The Viking’s Chosen

by Quinn Loftis

*** (3 out of 5)

Amazon|Goodreads

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I am super confused.  Not with the book, but with how I feel about the book.  I don’t know what I think of it.  I loved some aspects and hated others.  More than that, I think it was just frustrating to read this book.  It has so much potential, but it just didn’t meet the mark.

Ok lets start with the good:

1) The Characters were amazing!

I loved the characters.  They were great! The antagonist was truly evil and crazy, but not unbelievably so.  The Heroine was strong and opinionated.  The Hero was smart, strong and sexy.  Even the side characters were well developed.  I loved Allete’s sister Dayna.  She was my favorite.  The lesser side characters like Allete’s parents also had their own distinct personalities.

2) The Relationships were believable.

There was a little bit of insta-love but that is to be expected in romance novels like this one.  Other than that the relationships were very realistic.  Allete and her sisters were real siblings.  Allete’s parents truly cared for their daughters. Torben’s comrade’s respected him but still were able to joke with him because they were friends.  There was all types of different relationships portrayed.

3) The premise was great

For starters who doesn’t like Vikings? And Princesses? Plus add in a touch of magic and a bunch of conflict and you’ve got yourself a page turner.  I really liked the book’s premise.  Girl is betrothed to evil man.  Boy is prophesized to save girl and fall in love. Girl and Boy fall in love but have a lot of obstacles to overcome before they can be together. It should have been great!

You may be wondering, if I loved the characters and the relationships and the premise so much, why didn’t I like the book overall? Good Question!

Lets get on to the bad:

1) Parts of the story were too slow.

There was a LOT of build up.  There were parts where it seemed 20 pages would go by and nothing would happen.  I didn’t feel these parts were necessary for the character or plot development.  They were just extra.  I didn’t mind reading these parts, but I feel that they prevented a lot of important stuff from happening.

2) There is no conclusion

All throughout the book there are prophecies predicting lots of fighting, but the fighting never actually happens.  I want the fighting and I want to know the outcome (because the prophecies just say what will happen if each side were to win, they don’t say who will win)  It felt like there was too much fluff and not enough nitty gritty action.  It seems that all the fighting will happen in the second book, but it was a weird way to write a book.

3) Cliffhanger

In general I don’t like cliffhangers.  I like the story tied up with no loose ends.  But I understand that the use of cliffhangers is important to keep readers intrigued.  But this wasn’t really a cliffhanger as it was an incomplete story.  I can’t stand it when books don’t end but just continue into the next book.  Especially like this one that nothing really happens.

4) Controlling men

The antagonist is evil, and I am fine with that.  He is creepy and super controlling.  He wants a wife that will submit to his every whim and basically be arm candy as well.  This is fine.  I am glad that those traits are portrayed as evil.  The issue I have is that the hero is also very possessive.  Sometimes this is great.  I love strong men and sometimes it is super hot when they are possessive.  Alone, his actions would not have bothered me, but in contrast to the antagonist’s they were not good.  For example the antagonist molests and sexually assaults the Heroine and afterward she has a complete breakdown (which I thought was written very well) The Hero does a great job of calming her down but then he kisses her and pretty much tells her that he will protect her because she is his and he protects what is his.  And the worst part is she is okay with it.  I am pretty sure if you have one man assaulting you and trying to control you, you don’t want any man trying to control you, even if it is the love of your life.  He needs to protect her because he lovers her not because she is his.  Does that make any sense?

5) Too many love stories

In most romance series, each book follows one couple as they fall in love.  Each story gets its own book.  But not this one.  All three sisters have romances, but because the book is mostly about Allete, her story takes precedence.  I would rather have a book dedicated to each sister’s story.  That way each book is its own story and we don’t get into issues 1,2,&3 above.  Also Lizze’s story is completely unknown to us and it seems super important!

So in conclusion, I really want to know what happens to the characters and how the story ends, but I am super frustrated with how the book was written.  I think it would be better if I could read the next book, but this one just came out so I have a feeling it will be a while.