Embrace of the Damned by Anya Bast

Brotherhood of the Damned, Book 1

Synopsis:

A damned Viking warrior.

Centuries ago Broder Calderson committed murder. As punishment, he was given over to the dominion of Loki, the Trickster God, made part of the Brotherhood of the Damned and condemned to an immortal life of battle against the Blight, blood-drinkers from Hel.

A mysterious woman he can’t resist.

One thousand years to the day he was damned, Loki allows him a woman as reward for his good service and repentance of his crimes. Once Broder sees Jessamine Hamilton, he is overcome with need. But Jessa is no ordinary woman, and the truth of who—and what—she is could have dangerous consequences.

A tormented man she can’t deny.

Though a future together is impossible, the warrior’s touch ignites an irresistible passion in Jessa. But every heated kiss pushes them closer to destruction. Forced to return to the brutality of his Viking past to protect her, will Broder surrender forever to his darkest impulses?

Review: I was quite surprised by this novel, I knew Anya Bast by another of her series and I was curious to see how her other books were. We discover in this novel Broder, a former Viking, serving Loki after having committed a terrible crime thousand years ago. In addition to his service for eternity, Loki has prohibited him any woman until today. To thank him for his work, he gives him the possibility to have the woman of his dreams. But he knows it is only ephemeral, and he must constantly keep that idea in mind.

Jessa is a determined and lively young woman, something that I loved about her. She does not trust anyone and when Broder saves her life, she is determined to thank him and to leave as soon as possible, but this is not the opinion of our beloved Viking who is determined to keep her near him. Of course it will not be so easy, especially as our heroine is very stubborn and wants to do what she wants. But then, he will do everything to make her succumb to his charm, but well, Jessa will not let him do that or at least not until the end. Broder tries to control himself as he can in her presence but I still think the attitude of Jassemine was really mean. She’ll make him do everything she wants. And when she really realizes that she feels guilty, but she does not really stop either. I think it would have been better if she could have decided what to do with him and not let him wait and hope for so long as it is ultimately always sad to see what Broder endured throughout the book.

But the story between our two characters will not do everything, we discover the true identity of this young woman and thus, the reason behind the fact that everyone wants to have her, whether to kidnap or kill her. I must say that this is quite intriguing from the start. Everyone is very interested in her, and when Loki realizes that our heroine will not agreed to his wishes, he is ready to do anything too.

I enjoyed this novel, it’s an easy read and the end was really cute. I loved all the characters and I admit that I'm curious to see the crimes of all the other Brothers. Dimitri, the rebellious demon is also interesting, we do not know what made him change lanes, as he helps his enemies, but I'd really like to know more now. Another good paranormal romance series I’ll follow with pleasure.