Elsker by S.T. Bend

Amazon/Barnes&Noble/Goodreads

Published by: S.T. Bende

Review by: Dani Hoots

Kristia Tostenson prefers Earl Grey to Grey Goose and book clubs to nightclubs. But when she transfers from her one-stoplight Oregon town to Cardiff University in Wales, she falls in love with Ull Myhr. Her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. His cashmere sweaters and old world charm mask a warrior who’s spent an eternity fighting for his very existence. Ull is an honest-to-goodness Norse god — an immortal assassin fated to die at Ragnarok, the battle destined to destroy Asgard and Earth. On top of being marked for death, Asgardian law prohibits Ull from tying his fate to a mortal. No matter what she feels for Ull, Kristia knows she’s the one thing he can never have.

With Ragnarok on the horizon and a lunatic haunting her dreams, Kristia has to find a way to convince Ull that breaking the rules is the only way to survive; that defying the order he’s sworn to uphold is their only chance to be together. And when someone starts asking the wrong questions, Kristia realizes the crazy visions she’s had all her life might be the key to saving their realms… even if they end up costing her her life.

*This book is free on Kindle and Nook*

I have read a few Norse Mythology books (and am working on a comic based on Norse mythology) and I found this book to be quite enjoyable. It felt pretty true to Norse Mythology, other than Ragnarok. I was lead to believe that Ragnarok hasn’t happened but in this book records show for human mythology that it had (but in reality it hadn’t). I could be mistaken though and it didn’t make me not like the book or anything. It just confused me a little bit.

I love the main character Kristia. She was smart, witty, and easy to identify with. I come from a small Oregon town so I was immediately in love with this book, as I wanted to go to school in Scotland (but unfortunately didn’t). I love traveling to the UK though and have been able to visit and can imagine the college and life there perfectly with Bende’s descriptions.

Ull is also a really good character. He isn’t overly alpha like a lot of mythology stories have the main character be. He was more down to Earth (put intended) and easy to fall in love with. I had just finished watching the anime Kamigami no Asobi and it made it all the more fun. Ull could have totally been in that anime.

All in all I loved this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mythology romance. The only problem I had with it was that arguing Kristia and Ull had about their fate. I understood that they were both stubborn but it was a tiny bit over dramatic. Not as dramatic as a lot of other books have done it, and it wasn’t the entire book, but I was starting to get a little irritated at them.

Also, it’s free on Kindle and Nook! So go download it now!

Rating: 4.5/5