A Fate Inked in Blood
Saga of the Unfated #1
Danielle L. Jensen
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: Feb. 27, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:
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.
My thoughts…
It’s not all that often that you come across Nordic Viking romances. So when my book club chose this book for the month, I was intrigued. It wasn’t something that was on my radar previously, but sounded like an amazing adventure.
However, this story just did not work for me. It started off strong with Freya standing up to her abusive husband, and fighting for her right to be a warrior rather than a housewife. I thought, this is going to be an epic story of battles and victory. Instead, it turned out to be more of a teenage angst situation. Freya spent a lot of time pining away at her new husband’s son. Which I know that sounds awful, but hear me out. The son is more her age, and her new husband is the age of her father. So, it’s not like she’s perving on a child or anything. With that said, I didn’t feel their connection. The author tells us that there’s this deep connection and attraction but it just didn’t click for me. They seemed like they would be good friends, but the romance aspect just wasn’t there. Not to mention, Bjorn thinks that she’s fully married to his father, as in consummated and all. So, lusting after his “step mom”, even if she was his age, just didn’t work for me.
I also did not care for Freya’s character. She walked all over, and yet is still loyal to those who cast her out. WHY? When I picture vikings, I do not picture someone groveling for the life of someone who cast them to their own torture and death. Blood does not make you a family, and I would think that this would be something that would be the way of Vikings. But alas, Freya sacrifices herself left and right for family members who would easily shoot an arrow through her heart than have to deal with hardships of their own. This character flaw drove me up a wall. This girl claims she wants to be a viking warrior but just could not stop sacrificing herself for others.
While this book started off strong, it quickly lost steam for me. It lacked that gritty Nordic Viking feel that I was hoping for. By the end of the book, I didn’t care about anyone or anything going on, I just wanted the story to be over. This honestly felt like it followed a recipe for the currently popular new adult spicy fantasy romance. It will be a book that I quickly forget about.
