Lizz rated it: 3.75 Lizz's thoughts: Loved the audio book narrator
Format: audio, libro.fm
What I liked: This whole Norse/Viking story caught me from the first pages I really cheered for Freya throughout the first 60% of the book. Bjorn is moody and handsome and the picture of what the romantasy girls are looking for. Their tension up until about 60% of the way into the book was really what was driving me to keep turning pages.
What I didn't like: This book is very much plot-based, lacking much in the way of character development (and the world-building was a little weak for my personal preferences). However, even being plot-based it could have been about 20% shorter in the second half of the book. It felt like we were just moving from plot point to plot point and all the fighting started to feel the same. I like my books to have more character development, so this just didn't quite tick all the boxes for me.
Did I enjoy it? Yes, but I think it could have been shorter.
Who I'm recommending this to: All the girlies who are suddenly obsessed with romantasy or the show "Vikings". Summary: A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.
Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.
Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.
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