A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

A Fake Inked in Blood
Series: Saga of the Unfated
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Check it Out: Goodreads

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.

I was so excited to start this after seeing some of the early reviews. While I enjoyed the start, it fizzled out around 40%, and by the end, I was left annoyed. The downfall for me was the ever long journey they were on along with how Freya’s character started to act.

One thing I love reading about is female rage. Our main character had the setup to be so powerful and full of rage and I couldn’t wait to see her act on all of it. Freya had loyalties to people that didn’t deserve any of it. Including her so called family. They all benefited from her sacrifices and I don’t understand how even knowing that, she continued to fight for them. For someone who was constantly controlled by men, I wanted her to thrive and see her realize her own potential.

As far as the romance went, it was fine. I didn’t really understand how they fell in love. The majority of this book stems from their lust for each other. Bjorn saying he would follow Freya into Valhalla was such a stretch and I didn’t understand it.

As I spoke of earlier, there is a journey here. I for one am not a fan of books that most of it is over a journey somewhere. It caused such a lull in the middle part of the book. Also, I saw that ending come from a mile away.

All in all, I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would and that sucks. I see there will be more after this, but I honestly don’t see myself picking them up.

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