Northwomen Sagas Series by Susan Fanetti

Loneliness is all that Brenna has ever known. She doesn't expect that she will ever even know true companionship, let alone love. People say she was born with the mark of Odin, but Brenna feels it as a curse rather than a blessing. Those who would tell her she is favored by the Allfather are too afraid to look on her; she is apart from her people. Yet she has learned the power of her difference, and turned it to her advantage... moreLoneliness is all that Brenna has ever known. She doesn't expect that she will ever even know true companionship, let alone love. People say she was born with the mark of Odin, but Brenna feels it as a curse rather than a blessing. Those who would tell her she is favored by the Allfather are too afraid to look on her; she is apart from her people. Yet she has learned the power of her difference, and turned it to her advantage. She is a shieldmaiden, with a legendary reputation for her valor as well as for her godly gift. Vali is a giant among his people, well-liked and respected. He is of the Úlfhéðnar, a berserker, one of Odin's own elite warriors, and one of the fiercest and bravest warriors to wield an axe or spear. He is the Storm-Wolf; his strength and ferocity are his gifts from the Allfather. Fortune threw the two warriors together when they were but children. Fate brings them together again as warriors when two jarls ally for a raid into Estland. Again and again, Vali seeks Brenna out. He sees her; he sees the woman behind the whispers. More than that, he will not look away. Vali has not forgotten the debt he owes Brenna from their very first meeting, and in seeking his opportunity to repay her, he finds a lonely, beautiful woman whose quiet strength captures his heart. But the sagas do not sing of warriors who live quiet lives, or of love that does not know trial and tribulation. Favored by the gods they may be, but that does not protect Brenna and Vali from the simple and devastating hardships of their lives. Their reputations cannot help them. It is their love that must become their legend. less

The follow-up to the bestselling Viking romance, God's Eye. When raiders from the North land in Olga’s world and take it over, she is captured and made a slave. She and her people suffer at the hands of creatures that seem more beasts than men, and not even her talent and skill as a healer can help them. But one barbarian, big and golden, seems different from the others... moreThe follow-up to the bestselling Viking romance, God's Eye. When raiders from the North land in Olga’s world and take it over, she is captured and made a slave. She and her people suffer at the hands of creatures that seem more beasts than men, and not even her talent and skill as a healer can help them. But one barbarian, big and golden, seems different from the others. He doesn’t revel or partake in the suffering of the new slaves, and, when he learns that Olga is a healer who knows some of their words, he releases her from her bonds. The raiders stake claim to Olga’s world and mean to settle it, and she and the rest of her people who survived make a new community with the invaders. The barbarians who destroyed her world and made her a slave grow to be her friends and her equals. The friendship she forms with the one who cut her bonds is the deepest of them all. Leif is a valiant and esteemed warrior who’s raided for many summers. As a leader in this new world they mean to settle, he forges deep, close ties with those who’d been only allies, and sometimes enemies, and with the native people of this new land. In particular, he’s drawn to the dark-haired healer, whose tiny body holds the will and spirit of a mighty raider. Leif is deeply loyal to the jarl who’s treated him as a son. When the jarl arrives to view their success, Leif struggles to understand the ways his mentor has grown cruel and deceitful and to see the man he’s loved as a father, whose sons he loves as brothers. But he recognizes the brutal lies for what they are. Torn between the man to whom he’d long ago sworn his unconditional fealty and the friends to whom he is devoted, Leif makes a devastating choice, trying as best he can to save those he loves, at any cost to himself. Even at the cost of their love for him. The consequences of his choice are severe. Perhaps too severe to allow forgiveness. But until there is forgiveness, there can never be ease. Note: Explicit sex and violence. less

Astrid has been a warrior since the day she was old enough to make the choice to live and die with an axe in her hand. She is strong and stoic, powerful and brave, and she has the life she desires, free of complications and distractions. She is a shieldmaiden, and that is all she wishes to be. She has been the strong right hand of her jarl since the day they and their allies overthrew the cruel Jarl Åke... moreAstrid has been a warrior since the day she was old enough to make the choice to live and die with an axe in her hand. She is strong and stoic, powerful and brave, and she has the life she desires, free of complications and distractions. She is a shieldmaiden, and that is all she wishes to be. She has been the strong right hand of her jarl since the day they and their allies overthrew the cruel Jarl Åke. Jarl Leif is mighty and honorable, and with Astrid’s help, he has brought great prosperity to their people. Every summer, the raiders sail into new lands, traveling farther and farther, claiming treasure to enrich their people. They meet little resistance from the rulers or the people of these strange worlds. Until they land in a country whose king has learned the lessons of his neighbors and meets the raiders with a cunning and brutality that matches their own. In that clash, and after it, Astrid’s shieldmaiden’s strength and will is put to the harshest tests. Leofric is the second son of a king. Without the expectations or attention imposed on his older brother, he is free to live more or less as he chooses. But he is a seasoned warrior and not half so dissolute as his reputation suggests. When his father and brother seek to salve their rage by torturing a captive barbarian woman, Leofric sees their action for the evil it is and does all he can to save her, and then to heal her. To love her had not been part of his plan. The captive is strong and stoic, powerful and brave. She is a marvel unlike any woman he’s ever known. But if she is to live, she must learn the ways of his world. If she is to thrive, she must cast aside what she was and become something new. Leofric would give her all that he has and more, but there is one thing he cannot offer. His world has no word for shieldmaiden. Note: Explicit sex and violence. Dark themes. less

Solveig Valisdottir is said to be born for greatness. The firstborn daughter of Brenna God’s-Eye and Vali Storm-Wolf, she carries her parents’ legacy on her shoulders and strives to be worthy of their legends. She is a strong shieldmaiden in her own right, but her parents are the greatest of their people, beloved of the gods, and she must reach as high as they, or even beyond, to feel she deserves the esteem she already has as their daughter... moreSolveig Valisdottir is said to be born for greatness. The firstborn daughter of Brenna God’s-Eye and Vali Storm-Wolf, she carries her parents’ legacy on her shoulders and strives to be worthy of their legends. She is a strong shieldmaiden in her own right, but her parents are the greatest of their people, beloved of the gods, and she must reach as high as they, or even beyond, to feel she deserves the esteem she already has as their daughter. She keeps her fears buried deep in her chest, trusting only Magni, her dearest friend, keeper of all her secrets, to know her struggle. Her love for him reaches deeper than friendship, but she cannot allow herself that love until she has done her parents the honor they deserve. She must find her story; she must make her name. Magni Leifsson is the scion of greatness himself. His father is the revered Jarl Leif of Geitland, and his mother, Olga, is a beloved counselor of their people. They offer him a legacy of wisdom and compassion, and of strength and valor, and he means his story to be the next verse of theirs. Magni has loved Solveig since they were children playing in the light of their parents’ friendship. The keeper of her secrets, he knows her better than anyone. He understands the burden of her legacy, and he vows to wait for her while she finds her story. And he is at her side, offering her his strength and his love, when Solveig finds her legend on a field of loss. Note: Explicit sex and violence. less