Tag: Norse & Vikings mythology romance fantasy

Review: Norse Code (Vikings of Virginia #1) by S.E.Babin

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Babin is taking Norse mythology and weaving it into a series about a goddess’s journey through a long term marriage of domesticated abuse, neglect, and emotional abandonment to one of recovery, healing and acceptance. 

It’s a terrific take on Odin, Freya and exactly how the women were perceived and treated in Asgard by Odin and those loyal to him. 

It begins with Freya, after thousands of years of neglect and abuse, finally done with Odin’s philandering, humiliation of her and her status as the Queen. She’s leaving. 

This is extremely current topic and it’s Babin’s treatment of such an emotionally sensitive subject that’s so successful. With Freya as the main character leading the way to creating change for herself and her people, the story is one of powerful stories and compelling elements. 

There’s no immediate salve for the pain, anger or damage that Freya has experienced for centuries. It’s emotional trauma she needs to overcome and work through herself. 

And the life she’s trying to build comes with additional challenges, huge demands on her new life and that includes mystery and murder. 

With a settlement in Virginia, Loki by her side and host of intriguing characters surrounding her, Freya’s emotional new journey begins with a tremendous amount of suspense and drama.

I didn’t put it down until after it was finished. 

A note to consider, I’ve seen other posts about this series where people have said that it’s been years since the last update. Four to be exact. Babin is a prolific author and she’s currently writing a series I’m reading right now.  

Hopefully she’ll return to this universe soon and publish a finale for Freya and crew. 

Vikings of Virginia (incomplete at 4 books to date):

Norse Code #1

Highway to Hel #2

Just Being Loki #3

Just An Odinary Day #4

Buy link

 Book 1 of 4: Vikings of Virginia 

Blurb 

Freya is over Odin’s shenanigans. After finding yet another blond in her bedchambers, she makes a choice that shakes the foundation of her entire pantheon.

Literally.

‘Cuz she blows up the palace.

When she holds a meeting in the town square and offers safe haven to Asgardians who wish to defect, Freya creates a retirement community in the countryside of Virginia and becomes the owner of a brand new pub. Away from the annoying antics of her husband, Freya is content for the first time she can remember. Of course, this is when disaster strikes. 

Happy serving drinks to the townsfolk, Freya is completely unprepared for the first true crime to hit her people in centuries. Something magical and unwelcome has sought haven in her new town and is preying on her people. Loki thinks it’s Ragnarok. Odin thinks it’s karma.

Freya just thinks it’s a crock.

But she’s the only one who’s up to the challenge of finding the threat and eliminating it before her new settlement is over before it’s truly begun. 

For fans of The Goddess Chronicles and those who love paranormal shenanigans, welcome to a new world full of frothy beer, bad puns, and laugh out loud mystery antics!

Publication date

September 24, 2018

Language

‎English

Print length

168 pages

Book 1 of 4

Vikings of Virginia

Review:  Heart of Chaos (Chaosborn Book 1) by Madeleine Eliot

Rating: 4.75✨⭐️

As a reader who discovered dragons and dragonriders by way of Anne McCaffrey’s magical Dragonriders of Pern series, I’ve been on a never ending journey to find more stories to fall in love with.  New authors who have just as much imaginative pull and creative depth as those tales of Pern, those dragons , their Weyrs , and of course, Lessa, the young woman who became the first dragonrider I fell in love with. 

Let’s be honest, dragons will always rock!

Nothing can capture me , on every level, like a beautifully imagined dragon. Or dragon shifter. Or the duo-spirit dragon shifter that Madeleine Eliot has created for her Chaosborn series. Stunning work. 

I fell hard for this series in one book. 

 Thankfully, there’s no academy or school format here. There’s a rescue of a young woman who has the ability to bond with a dragon. 

But then how the dragons bond differs wildly from the other books from there. 

It’s mystery upon mystery. The dragons are powerfully portrayed, as are the Drage they bond with.   There is a darkness that is hidden and a threat to both dragons and earthly realm. That’s just begun to be explored. 

In fact much of this is history foundation being laid down, a lot of it based on Norse mythology which is fascinating. 

And even more moving and emotional, it’s Elsa’s life from abused indentured slave to bonded Drage. That’s a thrilling story and it’s one I will absolutely reread every so often. Especially before the next novel comes out. 

Very imaginative, extremely engaging characters and fascinating stories. 

A wonderful find and winner. 

Cover clipart by Viktoriia Ihnatovets @ArtCreationsDesign 

Map design by Lindsey Staton

Chaosborn trilogy:

Heart of Chaos #1

Soul of Fire #2 – Dec 12,2025

Buy link 

        Heart of Chaos (Chaosborn Book 1)

    

Blurb 

To master Chaos, she must first survive it.

Eisa’s life is one of pain and cruelty. Living in servitude, she grapples daily with an illness for which there is no cure and abuse at the hands of the man who has owned her since she was a child.

When Arik, the silver-eyed second-in-command of the king’s dragon-bonded warriors, makes her a deal she can’t refuse, Eisa finds herself hurtling toward a destiny she never would have chosen.

Desperate to free her loved ones, Eisa agrees to travel to the desolate wasteland in the south, to bond a dragon to her soul, and to become one of the legendary Drage.

As long as the Chaos doesn’t kill her first.

Heart of Chaos is the first book in the Chaosborn trilogy, an adult romantasy filled with dragon shifters, Norse lore, and spicy romance.

  • Publication date: May 1, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 399 pages
  • Book 1 of 2: Chaosborn