gwensalir

Title: Across The North Sea
Author: Sofia Hahn
Published Date: 1st September 2021
Page Count: 205
ASIN: B08XPXPTQ9
Price: FREE
Reviewer: Gwendoline SK Terry (27th October 2023)

Blurb
When the Frankish sisters Ishild and Odilia are stolen away to the North by savage Norsemen, they must each adapt to survive in such a brutish, unforgiving land, so far from home.

Odilia’s Story:
After the attack on her home, Frankish noblewoman Odilia is taken hostage by a Viking warrior with unknown motivations. She has never seen a Viking before, let alone one from the African continent; with his umber-colored skin and black, textured locs, he stands apart from the other Northerners– in more ways than just appearance.

When Odilia is saved from becoming the concubine of another Viking, and dangerous forces require her to hunker down in hiding at Svendsholm, the dark Viking swears his fealty to her; as she spends the months at Torsten’s homestead, learning the ways of the Northerners, Odilia comes to know more and more about her strange protector… and discovers that Torsten is a more honorable and noble man than she had initially believed. The sort of man whom she had always hoped she would be fortuitous enough to have as her husband someday.

Having suffered the tragedy of losing his family once before, Torsten has no desire to ever marry; as Odilia withers from the weight of her increasingly unrequited love for her savior, she wonders if she can possibly show Torsten that taking a chance on love– even at the risk of a lifetime of hardship– is worth everything.

Ishild’s Story:
During her attempt to flee from the raid on her home, as the city around her burns to ash, the eldest daughter of Adalbehrt of the Franks stumbles across a wounded Norseman; against her better judgement, Ishild saves his life– a mistake that leads to her ultimate capture and subsequent imprisonment in the North.

As a prisoner of the Danes and the promised bride of their chieftain, rumors quickly circulate that Ishild is a witch, forcing her to remain locked away and isolated from the rest of the village. Having been married once before, to a monster of a man, Ishild would rather die than become a bride again. With each day that her wedding to the chieftain draws nearer, she finds herself increasingly helpless, until a series of odd circumstances lead her to the very same Viking whose life she had saved; willing to repay his debt to his brother’s captive, Brandr promises to teach Ishild to fight, meeting clandestinely beneath the chieftain’s own nose, so that she may fight her captors and win her freedom.

When she learns of Brandr’s terrible secret, Ishild must choose between her romantic feelings for the dishonourable Viking, or her plan to save herself– before it is too late for either of them.

*Told in alternating POVs, both sisters’ stories are intertwined in a duet throughout the novel; while they are intended to be read straight through and all at once, they can also be read separately by skipping chapters. Ishild’s Story is told in the even-numbered chapters, while Odilia’s Story has all of the odd-numbered chapters.

**Readers take note: This book contains violence, death, blood, mature scenes, and attempted, on-page assault (including by one of the mains). More or less what you would expect from a Viking/historical romance.

Review
I want to start by pointing out that I really did enjoy this story. I realised after writing my review that it came off quite negatively, but I honestly did like it. The writing was wonderful, though kind of cheesy. Despite how much I enjoyed the story, about halfway through I found myself scanning pages rather than reading them thoroughly. The story was predictable, but those romance scenes were amazing!

The naughty scenes were fantastic, hot, and steamy. Love at first sight is my least favourite trope, and both couples fell in love with each other pretty much immediately. The sex scenes were the saving grace.

I loved Odilia and Torsten as a couple, preferring their segments to Ishild and Brandr’s, though the latter couple definitely had a lot more to their story. I liked Torsten a lot and I thought the idea of a black Viking was realistic – the child of African merchants taken in by a kindly childless woman after his parents die and he’s left orphaned. I loved that Brandr was a green-eyed redhead. It’s not often you find a redheaded male lead, so I was really happy about that.

Both Torsten and Brandr had very modern sensibilities that I wasn’t really a fan of. I liked that the author didn’t shy away from pointing out they were ergi for it. Having the heroes of the story be mocked for being unmanly was such a unique take, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in a story before. This worked well in the story, especially because they both took Christian wives. Their ideologies (especially Brandr’s – in fact, Brandr’s specifically) made them well-suited to their wives.

Though I loved Odilia and Torsten, I thought the idea of Torsten remembering Odilia from when she was a child was weak. It was a weird, implausible connection the author tried to force between Odilia and Torsten to make them seem fated which came off as just that, forced.

I also didn’t understand why Ishild wasn’t immediately horrified of Brandr during their first meeting – he threatened her and then forced himself on her. I understand that he was “claiming her” to save her from his brother, but before that was revealed, surely she should’ve been afraid rather than aroused? Torsten’s reaction to meeting Brandr at the end of the book was very realistic, unlike Ishild’s.

I was taken aback by Ishild’s magic, but when it was revealed to be Brandr’s tricks, I was relieved. I love fantasy, especially in a Medieval setting, but I had gone into this book expecting historical fiction, nothing else.

The author did ample research for the Norse language, the Norse poem, the names, etc, but then failed in other places, albeit minor – corn didn’t arrive in Europe until 1493, so how could they be grinding corn in Viking Norway? The final pages with the appendix, endnotes, glossary, bibliography, etc, were really informative and a lovely addition, proving the author’s dedication to keeping the book accurate. Shame about the corn, though. Again, it’s minor and did nothing to affect the story, just something that stood out to me.

All in all, I liked the story and would read other books written by this author. It only took me a couple days to read the book, I started it when I bought it but I put it down a few pages in and didn’t pick it up again until recently.