If you enjoyed Humans Don’t Have Horns, please request it at your local library. Libraries are how books find new readers who were not even looking for them.
The paperback is available for libraries to order through Ingram. The audiobook is already distributed widely across major platforms. If you use Libby, I do not think it’s there yet, but patron requests are exactly how librarians decide what to bring in.
The Plot
Freya is stuck in an unwanted marriage, spending her days gutting fish and trying not to murder her husband. But when her hidden power is revealed, everything changes. Suddenly, she is no longer just a miserable wife in a small village. She is a shield maiden blessed by the gods, and men with crowns in their eyes decide exactly what they want to do with her.
She is bound by blood oath to a power-hungry jarl who believes her fate can help him unite Skaland. Bjorn, his son, is tasked with protecting her, training her, and generally being much too close to her at all times. Freya must learn to survive court politics, divine tests, and the terrifying truth of what her prophecy may demand of her, all while trying not to give in to the attraction burning between her and Bjorn.
A Fate Inked in Blood is the first in the completed duology, Saga of the Unwanted.
My Breakdown
This book gave me:
⚔️ A heroine who is angry, physical, and very easy to root for
🔥 A brooding warrior love interest with impossible chemistry
🩸 A Viking-inspired world full of oaths, gods, and blood-soaked ambition
👑 Court and clan politics that make every alliance feel dangerous
What worked for me most here is the atmosphere. Danielle L. Jensen leans fully into the Viking-feeling setting, and it works. The blood oaths, the clan loyalties, the sense that fate is not a poetic idea but a weapon hanging over everyone’s head, all of it gives the story a satisfying weight. And of curse the good looking MMC has Viking tattoos and hir style. So there is that!
Freya is the kind of heroine I usually enjoy. She is not polished, and she is definitely not soft. She is furious, impulsive, proud, and often stuck in situations where every available choice is bad.
And Bjorn? He is exactly the type of MMC designed to ruin your peace. Competent, restrained, dangerous, and very aware that wanting her is a bad idea. The tension between them is one of the book’s biggest strengths. The forbidden element does a lot of work here, and the dynamic between Freya and Bjorn has that addictive quality.
The book ends with a twist. You know it’s coming, and you still find yourself glued to the page.
Recommend me your favorite Viking Romance. Please.
A Fate Inked in Blood is the first in the completed duology, Saga of the Unwanted.
I’ve also reviewed Danielle L. Jensen’s Bridge Kingdom in the past because I LOVED that series.
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