Her Alpha Viking
Odin's Bastards #1
By Sheryl Nantus
Releasing August 27th, 2018
Entangled Publishing
Former soldier Erik Harrison is a dead man walking. The sole survivor of an ambush, the guilt of losing his friends is crushing. He questions his own sanity, remembering the vision he saw as he was dying –– a battle angel come to collect his friends’ souls.
Valkyrie Brenna Lund doesn’t know why she failed in her duty to reap Erik’s soul on the battlefield. He deserves his place with the other mighty warriors in Valhalla, and if she wants to return home, she has to kill him.
There are consequences for betraying the gods. But the closer Brenna and Erik become, the more they both want to risk everything for a future together. If only an immortal hunter weren’t sent to kill them both.
In Her Alpha Viking (Odin's Bastards #1) by Sheryl Nantus, Former Soldier Erik Harrison survived the ambush that killed the rest of his team. However, it seems time is running out for him since his soul was supposed to be reaped and sent to Valhalla by Valkyrie Brenna Lund and she's back to accomplish the task. Yet, Eric isn't about to go down without a fight. Unfortunately, Brenna isn't the only one after him. When another Valkyrie is dispatched to take out both Brenna and Erik, will they survive the battle or will they lose their shot at happy ever after?
What an incredibly satisfying, fast-paced, highly entertaining read Ms. Nantus has delivered in this first book of her Odin's Bastards series where the main characters were absolutely engrossing; the dialogue was compelling and a total page turner because of all that Brenna and Erik go through on their journey to happy ever after; and the tough obstacles these face to be together, especially whether they'd survive the battle they face against an immortal being had me reading quickly, determined to discover if they would win.
The way this story started had me hooked immediately because of what the hero goes through since survivor's guilt is a powerful thing, especially after what he witnessed. How come the angel from his dreams did what she did for him? However, it was from the moment Erik and Brenna come face-to-face again after a year when he lost his team in the ambush where this story really gets interesting, as Brenna has a job to do and she's determined to do it. Will Brenna be able to kill Erik? Will Erik be able to get the truth out of Brenna about why she has to kill him?
With the main characters, I absolutely loved the hero and heroine due to the their back stories, their growing relationship and the journey they take to happy ever after. Both Brenna and Erik have been through so much and I could understand how much Valhalla and being a Valkyrie means to Brenna. It's the only life she's ever known and to have it stripped away is heartbreaking for her. Will she get back in the good graces of the one that made her a Valkyrie? Moreover, the heroine is resilient, courageous, feisty and I liked how determined she was to fight for the hero, even if -- in the end -- things don't work out the way they hope. Will Erik and Brenna survive the final battle? Will Brenna choose love over family? Certainly, I could understand why she's so conflicted when it comes to fighting the Valkyrie after them.
While the hero, I couldn't help but sympathize with his situation in him being the only one to survive the ambush that killed his team. Will he ever be able to move on and not feel the guilt he does that he survived? Furthermore, I loved the hero's resilience, his determination to protect Brenna, his courage to fight because he will not go down without a fight and I liked how determined he was to win Brenna over. Certainly, seeing the angel from his dreams is a dream come true, especially when he has so many questions for her. Will he believe the truth about who she really is and where she comes from?
Overall, Ms. Nantus has delivered an amazing read in this book where the chemistry between this couple was off-the-charts; the secondary characters were just as entertaining as the main ones; the romance was nicely-detailed and had me loving how Erik treats the heroine with such tenderness because she's so inexperienced; and the ending had me worried for the main characters because it's palpable they might not be able to win against the immortal being coming after them, but left me completely satisfied how things work out for this pair. Clearly, they have a guardian angel. However, it was the final chapter that wrapped this story up perfectly, because Erik and Brenna are so happy together and have found their calling when it comes putting their skills as a Former Soldier and Valkyrie to good use. I would recommend Her Alpha Viking by Sheryl Nantus, if you enjoy paranormal romance, stories revolving around Mythology and that have a good dose of romance; or books by authors Dana Marie Bell, Abigail Owen, Juliette Cross and Nina Croft.
Freyja spied into your heart and knew you wouldn't be able
to do it. She knew even before you did.
It should have been easy to take a tired, weary warrior.
Even one like Erik.
The question now was why? This was
the second time failing in her duty and she was no closer to finding out why.
She rubbed her face with her palm.
Brenna got to her feet and walked
toward the bathroom. Maybe there was some sort of clue about him, something she
could pick up. Her only memory of him before tonight had been almost a year ago
and under very different circumstances.
The door was ajar, the water
running. She edged close enough to look in.
The breath caught in her throat as
she gazed at Erik Harrison, his bare torso gleaming with sweat in the dim
light. The shredded remains of his shirt lay on the floor along with his jeans
and shoes, kicked to the side in a jumbled heap. He wore only a pair of tight
boxer briefs riding low on his hips.
It wasn't like she didn't know what
a naked man looked like. Berserkers donned a scrap of bear fur as armor as they
charged into battle, racing to a glorious death. Armored knights rode, encased
in metal charging onto the battlefield. Soldiers from all times and places sat
together in the Halls, fought every day and celebrated all night. She'd seen
them all.
Including Erik, in the cage only a
few hours ago, facing his opponent and going down to defeat wearing much the
same as he had on now.
But this... this was different.
He wasn't perfect, far from it.
Erik's chest was dotted with white puckered scars, some the size of nickels and
others as short slashes. As he turned she saw his back and other, older marks
showing previous battles. Yet it didn't seem to detract from the power coming
off him in waves, the silent strength evident with every move, every shift of
his body. The muscles were tight and well-defined, not an inch of fat on his
frame.
He winced as he pressed a damp cloth
to the mottled bruises over his left rib cage. Matty had focused in on that
during the fight and it showed. The swollen cut over his eye had stopped
bleeding and was already going down but it still warranted a cleaning and a
fresh bandage.
She couldn't take her eyes off him.
The toned muscles seemed to be calling to her urging her to soothe his distress
with her touch, offer to take the pain away somehow. Images flashed through her
mind of the couples she'd seen in the shadows of the Great Halls, lovers
stealing away for some private time before the never-ending battles started at
dawn.
Brenna clenched her fingers, digging
her nails into the skin to stay still. A flash of heat between her legs shocked
her and she pressed her knees together, cursing in silence.
What is this madness?
Tour Wide Giveaway
To celebrate the release of HER ALPHA VIKING by Sheryl Nantus, we’re giving away for a $25 Amazon gift card!
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Open internationally. One winner will be chosen to receive a $25 Amazon gift card. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Entangled Publishing. Giveaway ends 9/9/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Entangled Publishing will send one winning prize, Pure Textuality PR will deliver the other. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address. Duplicates will be deleted. CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
SHERYL NANTUS is an award-winning romance writer published by Entangled, St. Martin’s Press/Swerve, and Harlequin’s Carina Press.
When she’s not writing about hunky heroes, she is sipping tea, playing board games and writing haiku.
A total fangirl at heart, she met her husband through an online fanfiction community and currently lives in Pennsylvania.
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