Jessica R. Laursen

Might not finish

Revisado: 03-26-24

I enjoyed the Viking world and how much detail the author covers about the culture, theology, customs, etc. I enjoyed the banter and some decent character dynamics. I am enjoying the romance and slow burn. Her and Bjorn have great chemistry and I feel like the spice is dispersed well within the story, definitely not gratuitous.
I struggled with the unchanging issues of Freya’s loyalty excusing bad treatment by her family. Frustration and annoyance with her behavior and inner monologue grew until it was kind of ruining the read overall. I’ve put the book down and am not sure if I’ll finish, I only have 2 hours left and will try to but it’s so hard to tolerate how stupid she’s being. Maybe I’m not being fair enough because she’s suffered trauma and huge identity shifts. But she needs to employ logic and common sense at some point over the pseudo-martyr “need to save everyone” trope. It’s not executed well enough to be believable or noble.
It’s also really unpleasant how much hate she gets from almost everyone else in the book. To some degree it creates interesting tension that could potentially lead to relational development but so far has only gotten worse and it’s just getting old.
I loved ‘The Bridge Kingdom’ by this author so much and had higher hopes for this book, also due to numerous excellent reviews.

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Easy romantic read

Revisado: 05-10-23

Overall enjoyed the story. Nothing stood out as remarkable but I wasn’t looking for anything too complex or heavy (there were some serious moments with violence & mention of SA). I wanted a love story I could get into and listen to in the background and this is worked. I do like the love story, and enjoyed numerous other characters. I struggled with the female narrators style at times, but did like that were was also a male narrator and them working together.

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Loved the series, this book lost me

Revisado: 11-19-22

SPOILERS


I have many good things to say about this series overall. The writing, character development, world building, character and integrity of Lia, relationship building, the plot.

My biggest and primary issue with this book (and so ending of the series) is Kaden and Pauline. It wasn’t enjoyable to read. It happened too fast, felt forced and rushed. Kaden had been so deeply and utterly devoted to Lia, literally left his world and culture and people to protect her, and was still in love with her. So it just didn’t feel right or executed well enough in the story. Their “love” story isn’t likeable or believable to me. I’m almost done with the book but honestly am not motivated to finish it. I want Kaden to be happy, but I can’t see him with Pauline at all

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So good

Revisado: 02-26-21

I enjoyed this book so much. It was hard with the distance and pain between Aren and Lara, but it made the reunion so tantalizing and juicy as well. The ending was as satisfying as I could have imagined, but ended too soon. I really wanted a bit more, and maybe an announcement of pregnancy or something. Overall, so so good! Definitely recommend

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Very enjoyable

Revisado: 02-26-21

I really loved this book. I love the main characters and really appreciated the other characters as well. The author woven interesting relationship histories and dynamics in that added to the substance of the book. It was refreshing reading a romance fantasy fiction that didn’t have an immature and obnoxious female protagonist. Aren is one of the best male characters I’ve read in a while. The world building was adequate too for me to have a mental image of the different locations.

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Enjoyable

Revisado: 02-26-21

Overall I enjoyed this read and it was refreshing to have a romance fantasy fiction without a typical female protagonist who’s often immature, rash, presumptive, and obnoxious. I really liked Emma. The world was interesting too.
It was hard going from books with mature romance (sex) scenes from this, it left something to be desired for me. But it was also nice have a milder read with a satisfying resolution. I thought it was a trilogy so was bummed to see that it wasn’t, but overall found the plot and arch interesting and enjoyable. I like Gadfly as well.

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Worth the read

Revisado: 02-26-21

I enjoyed the story overall but struggled at times with Persephone. One of worst commonalities IMO of romance fiction is this kind of female protagonist. She makes assumptions often, can be very unreasonable, and emotionally immature. Sometimes I’m guessing characters are written like this to add tension, excitement, drama, etc. He’s ancient and she has the maturity of an 18 year old. I still got into the love story, but had to take breaks at times. I want to read the next book but see in the reviews that this only gets worse so we’ll see.
I do like the world, the writing, the other characters, etc.

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Meh

Revisado: 04-21-20

I’m on the fence with this book. If I finish it, I’ll edit this review (if applicable). I’m only on chapter 15, but am struggling to hold on. Slow builder. I’m also strongly repulsed by main character’s immaturity and bitchy attitude. Some of it is warranted, but for the most part it’s just too much eye-rolling as a listener to enjoy. I’m not ready to give up yet, but I’m close.

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