Banished. by Anna Markland. Historical Romance. ARC review.

Vikings evoke images of strong men who allow nothing to stand in their way. They're not normally associated with tender feelings. Wildflowers conjure more personal and sentimental images. In BANISHED, a handful of bluebells picked from a meadow by childhood sweethearts becomes a symbol and eventually an acknowledgement of a love long denied. 

Audra longs to leave behind the life of an elite mercenary, a role forced on her after her father’s banishment from the Viking brotherhood.

A journey from exile to the court of King Canute offers a new life, though she fears few men will want her once her history is known.

The bloody feud that precipitated her father’s banishment resurfaces when she is unexpectedly reunited with a childhood sweetheart. Sigmar has always held her heart, but he is the son of her father’s enemy. Sigmar’s hopes for advancement in Canute’s service will be dashed if he obeys the dictates of family honor.

Can Audra and Sigmar lay the hatreds of the past to rest, or will the Viking code of vengeance triumph?

A trip  back to the Viking era, when women could be trained as warriors. Audra and Sigmar we're childhood friends until their fathers started a blood feud and the families were banished from their homeland. .Now many years later they all meet again when they have been called into service by the new king Canute. Sigmar was instrumental in helping Canute claim his crown.  Audra is part of an elite team of female assassins that the king wants as part of his personal guard. The main problem is the extremely bad blood between the two fathers. The king sends his chosen ones to get rid of anyone be believes is a threat to his  new crown.  They must travel through a part of England with a reputation for evil, maybe even magical  creatures. 
A wonderful adventure rich in historical details and romance.  The story really helps you visualise life as it was then. Our heroine is a brave warrior, capable of killing a man in twelve different ways. But she still worries about her father´s feelings. Our hero has been promoted above his father and honoured by his king. This does not help his father´s temper, especially when he sees who else is in the running for a place in the king´s guard.

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Anna Markland is a Canadian author with a keen interest in genealogy. She writes medieval romance about family honour, ancestry and roots. Her novels are intimate love stories filled with passion and adventure. Following a fruitful career in teaching, Anna transformed her love of writing and history into engaging works of fiction. One of the things she enjoys most about writing historical romance is the in-depth research required to provide the reader with an authentic medieval experience.

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