What’s it about? (The Viking Queen’s Men edition)

I realized yesterday that I’ve been promoting The Viking Queen’s Men (and thus Vikings Unleashed) without actually telling you what it’s about.

I mean, yeah, there’s a blurb:

Contessa Dahl has spent most of her life in a haze. A rudderless orphan, most decisions involved her fists and feet: should she fight or should she run? At twenty-eight, she’s ready to clean up her act, but Tess might be a bit premature because she’s destined to be a special kind of leader.

Born into a group of desert-dwelling telepathic descendants of Vikings, Tess was meant to become a link for them all—their queen and conduit. Her kidnapping and the subsequent death of her parents meant her people, the Afótama, have had a hole in their web for too long. Now that she’s back at home, it’s Tess’s job to mend it. But, she can’t do it alone.

She needs a perfect mate to fill in her psychic gaps, and two men claim to be fated for the job. Harvey Lang, her childhood champion, and the group outsider Oliver Gilisson would fight to the death to win her. However, to gain full control of her considerable power, she must find a way to keep them both.

But, what is it ABOUT?

I’ll break it down as simply as I can, though that’s no easy for a series like this that has a bunch of threaded plots.

Tess and her people, the Afótama, are American Vikings (not Viking-American, though that’s probably a quibbling distinction). They live in the New Mexican desert in an isolated community. They’re telepathic, and more or less peaceful.

Tess is the “queen” of the group. It’s not just an honorific, but like a queen bee, she has a specific role in ensuring the longevity of the clan. She’s the psychic conduit who links them all.

She’s not very good at it. She’s only half Afótama. Her father was from a clan that settled in Nevada and who aren’t necessarily the friendliest bunch. There are a few of these Viking clans scattered around the US. They mostly avoid each other for a variety of reasons. They all have different skills. The Afótama are the strongest psychics. Tess’s lover Ollie’s clan has the best fighters. There are other groups I haven’t identified yet, but each will be a bit different.

Tess learns that many Afótama children were kidnapped by an unidentified entity. She was one of them. Many of the Afótama are still missing. It’s Tess’s job to find them, who kidnapped them, and learn why. That doesn’t get resolved in the first book, or even the second. There’s also a plot line about Tess’s older brother who went rogue a decade ago which will become more important in the second book.

Tess ends up with two lovers because of the nature of her power. This isn’t a typical thing in their world, but there’s this line that those nearest the queen have to be the strongest…and Tess may not be the only Afótama woman who needs two men to control contain complement her.

So, there you have it in a nutshell.

Remember, right now you can get TVQM for the cheapest it’ll ever be. The Vikings Unleashed boxed set is 99¢ THROUGH TOMORROW, and you’ll not only get TVQM, but eight other alpha male romances by some really terrific authors. On Monday, the price will go up to $2.99.

Here are the links to where you can get it:

All Romance eBooks | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo