A Fate Inked in Blood: Book One of the Saga of the Unfated

Written by Danielle L. Jensen

Narrated by Nina Yndis

A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in the first book of a Norse-inspired fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.

Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9780593824382

Danielle L. Jensen

Danielle L. Jensen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Saga of the Unfated series, as well as the USA Today bestselling author of the Bridge Kingdom, Dark Shores, and Malediction series. Her novels are published internationally in twenty-one languages. She lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her family and guinea pigs.

Reviews for A Fate Inked in Blood

[chloeortiz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely adore these characters! Author has a lovely way of making each so interesting and endearing, thank you for sharing your special gift of story telling with us!
And the narrator is SPECTACULAR, my all time favorite, excellent audiobook all around, starting next in series NOW!

[mcabearden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The ending definitely wasn't expected. I truly wish it ended differently. The storyline was better than I expected, too. It's really got a drawn-out storyline but has surprises..

[muscariatoasty · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It’s a good story but it gets incredibly repetitive I don’t know if I could sit through the next book unless the formulas tweaked. The narrator did an amazing job going through the story.

[briandrewz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed this Norse-inspired fantasy. Freya and Bjorn are both amazing characters. The world-building was incredibly well-thought out, and the adventure/action scenes were so vivid that it felt like I was watching a movie, not reading a book.

I am so looking forward to diving into the second book. I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the ending of this book, but I am here for the ride.

[ardaiel-573470 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wish Goodreads allowed half stars; this is a 3.5 for me.

Sometimes the gods will bless a child with a drop of their blood, gifting them with special powers. Freya is a Shieldmaiden, blessed by the goddess Hiln, but she must hide what she is. The only one of her kind, a prophecy has made her the target of power hungry men who seek to use her for their own gain. When her secret gets out she must try to protect those she loves by serving the want-to-be-King. But she must also resist her desire for his son Bjorn, because giving in could endanger all she holds dear.

I tend to avoid viking stories. I don't know why, but it's a setting that just doesn't interest me. So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this. (Maybe it's because every character doesn't have a name that sounds identical, so I could actually tell people apart.) I like stories where the mythical gods have some direct influence in the world. The pacing and world building are all pretty good; the romance was spicy but I'm not entirely sold on the chemistry between these two yet.

I understand Freya's loyalty to her family despite the way they've treated her, and I even understand Bjorn's frustration with it. I don't understand why she falls in line so quickly with Snorri and his goals though. One minute she's reluctant, the next she's a bloodthirsty berserker. And speaking of that, if this is based on viking lore, didn't they revere and respect berserkers? So the reaction of Snorri's people to her actions rang false to me. I would have expected them to laud her, not fear her.

I also wasn't fully on board with the ending. It was a little predictable (with one exception), and I feel like Freya's reaction didn't make sense with her character. No one likes being lied to, but Freya was treated like shit by her family and remained loyal. I feel like she would have reacted differently.

It wasn't perfect, but it was entertaining, and I'll pick up the next to see how they resolve the cliffhanger. This is a good book for fans of romantasy with forbidden love/forced proximity tropes.

[amethystangel777 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you loved the TV Series Vikings then you will love this. Plus it has a good bit more amount of the Gods and magic in it. The spicy scenes are pretty good too!

[tip44 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story is a bit unsophisticated, but I will read book two. The hardcover version is lovely and has blue glitter end pages.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn't know what I was missing out on - but hot damn I need more Viking/Norse romance in my life STAT! I am so pumped that this feminist fantasy romance is the first of a series because I immediately need more. This is a slow, slow burn filled with vengeance, destiny, Norse mythology and some seriously bad ass characters. Also, this cover is gorgeous - who wouldn't want to pick this up!

[spiritedstardust · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5

A bloody Viking fantasy with meddling gods, twisty fates and a lovely slow burn romance on the side.
The “betrayal” didn’t feel like a betrayal for me - I understand the reasons behind it and feel like Freya needs to open her eyes a bit. And I will definitely be continuing the series.

[theyodamom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5 Excellent audiobook narration. The narrator was animated and full of emotions, really making the story come to life.
Darn that ending ! Cliffhanger !!!
I really liked this story of a weak/strong/stubborn/sometimes dumb/sometimes bright/sometimes mature/sometimes immature girl/woman. I admit she got of my nerves a few times, really I wanted to bang my head on the wall, arguh girl ! She was stuck in between the rock and the hard place many times and did what she thought best, even though I thought it was stupid. LOL ! I liked that, the author did not follow the rules, she let her characters act their knowledge. Each had this wonderful freedom but Freya was the star and had the most bumps in her road. The other characters were fun too, read it to find out how fun. I'll be reading book 2
Fantasy, magic, gods, action, love, lust, hate, vengeance, misogyny, back stabbing fun !

[sennebec · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked the setting a lot, but the characters a bit less. Plenty of action, blood and near the end, some steam, but I felt the ending was a bit less. Maybe the sequel will change all that, as I'm eager to read it.

[verkruissen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Overall I found this book exceptional. I loved the world building and the character development. I thought that the author did an excellent job of mixing Nordic mythology into the storyline and it made it a vibrant story that was easy to get lost in. The romance between Freya and Bjorn was compelling and quite spicy at times but the tension between the two of them made the story all the more exciting. It left on a huge cliffhanger so I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series!

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Saga of the Unfated series. I got an eGalley for this for review through NetGalley.

Thoughts: This was decent Norse influenced fantasy romance. Previous to reading this book I had read Jensen's Bridge Kingdom series (well I read the first two books, loved the first one, thought the second was okay and then never finished the series) and I also read her Malediction Trilogy (Loved the first two books, thought the third was just okay), and I have had her Dark Shores series on my list to read but never really got around to it. There were some parts of this I liked and, I as sit down to write this review, I am realizing that there were a lot I didn't like as well. In the end this was mostly just kind of forgettable to me.

The story follows Freya, a young woman in an unhappy marriage who dreams of being a warrior. When her husband betrays her magical power to the region's jarl, she finds herself bound to this jarl. The jarl has ordered his son, Bjorn, to protect Freya at any cost. Only Freya and Bjorn have a very strong attraction to each other that is making concentration on godly tests and wars very difficult.

To start with the things I liked. I really loved how Norse gods were woven into this story. I enjoyed the world building here and the action. There are quite a few fights and battles and these were well written.

Unfortunately, in a fantasy romance like this it's important to like the characters and I really struggled with that here. At the beginning of the story I really like Freya and was enjoying watching her get a new chance to find some happiness. However, as the story continues, she makes poor decision after poor decision all in the name of loyalty to a family that has been vile to her. It was frustrating to watch; her poor decisions are what drive the storyline forward, I just couldn't stomach it. In addition to this Bjorn starts off seeming like an intriguing character, however I started to intensely dislike him as well. Bjorn is deceitful and starts to treat Freya the very way he said he never would. In the end I thought they both deserved the mess they were in and didn't want to read anymore about them.

The writing style here is fairly easy to follow and read. The pacing varied some throughout and there were parts I thought were a bit slow. It was fine but nothing specatcular.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this is a decently done Norse-based historical fantasy romance. Originally as I was sitting down to write this review I was planning on giving this 4/5 stars, but as I started to write the review I realized the way the story ended and the characters themselves really left a bad taste in my mouth. If you love fantasy romance and don't mind unlikable characters that make poor choices this might be a good book for you.

Given how I haven't really loved any of Jensen's full series and mostly just really enjoy a book here and there, I think I will stop seeking out books by her. I also don't plan on continuing this series.

[awkwardaleks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well... it's going to be a longgggg torturous wait for book two to be released! You would think with how much I loved The Bridge Kingdom that I would have been ready for this masterpiece but I certainly was not! Freya and Bjorn are such lovingly crafted characters. They are both so complex and each have a very unique set of of circumstances that forges them. I will say that I had suspicions that the twist was coming but that did not soften the blow at all, I was still absolutely shattered. It took me a bit to really get into the book but that was only because I am not well versed in Nordic mythology, once I got the gist of it, I was hooked. I really have no complaints about this book, Jensen is a master of her craft and I am so excited to see what the happenings at the end of this book bring about in book number two!