Last October, I made a rather brilliant discovery in Historical Fiction – I met Avelynn for the very first time! This was also my very first historical involving the Vikings – a group of people of whom have held my curiosity for most of my life, yet for some strange reason I never quite took the time I should have to ‘meet them’ properly – either through historicals or non-fiction accountments of their lives! They were such a fascinating group of adventurers, explorers and of course, have such an anchoured past to turbulence and upheaval across power struggles for land & prosperity.
As you can see from this quote from my review last year, I was quite keen on how they were portrayed by Ms Campbell:
On the Vikings themselves:
Alrik isn’t quite the Viking warrior I was expecting to find, though to be honest anyone outside the precept of who Vikings are known for being outright would have been a pleasant surprise, truly! Alrik leads with his heart but with a mind that is truly rapt for battle. He understands loyalty but his trust in both his men and the cardinals of war is where his confidence lies. He isn’t one to tempt a woman past her own senses nor does he find himself able to do anything that is not proper or honourable. He’s an interesting bloke by half, considering he’s at an impasse in regards to his kin who are seeking wrath more than peace.
In some mannerisms he showed Avelynn at their first meeting, I was reminded of stories I’ve read about the Highlander Scots – both are fiercely proud and grit wit a determined air to battle any sort who try to cause them ill-harm or take back a stronghold they’ve already won.
Avelynn took me by complete surprise – turnt out to be one of my most beloved reads of 2015, and never quite left my mind! I was quite curious what would happen ‘next’ and how the characters within the world of Avelynn would continue to move forward with their lives. It’s compelling drama, but it’s also a brilliantly written arc of Historical Romance set during a difficult time in history where everything is a bit uncertain and strife with war or changes in power. It’s not the easiest of generations to make your mark on the world but there was so much heart and hope stitched inside this HistRom that I truly felt hugged closet to Avelynn herself and the emotional journey she was undertaking!
This is why I am so wicked excited to be a part of the blog team whose announcing the sequel’s arrival & why this #bookbirthday has me so wicked happy to have a sequel to read this Winter! There is a bit more to the story behind how I’m reading “Avelynn: The Edge of Faith” but right now I want to share the information on the book itself, the beautiful cover art & the lovely Excerpt Ms Campbell provided for me to share with my readers! A bit of a tradition – I shared an Excerpt last October for her debut and now again for her sophomore release!
Enjoy reading this wicked glimpse into Avelynn and Alrik!
Avelynn
Subtitle: The Edge of Faith
by Marissa Campbell
It’s the year 871. Charges of treason, murder, and witchcraft follow Avelynn into exile as she flees England with Alrik. Arriving in Wales, they find refuge among Alrik’s friends in the Welsh nobility. Cast out by his half-brothers, Alrik seeks to regain his honor and earn favor with the gods. When war threatens, Alrik embraces gold and the opportunity for his crew to become mercenaries, aiding the Southern Welsh kings in their fight against Rhodri the Great.
Desperate to return home, Avelynn seeks to find a way to prove her innocence, but she is pitted against Alrik as their desires for the future clash. With battle looming, Avelynn’s faith in their relationship is further tested through a bitter struggle with Marared, a jealous lover from Alrik’s past. Marared’s threats turn deadly, and Avelynn runs afoul of magic and sorcery, causing her to question her beliefs and role as priestess.
When Avelynn and Alrik are betrayed, Avelynn is captured and Alrik is charged with regicide. The two become separated, a chasm of greed, deceit, and ambition driving them apart. In an act of harrowing faith, Avelynn will stop at nothing to find her way back to Alrik and break them both free from Wales’s bloodthirsty grasp.
AVELYNN: THE EDGE OF FAITH is a stand-alone novel and #2 in the Avelynn series.
Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-0986627217
Also by this author: Avelynn
Series: Avelynn
Also in this series: Avelynn
on 26th September, 2016
Published By: Self Published Author
Available Formats: Paperback & Ebook
Converse via: #Avelynn
About Marissa Campbell
Marissa Campbell is a published freelance author, and co-author of the award-winning, spiritual self-help book Life: Living in Fulfillment Every Day.
Her debut historical fiction AVELYNN, was published through St. Martin’s Press, September 2015. She self-published her sophmore release Avelynn: The Edge of Faith. She is a proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Romance Writers of America, Writer’s Community of Durham Region, and local critique group B7.
When she is not writing, she is busy looking after her wonderful children, spending time with her fantastic husband, hanging out with her awesome friends, teaching yoga, dancing, laughing, and having fun!
Author's biography updated October 2016.
An excerpt from Avelynn: The edge of faith
(provided by the author):
As Raven’s Blood stalked closer to shore, a band of men carrying bows, spears, and swords came out to line the bank. In an attempt to placate the natives, Alrik had ordered the dragon head removed, and men laid shields across laps instead of displaying them over rowlocks. Vikings were typically not welcome guests no matter the country. They had raped and pillaged far and wide, and while there were several peace-loving merchants amongst the lot, they traveled in smaller vessels. Longships brought with them the spectre of war.
A warning shot whizzed through the air, landing with a soft splash in the water.
Alrik ordered the boat to stop and stood on the prow. His words rang out in perfect Welsh. I had to ask him what he’d spoken. “I seek Gilfaethwy, friend of Alrik the Bloodaxe.”
The Vikings remained seated, gripping shields and sword hilts.
A tall, stalwart young man extricated himself from the crowd, returning the conversation in English. “Alrik, is that you my friend?”
“Aye, Gilfaethwy. How fare you?”
Gilfaethwy turned to the men around him and after some gesticulating, everyone departed, though many in the crowd continued to glance over their shoulders, swords freed from scabbards as they dispersed.
“Come ashore, man,” Gilfaethwy yelled, waving us in.
The boat skulked closer, stopping only a few feet from the beach. Alrik nodded to Tollak, leaving him in charge, and extended his hand to me.
I waited as Alrik slipped over the side of the boat, his legs sinking into the shallow water. He motioned for me to follow. I maneuvered my dress and legs as demurely as possible before slipping and sprawling into Alrik’s outstretched arms. He strode to shore and set me down on solid footing once we reached the bank.
“I had no idea you spoke Welsh,” I said.
“Only enough to placate the rabid dogs and their arrows.”
Gilfaethwy closed the distance and shook Alrik’s hand. The two men set to back pounding and slapping in a familiar greeting. Only when they’d finished did Alrik introduce me.
“I present Avelynn of England.”
Gilfaethwy took my hands in his. “A Saxon beauty.” His brown eyes sparkled with the depth and richness of moist loam, and a leather thong tied back his long chestnut hair. He was comely, and I found myself blushing as he bowed low, his gaze never leaving mine. “I am Gilfaethwy, nephew to Hyfaidd ap Bleddri, king of Dyfed, but my friends call me Gil.”
“Quite the welcoming party, Gil,” Alrik said, watching the armed men hover near one of the larger circular buildings.
Gil waved them away as insignificant. “There was another Viking raid farther up the coast. They do not trust your brother, Ivar. Course they do not know you’re related, else you would not have made it to shore.”
Alrik grunted, I suspected from his assessment of whether these men would have been able to stop him. Alrik traveled with sixty warriors; I couldn’t imagine a few Welshmen were much of a deterrent.
Gil laughed and placed an arm behind each of our necks, clasping our shoulders. “Come. My home is just there; let us talk business.”
He steered us to a long, timber-framed home. Clearly, Gil’s risk associating himself with Vikings had been a successful gamble.
Campbell makes the year 869 feel tangible and realistic to your senses, straight down to the word usage and the manner in which she chooses to express the world she’s built for her story to entertain our imaginations. She gives a strong nod towards clarifying research and story driven narrative rooted in the tangible lens where research can guide a reader forward through the grace of seeing what might have been visible in the 9th Century.
The fact that she took key people who lived and placed them inside Avelynn was a blessing to me, as I hadn’t heard of the fate surrounding Judith of Flanders until I picked up this novel! I was sympathetic to her plight because ever since I first learnt of the regularity of arranged marriages are within the court; it was quite easy to find a way to rally those who found a loophole to get around those contracts and set their stars on a course that was right for them rather than what was expected and required.
Campbell found a compelling way to tell this story whilst giving you a feast of your own to drink as you re-envisioned this setting and the situations Avelynn finds herself questioning which path is true when you listen to your heart.
This is another quote from my review of Avelynn from last October, as I wanted to help re-celebrate the joy I had in finding Ms Campbell’s voice in Historical Fiction! I had strived to read Avelynn2 (as it’s been conversed about on Twitter!) ahead of my tour stop – however, severe lightning storms & a personal hiatus from blogging disrupted my reading life quite a bit, which is why instead of reading it ahead of this tour stop, I am looking forward to drinking in the story during the Winter months instead! Quite fitting in some ways, as Avelynn feels like a wicked good series to curl up inside whilst there is fire in the hearth, howling winds from blizzards or at the very least, changing leaves peeking out of the boughs of trees! Either a Winter series to adore or a proper opening to Autumn, where Historical Roms are a delight to soak inside!
I had the pleasure of joy of being ‘ahead’ of the curve with this sequel, as I took part in the author’s bookaway where she was hosting a special pre-release party where if you could suggest the title of the sequel you could win a hard copy of the novel itself – along with a lot of lovely goodies, such as Avelynn memorabilia! I had a larkspur idea for a title (which I’ll talk about once I read this sequel in full – for now, it’s a secret!) and was quite gobsmacked when my name was drawn! As you can read my enthused reaction here on the author’s blog! My title was not the one that is published – but the joy of winning the chance to read the sequel remained the wicked sweet part of the experience for me!
I have a beautiful bound-ARC of The Edge of Faith, which I’ve ducked inside a few times already, but I want to fully immerse myself back into Avelynn’s world – which is why I’ll be re-reading Avelynn *ahead!* of this sequel! I realise the author’s announced the two are stand-alones although concurrent in the series – I always falter on yielding to my personal preference of wanting to read stories in order (either in the series world or by publication) when it comes to how I personally attach myself inside serial fiction. This is why, having a full twelvemonths behind my last visit with Avelynn, I’d love the chance to re-attach myself & continue onwards!
This is going to be a wicked good Winter for Jorie!
I will be tweeting & blogging about my reading of The Edge of Faith after Sci Fi November!
My gratitude to the author for hosting such a special readerly surprise ahead of the publication!
This blog tour is courtesy of: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments about this sequel especially if you’ve read AVELYNN and were eagerly anticipating the sequel from last year! Also, I’d love to gauge your thoughts about what your hoping you’ll discover inside this new chapter of Avelynn’s life and how the characters will continue to move forward in their lives! Is this your first story of the Vikings or one of many you love?!
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Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Avelynn: The Edge of Faith”, book synopsis, author photograph of Marissa Campbell, the excerpt from “Avelynn: The Edge of Faith” and the tour badge were all provided by HFVBTs (Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours) and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories Sailing Into View Banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2016.
Comments via Twitter:
Wicked good NEWS 🍰 #Avelynn2 #bookbirthday JOY w/ Excerpt ✨ @marissa_author @HFVBT #HistRom https://t.co/FTdmd2N5Ib pic.twitter.com/2VDTr7SsD8
— SpooktasticallyJorie (@joriestory) October 21, 2016
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