were surely breaking, yet no one attempted to deny it would be so. Eydis the Perceptive always brought truth with her credible title. Her perception was infallible, her predictions never wrong.
Tears brimmed in Torunn’s eyes as she held Eydis’s small hand tighter, never wanting to let go. Brenna emitted a sob as she tenderly soothed Eydis’s fevered brow. Eydis first turned her eyes to her.
“Your tender touch and gentle presence has greatly comforted me during this difficult time. In truth, you’ve been a comfort to me throughout my life, beautiful Brenna, my kind and caring sister.”
“I love you much, Eydie, my precious baby sister,” Brenna said.
“I love you, too, Brenna,” Eydis whispered, and she patted Brenna’s hand with affection.
Tears now slid down Torunn’s cheeks in witnessing her sisters’ emotional exchange. She gently squeezed Eydis’s hand and she turned to her. Her once sparkling blue eyes filled with vibrant life, were blood-red, so red you could no longer determine her eye color. Eydis took several breaths and spoke again.
“I feel your strength, Torunn. Always I’ve felt your strength and protectiveness, but above all I feel your unending love.”
“You are a treasure, Eydis, and it is true, my love for you knows no bounds.”
“Nor mine for you, Torunn,” she whispered and attempted to squeeze Torunn’s hand in return.
Eydis strained to see Asta who remained at the foot of the bed.
“Asta, come closer,” Brenna urged, but she did not.
“You needn’t draw nearer or speak, Asta. I recognize words are difficult for you, but I understand your heart, my sister. I am consoled in knowing we will speak again,” Eydis said.
Asta nodded, but it was clear Eydis felt her dubiousness.
“I promise I’ll speak with you soon, Asta. My spirit will come to you.”
Still, Asta did not reply.
“Torunn, I require your blade,” Eydis requested.
Torunn was uncertain of her intentions, but Brenna spoke.
“If the pain is too much to bear…if you wish to see the torturous agony ended today, you cannot see it done in such a gruesome manner, Eydie. I will give you a more potent elixir. You’ll drink a greater quantity, simply fall asleep and not waken. That would be a kinder…”
“Brenna, I don’t wish to use the blade to end my life, although I admit I should possibly like to gouge out these gravely afflicted eyes. They are nearly sightless now and they burn as hot as fire!” She inhaled deeply. It was the first time Eydis had mentioned any discomfort in all the time she’d been suffering.
“Torunn’s blade is required so I may swear a blood oath to you, my sisters.”
Torunn pulled her blade from her boot and passed it to Eydis. Even the weight of the small blade appeared heavy in her weakened hands and she struggled.
“I will need your assistance, Torunn.”
“You must be cautious, Eydie,” Brenna said, but was soon interrupted by her taunting twin.
“Or what…she’ll be injured…she might die?” Asta finally spoke in a typically sarcastic manner.
Eydis smiled, softly laughed and then coughed.
“I thank you for your humor, Asta. Dark and dry as it may well be, it has been a welcome distraction even to the end, even on the bleakest days.”
“Where do you wish to be cut?” Torunn asked.
Eydis held her hand to Torunn; she made a quick cut and Eydis winced only slightly. Torunn wiped her blade and returned it to her boot. As the blood flowed, Eydis held her tiny hand high so all her sisters could see. Because it was her oath to them, only her blood was required, but they would need to acknowledge and accept it.
“I swear I will return to you in spirit, Asta. By our eldest ancestor, the great goddess Solveig, I avow I will send messages to all of you through Asta. This will not be the last day I speak with you, and if the gods see fit to grant me a final request, my spirit will appear to all of you one day.”
Torunn touched her hand to Eydis’s blood and then held it toward the gods. “I accept your oath as truth!” Torunn said.
“I accept your oath as truth!” Brenna followed Torunn’s lead and through her tears, she lifted her hand upward.
Asta did not speak and Torunn threw her another displeased expression. Brenna mouthed Asta’s name in a silent plea.
“I hear your skeptical thoughts, Asta,” Eydis said.
“I have never seen Mother’s spirit in all the time she’s been gone,” Asta finally admitted.
“By Solveig’s powers, I promise I will come to you, Asta.”
“I accept your oath as truth!” Asta finally hastily touched her hand to Eydis’s blood, repeated the words and halfheartedly raised her hand.
“I sense you’ve only accepted to appease our sisters…to avoid a stern scolding from Torunn…to ease my mind because I am near death. But I will see you again!”
Her voice was weaker. The discussion and blood oath had drained Eydis of what little strength remained. She began coughing, deep coughs that racked her small body, and blood sprayed from her mouth. Torunn wrapped a ragged cloth to Eydis’s palm while Brenna tenderly wiped the blood spittle from her lips.
Eydis closed her eyes and her breathing grew slower. No one spoke for some time and the silence was disquieting as her breaths grew less frequent. They were all startled when Eydis spoke in a hushed whisper. Torunn and Brenna leaned closer to hear.
“Torunn…sing to me.”
“Sing?” Torunn asked in disbelief. Her throat tightened and her heart ached in knowing Eydis was dying.
“Torunn…sing the song Father wrote for Mother; the one Mother sang to the three of you. I wish to hear the song you sang when I was a child for I requested it each night…the beautiful song I’d hear as I drifted to sleep. I do so long to hear it now, Torunn!” Eydis whispered.
The lump in her throat was so immense, Torunn doubted she could speak, much less sing. She inhaled and a sob escaped.
Eydis whispered, “I sense your deep sorrow, Torunn, and I hear your thoughts. You wish to suggest Brenna might sing for you think she has a finer singing voice…and you believe Asta may be capable of singing without weeping…but it must be you…it was always you. When you sang, you sent me to a peaceful sleep; I felt loved and protected and safe wherever my dreams might take me. Send me off with the song, Torunn.”
Torunn squeezed Eydis’s hand again, took a deep breath and began, though the first words were croaked at best.
“One day we’ll gaze at the Crystal Mountains,
Reflected in the Violet Sea.
By the Whispering Waterfall we’ll stroll,
My own true love and me.
We’ll hear the soft bells on butterfly wings,
Near the Mirrored Lake again,
We’ll be together always as we were back then.
No longer cruelly parted, my only love and I.
Free to kiss in the Moonlit Meadow once more.
Beneath the two silver moons in the sky.”
Brenna and Asta both joined in to sing the last line as all the sisters had done as children. Then they’d sung with exaggeratedly high-pitched voices often in laughter and merriment. Now it was soft and sad for only three voices ended the song. They looked to see the peaceful smile upon her face and knew their beloved Eydis’s suffering was finally over.
“For even death cannot separate hearts such as ours,
And our love will live on for all time,” Torunn sang in a whispered voice.
“You’ve never sung that part before,” Brenna said as she wept.
“I didn’t want any of you to think of it as a song of sadness, but of love, hope and reunion. Father wrote the song for Mother after they’d been forced to live apart when the afflicted boys and men were confined to the caves because of the Red Death. Father suffered in those caves for five sun’s journeys, and our grandmother Bestamor said he sang the song to Mother just before he died.”
“Even death cannot separate hearts such as ours,” Brenna sang as she looked at their dear Eydis.
“And our love will live on for all time,” Asta whispered, and all three sisters repeated, “And our love will live on for all time.”
Torunn nodded, kissed sweet Eydis’s hand and wept.

They remained stunned, filled with sorrow and uncertainty. They’d known without intervention from the gods, Eydis’s death was inevitable. Still, they were in disbelief. Their brilliant, beautiful, intuitive little sister—who in the span of the fifteen sun’s journeys of her short life had filled their own lives with light and laughter—was truly gone. Their collective grief palpably spread through the chamber and the stark reality of Eydis dying from the Red Death left them all in certain peril.
She, Torunn the Strong, forced to be matriarch, parent and protector at an early age, remained holding tight to Eydis’s tiny hand, unwilling to let go. Brenna the Healer, who had diligently cared for Eydis, laid her head upon her chest perhaps hoping to hear a faint heartbeat, yet surely knowing she would not. Asta, Seer of Spirits, remained at the foot of Eydis’s bed, clearly purposely distancing herself lest she be incapable of maintaining her stoic countenance or concealing her overwhelming sorrow. Tears continued to fall down Torunn’s cheeks and the tenderhearted Brenna sobbed openly. Asta finally broke the silence.
“Tears will do nothing for Eydis…and a thousand seas of tears will not prevent the three of us from suffering the same dreaded fate!”
Torunn glared at Asta, knowing her callousness was a ruse to hide her own pain.
“Do you believe for even a single raven’s call our compassionate Eydis would begrudge us our melancholy tears, Asta? Do you think she wouldn’t weep as much if one of us suffered this fate?”
Asta turned away from Torunn’s eyes, surely filled with accusation, but Torunn spoke on.
“As an empath Brenna suffers not only her own pain, but yours and mine also. Can you not stop your constant taunting…especially this day?” Torunn sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Torunn the Strong, the eldest remaining descendant of the Solveigian line, dares to shed tears instead of fulfilling her self-imposed duty of protecting her sisters?” Asta sarcastically mused.
Torunn’s shoulders straightened and she could sense her eyes blazing. She inhaled deeply as she held her head high. Her floor-length pale blonde hair typically worn to the side in a thick plait was partially unraveled, uncommonly tangled. It spilled onto the bed entwined with Eydis’s nearly identical light locks.
“Do you dare to blame me for not protecting Eydis, or Brenna for not healing her? Perhaps in the apparently unending wisdom you’ve gained in your eighteen sun’s journeys, you could inform us as to how we might have saved Eydis. Tell us what you, Asta, Seer of Spirits, might have done to keep her from this fate or admit to us why Eydis thought you might blame yourself for her contracting the illness!”
“I don’t blame you or Brenna and from the time her eyes became red I knew Eydis could not be saved. I’m simply willing to admit our inescapable doomed fate while the two of you foolishly believe it may not be so.”
“We are not being foolish. We simply choose to hold on to a hopeful future. We must discover what caused the scourge that has eliminated our people, but for the four…the three of us,” she sadly corrected, “it need not be a certainty we meet the same end. Eydis was small, always frail, never quick to recover from Highgardian illnesses or common injuries as the rest of us…perhaps because she did not receive our mother’s milk as a newborn…maybe she did not thrive for she missed Mother’s nurturing,” Torunn pondered.
“She had the three of us as mothers for we loved her as if she were our own precious child. I always hoped we made up for our mother’s absence…and our grandmother and aunt assisted before they died,” Brenna said.
Torunn knew Brenna’s words held much sincerity.
“Yes, in truth Eydis was always showered with an abundance of unending love,” Torunn agreed.
“Our combined love could not save her, nor will it save any of us. We all must face the unavoidable reckoning,” Asta said gloomily. “Brenna will undoubtedly be the next to go. In attempting to keep the two of us well, she’ll surely take no time to rest or see to her own health.”
Brenna glanced quickly at Asta, clearly fearful of her words, but soon turned away.
“Next it shall be me who dies for I’d not live long without my Brenna. We shared our mother’s womb and have never been parted even an entire day. Without my twin, my own heart would surely stop beating.”
This time Brenna stared at Asta who seldom voiced her feelings and often appeared nearly heartless. Asta soon returned to her pessimism and continued her bleak predictions.
“Torunn…you’ll undoubtedly be the last to fall. Always the strongest, you’ll fight the affliction and be the final Highgardian to die. Have you seen that hard truth in your treasured runes?” Her tone was laced with her usual sarcasm, but purposely cruel. It irritated Torunn; her temper flared despite knowing that was Asta’s intent.
“If you do not end this infuriating blather, my deliberately vexatious sister, you’ll be the next to go when your skull is crushed, and every one of your bones shatters as I toss you over the Highgardian cliffs and into the pit of boulders!” Torunn seethed.
Asta smirked, evidently pleased she’d provoked her sister’s fiery temper. This further annoyed Torunn and she glowered.
“Stop this petty quarreling, both of you!” Brenna intervened. “Eydis would not wish for you to bicker and certainly not when her body is not yet cold!”
Asta chuckled in an antagonizing tone. “You’re quick to fill Eydis’s position of peacekeeper, Brenna. I suppose given your good-natured disposition that was to be expected.”
Brenna ignored her fractious twin and Torunn gazed out the nearby window at the large golden-orange sun setting low in the sky. “The time of Eydis’s transcendence is near,” Torunn said.
They all worriedly turned toward the window when they heard a long silent, but disturbingly familiar sound in the distance.
“The Solveigian fortress is the strongest in all of Highgard. Surely no beast could break through these walls!” Torunn declared but stood and studiously looked out the tower window.
“We must ask the gods to ensure Eydis’s transcendence is swift before one of those despicable beasts reaches our fortress,” Brenna said.
Asta nodded with uncommon fear in her eyes. “I think our pleas to the gods would continue to fall on deaf ears.”
Torunn knew there was no time for talk or pleading. She would meet the creature before it got to the gates in order to protect Eydis’s body and ensure she would go to rest with the gods. Torunn stood tall and resolute as she went to retrieve her weapons.
“Torunn, you don’t intend to battle a nidhoggr…a horrid corpse-eater?” Brenna whispered in warning. “You suffered deplorable wounds last time.”
“That was some time ago. My skills have been much perfected since then…my powers are stronger. To prevent it from devouring our sister, I most certainly will battle the beast!”
“You would die defending our lost sister?” Asta questioned.
“You would not?” Torunn bristled. “You would see her lose the chance to transcend?”
“You know I would defend her, but Eydis would not thank any of us if we die in saving her corpse from desecration…even if it meant she did not transcend.”
“When our aunt Magnahild, our mother Vora’s sister was killed, I held the beast at bay until the transcendence occurred. When Bestamor died, the two of you protected her body while I slayed the nidhoggr,” Torunn remembered. “We must do so now for Eydis.”
The frightening roaring and hissing grew louder. The creature was drawing perilously near. Brenna’s eyes filled with terror as she spoke.
“There is not only one beast approaching!”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

She learns the ways of the fiercely loyal, but undeniably dangerous Vikings

Torunn the Strong and her sisters, the descendants of the Goddess Solveig of Highgard are the only survivors of the dreaded Red Death. Tall, blonde, beautiful, brave and skilled in weaponry, Torunn will do whatever is necessary to save them from the scourge that killed their people. Forced to leave her sisters and her world behind, she is transported to the land of the Vikings where she is to discover the fate of the lost Highgardian boys sent there twenty years earlier.

Near death, she is saved by Brandr, a fearless, tall, muscular, ruggedly handsome man once a Viking warrior. Torunn and Brandr are forced to battle the brutal mountainous climate, wild beasts, and dangerous enemies. Neither want to admit they are falling deeply in love, for Torunn hasn’t ever met a man before and Brandr’s past is filled with tragedy and betrayal.

Is it possible for them to find happiness together?

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Meet the Author:

Since she was a child, Leigh Ann Edwards has always had a vivid imagination and lots of stories to tell. An enthusiastic traveler and author for over twenty years, her adventures in Massachusetts, Ireland, and the UK inspired The Farrier’s Daughter and its sequel novels in the Irish Witch series. Edwards adores animals, history, genealogy, and magical places—and Ireland is filled with many magical places. She lives with her husband and two cats in the lovely city of Edmonton, Alberta.
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