A Fate Inked in Blood

December 1, 2023

Freya, a woman with a magical secret, spends her days dreaming of being a warrior while tied down in a deeply unhappy marriage. When her husband betrays her secret and sells her out to the local warlord, Jarl Snorri, Freya is forced to fight the Jarl's son Bjorn, a celebrated warrior. To survive, she must reveal her identity as a shield maiden whose protective magic will repel any attack. Snorri believes Freya will be instrumental in a prophecy that sees him ruling all Skaland if he controls the shield maiden's fate. Blood oaths are sworn, training is done, sacrifices are made, and battles are fought while Freya's powers, and her attraction to Bjorn, grow. VERDICT Jensen ("Bridge Kingdom" series) has rooted the first entry in her "Saga of the Unfated" in Norse mythology, giving readers a glimpse into a cold, violent society, but she doesn't skimp on the heat. This reads like the love child of Genevieve Gornichec's The Witch's Heart and Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Silver Flames. Romantasy fans will be ravenous for more.--Lacey Tobias

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December 1, 2023
If a child is claimed by the gods at its conception, the child is marked and given unrivaled power--fire from Tyr, Thor's lighting, control over the sea from Njord. On the night Freya was conceived, she was given a drop of Hlin's blood. A seer foretold that the child of Hlin would unite the people of Skaland beneath the rule of the one who controlled the child's fate. Freya's father therefore insisted she keep her power hidden at all costs because she would be used as a pawn in men's games. Desperate circumstances result in Freya revealing her power to Jarl Snorri, and she is forced to play her part in his quest for ultimate power. She finds solace only in the arms of Bjorn, Jarl's heir. But their love is forbidden and complicated by Bjorn's own secret plans for revenge. Impossible to put down, A Fate Inked in Blood is a fresh take on the shield-maiden myth and the romantasy genre. This series starter is sure to enrapture fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros.

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December 18, 2023
This sizzling if sometimes silly romantasy kicks off Jensen’s Saga of the Unfated series (after the Bridge Kingdom series). The setting is a Norse mythology–inspired universe where a few “unfated” humans are gifted with one blood drop each from one of the fierce Nordic pantheon and are thus able to magically defy the destinies that would otherwise be set for them. Among the unfated is Freya, who leaves off fishgutting to pursue her dream of becoming a lusty shieldmaiden after she’s smitten by gorgeous Bjorn, a warrior from Nordeland now fighting to help ruler Jarl Snorri unite Skaland as its king. Both Freya and Bjorn, whom Snorri assigns to protect her, are torn between conflicting obligations: Freya’s swelling passion for Bjorn clashes with her duty to her family, and Bjorn’s desire for Freya distracts from his quest to avenge his mother. Jensen tries to have it both ways: making Freya a hard-drinking, saucy-mouthed New Woman, even as Bjorn’s face, body, and suggestive repartee continually befuddle her. Both characters’ inner angst feels insufficiently motivated, though heated battles and steamy interludes keep the pages turning. It’s entertaining historical fluff. Agent: Tamar Rydzinski, Context Literary.

January 1, 2024
The mortal daughter of a god fights to become the mistress of her own fate in this tightly plotted series starter. Twenty-year-old Freya has spent her entire life hiding her ancestry. In her world--a take on medieval Scandinavia--the Norse pantheon blesses mortal babies with drops of the deities' own blood, imbuing them with fractions of divine power. As the daughter of Hlin, Freya is the shield maiden prophesied to "unite the people of Skaland beneath the rule of the one who controlled her fate." After her abusive first husband learns her true identity, he turns her over to the jarl, Snorri, who grants him a divorce so that Snorri may marry Freya himself. Snorri believes his new bride is his key to becoming Skaland's king. So does his beloved and cunning first wife, Ylva, who desperately wants to see her own son on the throne, but it's Bjorn--the jarl's firstborn, Ylva's stepson, and the child of Tyr--who's in line to inherit. Snorri appoints his heir as Freya's personal bodyguard, not knowing that his son happens to be the object of his new wife's forbidden affections. As for the shield maiden, she barely has time to consider her hopelessly complicated position in Snorri's court, with other jarls beginning to launch attacks on her people, determined to steal her away from her new husband. All these men are certain she'll crown a king, thereby determining the fate of their entire nation, but they've forgotten one very important rule: The children of the gods aren't bound by fate. Jensen offers a vibrant and perfectly paced novel that's sure to delight readers of historical fantasy. Although some of the writing reads a little too contemporary at times--an early passage in which one character is dubbed a "narcissist" is a prime example--the tension among Freya, Bjorn, and the rest of Snorri's court is simply irresistible. A captivating first installment in what promises to be a compelling, feminist Viking fantasy.

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