Echoes of the Runes

Runes, Book 1

By: Christina Courtenay

Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

The pacy, evocative and romantic new dual-time novel from Christina Courtenay is perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Diana Gabaldon and Vikings.

Their love was forbidden. But echoed in eternity.

When Mia inherits her beloved grandmother's summer cottage, Birch Thorpe, in Sweden, she faces a dilemma. Her fiance Charles urges her to sell and buy a swanky London home, but Mia cannot let it go easily. The request to carry out an archaeological dig for more Viking artefacts like the gold ring Mia's grandmother also left her, offers her a reprieve from a decision - and from Charles.

Whilst Mia becomes absorbed in the dig's discoveries, she finds herself drawn to archaeologist Haakon Berger. Like her, he can sense the past inhabitants whose lives are becoming more vivid every day. Trying to resist the growing attraction between them, Mia and Haakon begin to piece together the story of a Welsh noblewoman, Ceri, and the mysterious Viking, known as the 'White Hawk', who stole her away from her people in AD 869.

As the present begins to echo the past, and enemies threaten Birch Thorpe's inhabitants, they will all have to fight to protect what has become most precious to each of them....

©2020 Christina Courtenay (P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

A Sweet Romance

Sometimes you just need a sweet romance, with more plot and less sex. I love my sultry romance don't get me wrong, but sometimes I need a book with more story line. And this book was it. Loved the Viking Lore and how the book goes back and forth between historical Viking times to the present. Beautifully written. I definitely will be reading/listening to the next book in the series.

Love thisLove this book!

Really enjoyed both the presentation and the story. Have already purchased the next in this series.

Predictable

The story line was predictable with no twists and turns and weak characters. I got bored with it very fast and tried to power through to the end but it just couldn't keep my attention.

Excellent historical fiction

Narrator did an excellent job. Her accent and voice are lovely. The story was great with good character development and I loved how the two stories were interwoven. I look forward to reading more books by this author

Get lost in another time

The author was a pleasure to listen to and the story was incredible. I wish there were more in this series.

Love the narrator!

The story was beautifully written and the narrator was amazing! I couldn’t stop listening to it ❤️

Vikings and reincarnation

This book was awesome and the narration was great! This is my favorite time period and the book also includes another favorite interest of mine....reincarnation. I thought how everything tied together was really fascinating. From start to finish this one captivated me and will be an all-time favorite.

Good idea for a story, falling short

Great idea for a story, unfortunately, in my opinion poorly executed
Narrator sounds like reading a book to a child
Characters are predictable
So is ending
Perhaps , if I was not used to standard set by Susanna Kearsley and similar quality authors, I would not be judging so harshly
I will not be purchasing sequel

an Unpredictable reincarnated love story!

I do not write reviews often! This book has a timeless quality. The main characters are strong and the love so believable. The plot has you at the edge of your seat the whole time and you experience every emotion! Great narrative too.

Absorbing & Easy Read.

Easy and absorbing read with engaging characters and an interesting dual storyline. In dual storylines I’ve found almost without exception one story will be weaker and less interesting. Echoes on the other hand has two equally interesting and equally well developed stories. While it must be said that the story is a bit of a soap opera, it’s a good one. My problem with this book was the ending. It was way too trite and sickeningly sappy (tied up in a perfect little bow in the perfect way for the perfect life….). I love a happy ending but the author went waaay past happy ending and right straight into sappy land. She wrote the most perfectly perfect tied up in a trite little bow happy ending, and sadly took a good book and sprinkled it with a heaping dose of eye roll.
My rating for a book of this sort (light historical fiction love story):
*Up until the last part of the last chapter and epilogue: 4
*After it: 2.5
Narration is excellent.
If you like light historical fiction love stories I recommend this book.