Having been brought up listening to stories of a tall, blonde and handsome prince rescuing a fair and beautiful princess, historical romance novels have taken up a major portion of my book shelf. Johanna Lindsey's The Fires of Winter, one of the oldest in my collection, is a favourite.

The novel portrays the strong character of Lady Brenna who is captured by viking Garrick Haardrad's father and given to Garrick as a slave. Her love for Garrick inspite of the sexual abuse is absolutely fascinating. What's more interesting is that Johanna Lindsey has portrayed Lady Brenna's character in a rather contemporary light as a smart, athletic and courageous woman with sword skills and a fighting spirit. The story takes a very emotional turn when Garrick who is in love with Brenna refuses to believe Brenna's story of her kidnap after she tries to escape from Garrick due to his abusive behaviour. She goes to live alone with a broken heart. Garrick's heart, however, softens when Brenna gives birth to their prematured baby and learns about the truth of Brenna's kidnap. At the end of the story they are happily married, ever after.

These days it has become difficult to find historical romance novels at book stores and new titles are rarely published in hardcover. Authors are switiching to the contemporary romance genre. However, if you are looking for historical Romance Novels, you could check out Mills & Boon website and order them online.