Thank you to Delrey and Danielle L Jensen for gifting me a digital copy of A Fate Inked In Blood in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Danielle L. Jensen has been a must-read author since I first read The Bridge Kingdom in 2020. I couldn't wait to get my hands on A Fate Inked In Blood because it was inspired by Norse Mythology and a new fantasy world from Danielle L. Jensen's imagination.

The writing is evocative and engrossing – I couldn't stop turning the pages, and my intentions to complete the Fairyloot daily read-along chapters for this book went out the window on day one. Jensen's written an evocativ, engrossing Viking epic featuring a gripping, action-packed plot of political intrigue, warring nations, a magical prophecy, forbidden love, and interfering Norse gods. The storytelling has packed everything you could want from an epic fantasy tale with high stakes for the Gods and human kingdoms at the heart of A Fate Inked In Blood. The world-building uses Viking history and Norse lore to create a unique world and fantastic magical elements for the Gods to favour their children with their powers. The cherry on top is Jensen's ability to make these wonderful, complicated fictional characters incredibly human to the reader, coming alive off the page despite their godly powers.

The forbidden chemistry between Freya and Bjorn is scorching – these two are destined upon first sight to go up in flames (and what a first sight!). A Fate Inked In Blood is much spicier than the Bridge Kingdom. The forbidden romance was fuelled by some very understandable lusting (Bjorn is a magnificent specimen of the male gender) and snappy, snarky exchanges between Bjorn and Freya that lit up the page. It was never said in the text, but I knew other characters in the background were making bets when these two would fall into bed, probably just not expecting them to catch feelings for each other.

If Jenson has a trademark, it should be writing main male characters who leave us weak at our knees and an aggressive, deadly female main character who will sooner kill you than trust you. Freya is no different – a tough, stubborn woman struggling to belong as a simple fisherman's wife, hiding her gods-blessed powers and dreaming of being a fearsome shield maiden. She's made mistakes along her journey through recklessness and pride, but I found her incredibly relatable and learning what she can do with her powers. Jensen perfected the art of crafting a charismatic, dangerous, and powerful man who is a force to be reckoned with in her stories. If you mess with their ladies, best run, as you will die. Speaking of 'touch her and die' vibes, Bjorn is the king of them, and you will rue the day you cross the line with this protective Viking god-touched warrior.

An incredible, immersive, action-packed romantasy full of Viking vibes, ancient gods, and a colourful Norse warrior society with plenty of fierce battles. I couldn't put this book down and read it in one night. Be prepared for a book hangover and be aware this is the first part of a duology; the sequel, A Curse Carved In Bone, isn't out until May 2025. Someone pass the Viking drinking horn – I need strong mead and a sob to get me through until next year!

An interesting story that has a unique magic system that involves gods. The character interaction developed the story well and allowed us insight into the world and it's magic system. A series I am definitely going to continue.

I absolutely loved this, bjorn had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I am absolutely obsessed with both of them. I will officially read anything Danielle l Jenson writes

Nice and interesting new adult book by this amazing author! Something more could have been done to invest more the reader's emotions and interests in some parts, but overall a great read and an interesting take on norse mythology

A Fate Inked in Blood is an enthralling epic that masterfully combines rich world-building with a gripping plot.
the intricate political intrigue and unexpected twists keep the narrative compelling from start to finish.

It was okay, I think it was over hyped. I had been really looking forward to this book.

I had higher expectations of Freya and the way she spent the whole book directionless and meek left me feeling disappointed. I hope she grows as a character.

The ending felt super rushed and was basically a massive info dump. It made parts of the plot seem super stupid.

It took me a while to get into this book, which was a little disappointing since I absolutely love The Bridge Kingdom series. However, the last 100 pages managed to caption my attention! I did predict some of the twists, but they were well written nonetheless, and I'm still planning on continuing the series once the next book is released.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Randomhouse UK and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

This was a really refreshing read. A lot of books are a bit samey at the moment re characters, tropes and magic systems but a Norse inspired book is something that isn’t currently an overused basis for fantasy and I really enjoyed that.

The twist was pretty obvious, but I still enjoyed it. I’m keen to see how this all progresses in the next book as a lot happened at the end, so there is a lot to unpack for the next book.

I think this might be my first viking fantasy and i'm pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. The author makes the world very absorbing and yet still understandable for those new to the genre and the norse mythology in particular. I know a lot of people steer clear of myth based fantasies if they aren't in the know, and perhaps I would have even in some situations, but this was a great introduction.
The main character is a strong one, not the type that is weak and magically comes into battle prowess through a quick instruction with a hot teacher. She has grit and determination, she is flawed and her motivations aren't always ones that you will agree with but make sense none the less. She has great banter with the forbidden love interest too.
I really enjoyed seeing how magic manifested itself and was intertwined within the politics of this world, whilst I would consider it romantasy there's plenty more to it to get your teeth sunk into. Not only are the stakes high but you find yourself teetering on the borders of morality, which i think is often shyed away from when protagonists are women.
Unfortunately I did see the big plot twist coming from very early on in the book, although not in the exact detail that it was revealed. This is not however necessarily a flaw in the book because I tend to do this a lot. If i had been more surprised however, it could have got a higher rating, which is encouraging to me as i will be looking forward to the next book in the series to see where it takes us.
If nothing else this book gave me the opportunity to try out an author I had heard about for a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed her work. As such its safe to say I will be exploring her backlist as I wait for the rest of this series.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book - the Viking inspired-story, the chosen one in form of a heroine who is unable to choose her one fate, and the forbbiden romance.

Freya's story was intriguing, and at the same heartbreaking since everything that happened to her wasn't her choice. Bjorn is for sure a dreamy hero, with stunning looks and a blessing from a God of War. But sadly that was all that these characters were - we didn't get any insight into who they are other then their powers. While the story was enjoyable, the book was ruined by the ending - it totally didn't fit the story, and for me it made no sense. The plot twists at the end were there only for the shock value, and personally I didn't like it.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! A combination of a Norse-style world with warring nations and children of gods, this book followed Freya, our charismatic protagonist, as she escapes her horrible husband only to be forced to marry another, when her heart may lie elsewhere. I loved the hints of magic and mythology throughout and loved reading about Freya’s exploits. I will be very interested in reading any further books in this series.

Sadly, this book fell short for me. It was my second most anticipated release of the year, a fantasy Viking-inspired book by an author I already love? Yes please! However, it felt very amateur and I just couldn’t push through to complete it.

I’m going to be honest, I’m teetering between giving this a 3 or a 3.5 and still haven’t quite decided which to go with!

This review has been a long time coming, but it’s been so difficult for me to write because I LOVE Danielle’s books and I was really looking forward to AFIIB, but it kind of let me down a little bit. Perhaps my expectations were a little bit too high, especially considering how much I ADORED Bridge Kingdom idk. Either way, this ended up falling a little flat for me.

As always, I did find the writing evocative and vivid, it really puts you there in the scene and made it so easy to immerse yourself into the world to an extent. I also found the magic system highly intriguing with the gods and the powers Freya and some of the others had. There’s some good twists and turns to the plot, a decent amount of action as there’s plenty of battle scenes and there’s also the mystery of the prophecy and the traitor in their midst to keep you intrigued!

However, I do feel like the world building perhaps wasn’t as in depth as it could have been and neither was the plot. I don’t generally like comparing different works from the same author but I feel like this just wasn’t quite as engaging as Bridge Kingdom and I feel like it lacked structure and ended up meandering around a little before getting back on course. I’m used to binge reading Danielle’s books and I did binge read this…but it was in stops and starts.

I was hooked from the beginning for the first chunk of the book but then things kind of tapered off at the mid-point and I kept putting the book down and then struggling to pick it back up again, not just for days but weeks sometimes. Like, I wanted to know what would happen next but not badly enough to pick it back up when the pace had slowed down, the plot seemed to be meandering around and things turned quite repetitive for a time. Not to mention that Freya was starting to irk me, tbh.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved her at the start. She’s a badass and I loved her bravery as well as the banter between her and Bjorn, but somewhere along the way I just started to get frustrated. I understand that her behaviour has a point/reason to it and she’s not just being a pain for no reason but that didn’t make her any less frustrating when she seems to lack basic critical thinking skills and seemed to wildly and inconsistently veer between emotions.

Like, the female chieftain whose name escapes me. Freya liked her well enough, but I didn’t feel the connection or her bond with her was strong enough for Freya to go full berserker at one point like Freya’s emotions really were a rollercoaster and she went from being badass if not a little naive to flying off the handle at every little thing and I just felt her thought process and emotions for some things made little sense/weren’t consistent.

Idk, maybe that was the point considering her journey and her powers but I just got so frustrated with her and even Bjorn to an extent because their decision making wasn’t the best, shall we say and then combined with the meandering plot and slow pace…I found it hard to get through the main chunk of the book which I wasn’t expecting, like I’ve easily binged my way through Danielle’s other books but I just struggled with this one.

I also found the side characters weren’t particularly memorable, probably because most if not all of them weren’t particularly likeable. I’m hoping that’ll change with the sequel because some intriguing characters were introduced, but we’ll see!

ANYWAY, the romance was okay. It was kind of lust at first sight which can go either way for me depending on how well it’s done. In this case, I feel like there was a decent amount of tension between them and some brilliant scenes, even if I did wish for a little more depth at times!

While there are some brilliant twists, an intriguing magic system and some top tier tropes deployed in AFIIB, ultimately I found that this fell a little flat due to a lack of depth in places, a slow and meandering plot and a frustrating mc even if it was all in the name of character development and plot! I’m a little disappointed, but I’m intrigued enough by the twist at the end to venture into book two!

Thank you for the review copy!

3.25⭐️

I'll start this off by saying romantasy and 'spicy' books aren't my usual choice, so I understand that readers who enjoy those will like this more than I did.

There are a lot of ideas in this that I enjoyed, such as the idea of fate and how it affects the children of the gods, as well as the use of Norse mythology. However, it did feel like it was mostly about Freya lusting after Bjorn and I would have preferred more worldbuilding and plot - for a large chunk of this book, it feels like nothing really happens.

Things really ramp up in the last 20% or so and I enjoyed that, but ultimately it came in far too late for me. I did like the worldbuilding and plot elements that are there, I just wish there was more. I'll be keeping an eye on when the second book is released, but I'm not 100% sure I'll read it.

I would definitely still recommend this to romantasy fans!

Norse mythology combined with a brilliant protagonist, a plot that is both fantastical and yet grounded in real emotional truth, and threats that only escalate as one turns the pages? Brilliant. When is book 2!

At what point I missed the 400 pages of this book... I have no idea.

A fate inked in blood is a book that I had been reading for several months, and when I started it I asked myself why I hadn't read it before. The truth is that it is a gem that I hope many people discover.

From the plot to the characters and the background that each of them has, I think that the story closes very well in many parts and that it leaves us waiting in many others. When is the second book coming out? I need it.

Yes, I felt that at one point it became a bit repetitive and that the protagonist, Freya, was in a loop of constantly repeating the same mistakes and couldn't get out of them. Beyond this, I liked that there was growth in her character, a gradual and not at all rushed evolution that makes one really appreciate how much the protagonist learned and reflected throughout the story.

I felt the romance was correct, nothing rushed and with several things to clarify and discover in the next book. I feel that it came out of the cliché (although it has some but they are well placed and well used), and that it shows us a tragic story, full of personal growth and discovery, romance and fantasy.

Thank you very much Random House UK, Cornerstone for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Fate inked in blood follows Freya, a feisty, kick-ass FMC who, selfless to a fault, lives her life for the benefit of others, putting her own desires aside. However, the quite life she is expected to live is perhaps not what the gods have in store for her.

Freya was married off to a man in her village who possessed a drop of god’s blood to ensure her families position and safety. However, this is not the life she wanted for herself, forced to gut fish and bed a man who she detests, Freya longs for the glory of battle and to earn her place in Valhalla. Yet, she stays, all the while keeping never sharing her greatest secret with anyone.

However, it is fate that has her secret revealed, for it is foretold that the power the goddess Hlin has gifted her as a shieldmaiden which will unite Skaland under one ruler who controls her fate. It is the ambitious Jarl Snorri that sees himself as this future king, and Freya’s waste of a husband happily trades her secret for gold, selling her into a new marriage she has no control over. Snorri intends to exploit his union to Freya to instil fear and loyalty in people, using her power for his own means.

With her secret revealed death seems to follow her, with people hunting her and seeking her death to prevent the prophecy, as well as those she cares about being used as leverage to ensure she conforms to expectation. However, things are never that easy, and Freya’s emotions often get the best of her and have her fighting temptation, desire and fury, especially when it comes to a particular frustrating, muscled, axe wielding man who is forbidden to her.

Overall, this is a fantastic romantasy with high stakes, good worldbuilding, a steamy slow burn, and fantastic magical elements. With the children of gods being able to change their fate this story always feels like it is at a precipice, ready to tip at any point. While Freya dreamed of battle, she finds that the truth of war is not what she had believed, and perhaps the same could be said about her magic.

FREYA lives a simple - yet unfulfilling and unhappy - life as a fishmonger’s wife. However, she hides a deep secret: she was blessed with the blood of Hlin, the norse goddess of protection, which grants her the magical ability to repel any attack.

It was prophesised that her magic would unite Skaland under the rule of the one who controls Freya’s fate. After her abusive husband barter’s her and her secret to a fanatical jarl, Freya quickly realises why her parents forced her to keep her magic a secret - not only are people out to kill her but the greed of those who wish to use her power leads to the death of many innocents. To ensure Freya obeys him Snorri, the jarl, has threatened to kill her family, holding them hostage.

This book is perfect for anyone who is looking for a simple fantasy. There is no overwhelming world-building, and even if you have no knowledge of Norse Mythology, the magic system in the story is easy to follow. This series will be a treat for anyone who loves mythology. Freya and her protector, Bjorn, the eldest son of Snorri, are both endearing.

Flawed, with tragic pasts, you can’t help but root for them when they are brave and loyal. Freya, although sometimes frustrating, is selfless to a fault.

The biggest letdown for me was the inconsistencies - not only in the storyline, the character’s behavior and the terminology - where some very modern words made an appearance. The romance also felt a bit forced and lascivious. A slow and chaste enemies-to-lovers trope would have come across more believable and captivating.

Unfortunately, I also found the story a little predictable. Overall it’s a quick, laid-back ‘romantasy’. Perfect for Sarah J Mass fans

A Fate Inked in Blood became one of my favourite romantasy books. Simply because the romance does not overwhelm the world-building and plot. In this book, we are given an exciting story, lots of action, politics and intrigues, fascinating characters and swoon worthy romance. I loved the Viking setting, the use of folklore and the magic added by the author. In this world, some humans posses a drop of blood of one of the Viking gods, giving them special abilities. For Freya it means that even more men try to control her life. I loved reading her point of view, as her life was ruled by others, but she retained her individual personality and dreams. With the way the novel progressed and finished, I cannot wait for the second book in this series.

This was my first book by Danielle L. Jensen but it most certainly won’t be my last!

The world building was so easy to follow & set up the story based on Nordic Mythology. Whilst I felt the plot slowed at times, when the action hit- it hit hard.

I’m a fan of the FMC Freya, she’s a total bad-a in a male dominating world & handles the predicaments she finds herself in with flare.

The tension & chemistry was spot on. And the spice did not disappoint. Björn . . . Well 🔥

Now let’s talking about that ending (spoiler free!) . . . The ending left me reeling & has guaranteed I dive into book two