Reviewer: Tracy
Vikings Untamed by Kate Pearce, Anne Marsh, Crystal Jordan, Zoe York, Holley Trent, Dayna Hart, Sela Carsen
Series: Not Your Mother's Vikings #2

Publication Date: September 22, 2015
Format: eARC
Genres: Science Fiction
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Series Rating:

Hide your virgins...AGAIN! The original Bad Boys are BACK and they're hotter than ever!

These are not your mother's Vikings. Seven biker, shifter, sci-fi and paranormal Viking erotic romances: modern, sexy versions of the original alpha male bad boy heroes.

 

Viking Claimed by Kate Pearce

Awakening from four thousand years encased in ice in an alien world is not how Viking warrior Aki Bloodaxe imagined his life would be. His twin Einarr is his only contact with his old world. Can Aki come to terms with his new existence, find bonded mates to help him survive, and learn that the power of love is beyond the limits of time?

Aki just wants to go home! He woke up after being frozen for four thousand years and with everything he once knew gone except for his twin brother who was also frozen. He is now on a different planet and he doesn’t like it too much at all. He’s frustrated with the sounds and sights of the big city and wants peace. He finds a bit of that peace when he meets Elli. He wants nothing more than to take her to bed but he finds there’s much more to it than simply telling a woman that you want her.

When Aki and his brother get a call to visit the Oracle he decides that he will ask the Oracle if Elli is his mate. Things have a way of happening and instead of a smooth trip to the Oracle Aki, his twin, Elli and many others find themselves shot out of the sky and running for their lives. Aki ends up finding that he has not one but two mates but he has to make sure that they all stay together, no matter what the Oracle says.

This was a very cute book. Aki was what you would have thought of as a typical Viking – kind of a caveman. Lol He was sweet, however, and I enjoyed his story – along with Elli’s and their other mates.

Bound by the Viking by Anne Marsh

Being a werewolf’s mate sucks, but Bera doesn’t have a choice–until a big, brutish, and thoroughly pissed-off Viking crashes into her cave and rescues her. He may be hot and their chemistry off-the-charts good, but she’s done with domination games and alpha males.

Colden isn’t a nice guy–and he likes it that way. His rules are simple. Hit hard, fight mean, and defend what’s his. But when the Viking berserker rescues a sexy little werewolf and her pack names Colden as her new mate, the rules change. She wants to bargain for her freedom. He wants to keep her. Forever.

Bera was going about her life a year ago when she was bitten by a werewolf, taken to Greenland and then regularly beaten. Her “mate” even offered her up to a Viking at one point – luckily he declined. When he shows up in the caves that the werewolves are staying Bera recognizes him immediately and thinks that maybe he can help her escape.

Colden was offered Bera’s “services” and he declined. That didn’t mean that he didn’t want her but he’s not into sharing. When he finds her getting beaten he beats down on her mate and then claims her for himself. Bera doesn’t understand at the time that Colen is serious and he’s not about to help her escape if it means he’ll lose her as well.

This was a decent story but I definitely felt like I was coming into a story that was already in play. This short story had good elements to it but I really didn’t see it as a stand-alone story. Unfortunately that took a bit of the enjoyment out of it even though I really liked both Bera and Colden.

Viking Desire by Crystal Jordan

Viking god of thunder and bear-shifter Thor has been married to earth goddess Sif for millennia, but tragedy and betrayal tore them apart long ago. Now husband and wife in name only, they avoid each other as often as possible.

Too bad they’re still in love–though they’d never admit it.

But ancient prophecies are beginning to turn against them, leaving them no more room for misgivings. The apocalypse is coming, and unless they work together, they don’t stand a chance against their enemies.

Can they learn to trust again, or will the end of the world consume them both?

Sif and Thor have been married for thousands of years. They were once very much in love but they started living separate lives after Loki announced at one point that he had slept with Sif. Thor can’t manage to stay away from Sif altogether, however, and is in the same location when Giants invade and attack Sif. Thor is runs to save her but Sif saves herself. When they band together to try and figure out Ragnarök, the apocalypse where it is foretold that Thor will die, they learn some interesting facts about each other that have them coming back together.

I really liked this story in that I love Thor and seeing him with Sif was perfect. I liked how the author made it about them getting back together and learning truths from each other – not just sex. I’d definitely be interested to read more in this series.

A Viking’s Bride by Zoe York

When Aldric Gunter shows up and offers Navena Johnson an easy way off the prison planet she’s stuck on, the answer should be an easy yes. But when the next thing she needs to say is “I do”, the choice gets more complicated, because the Viking warrior wants a high price for the marriage of convenience–he wants her heart.

Aldric had known Navena for two years and had been in love with her almost the entire time. He loved sparring with her but she didn’t live on his world and they never spent a long time together – with long times in between. When Aldric finds out that she is on a prison planet he starts calling in favors to try and get her out.

Aldric manages to get her off but the only way to do it was to buy her as a bride. They’re now married and Navena’s pissed. She’s even more unhappy when she finds out the Federal government got her crew out of prison but left her there. They end up spending time in space together and falling in love but soon the people that Aldric called favors from are coming to get favors of their own.

Aldric and Navena’s story was a cute one…until it got weird. The romance itself was good but this was obviously part of a larger story arc and it was obvious the author was trying to get the reader hooked by not answering questions and creating scenarios that are just too strange and can’t be explained right then. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that at all. We’re never told why the federal government didn’t pick up Navena which I found really frustrating. Did they think she was dead? Did they think it was a good way to get rid of her? IDK but that drove me batty – the not knowing. While I found the story interesting I can’t say I was interested enough to read more in the future.

Viking’s Pride by Holley Trent

When Will Valle returns to the Viking community of Norseton, he not only offers black sheep Erin Petersen the possibility of a exciting job in spite of her weak psychic gifts, but a chance to explore the world outside the isolated community. In the midst of the sexual awakening her brooding geek ignites, Erin learns that her “weirdness” might exist for a sinister reason. She’s prepared to confront it with Will’s help, but the revelations they uncover might shake the Afótama clan to its core.

Will knows that Erin is his mate and will do anything to make her see that. They grew up on the same street so he uses that link to take her out so that she can get to know him. When they finally do mate Will is confused about Erin’s lack of psychic ability. When they think about it they find that maybe she needs some hard truths from her parents – if they are her parents at all.

While I found this story interesting it dragged a little bit for me. I liked Will and Erin and I definitely liked them together so that was a plus. For such a short story they spent a long time getting to know each other which was good but didn’t really move the story that far along and then when the big conflict came at the end it almost felt rushed. I just wanted a more balanced story, I guess. What I got was interesting, however, so I may read more in the series in the future.

The Wild Fen by Dayna Hart

Magic binds Fen to protect Thora, the very sexy daughter of a god who has no idea who her father is or the danger she’s in. Magic does not account for how damned much he wants her in his bed–or anywhere else he can have her.

Thora absolutely should not get involved with her boss’s brother. But when he’s assigned as her bodyguard, she can’t avoid–or resist–him. Trusting him isn’t part of the bargain.

But when she comes into her powers, trusting him might be the only way to save them both.

It’s 1938 and Thora works for Hela and together they run a male revue called Les Belles Folies. Thora interviews and auditions dancers and when one named Fen walks in she’s hooked in many, many ways. She soon finds out that Fen is Hela’s brother but that doesn’t stop them from basically moving in together when Hela is away. Thora is falling for Fen but she’s been hurt by men before and has serious trust issues. When she finds out that Fen liked to her about her father and her heritage she may end up throwing away the best thing to ever happen to her.

I found this story to be very sweet. There was a lot of sex, sure, but the way that Ms. Hart Thora and Fen together was very touching and I loved it. The end was a bit rushed but this was still one of my favorites of the book.

A Most Wanted Viking by Sela Carsen

A spy and a werewolf walk into a firefight…

Andrew Wyatt thinks all he has to do is bring a scientist back into the fold. He doesn’t count on a sizzling hot alien wolf shifter getting in his way, and getting under his skin.

The last thing Ule tärEinar needs is a tall blond spy interfering with her life. She may not trust Andrew, but that doesn’t stop the sparks from flying around them.

Once they do learn to trust, they’ll need each other to survive an invasion that could draw their two allied cultures into a war neither can afford.

Andrew is a spy and is charged with kidnapping a scientist and bringing her back to his superiors. He doesn’t count on getting shot at by aliens and then ending up in a werewolf compound falling in love with a female werewolf. He finds that maybe his priorities have been a bit screwed up in the past but he’ll soon rectify that.

This definitely had an other-worldly vibe to it. In this world the earth had been at war with an alien race and had been helped by two other alien races to win. Having aliens walk the streets of a city was completely common. Andrew ends up with Ule – an alien werewolf type being – and finds out that she’s his mate. He has a lot of explaining to do and figuring out what means more to him in his life. Good story – a little more world-building might have been nice but I liked what the author showed us. The romance was sweet and I loved Andrew’s turn around in the end.

The only issue that I had with this story is that I couldn’t find the correlation between it and Vikings but it was still good.

In the end I found good things about all of the Viking stories in this book. It was entertaining and had both action and humor in it.

Rating: 4 out of 5