Review – The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston

A risk worth taking…

No one would ever accuse Jace Berisha of having an easy life—considering her husband…you know…killed her. But that was then! Now she fights for mighty Viking gods with the spectacular and vicious Crows.

But things are turning very bad, very quickly because a vengeful, ancient goddess has come into the world with just one thing on her mind—ending it. And the only way they can hope to stop her is if the Crows join forces with their one-time enemies, the Protectors. A Viking Clan created to do nothing but kill every Crow they see.

Thankfully, Protector Ski Eriksen is a peace loving kind of guy. Because the woman he is desperately trying to get close to is the beautiful and not-very-chatty Jace. Battling Nordic clans? Unkillable goddesses? Jace’s mean-spirited dog? None of these things would ever get in the way of a true Viking!

I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, this does not affect my opinion of this book or the content of my review.

Yes, I love this author with an unholy love. And while I was sad that she discontinued her Pack/Pride Series, I figured at least she was doing something when The Unleashing was posted. But admittedly, I was a bit begrudging. But once I got into it, I devoured it, and then re-read it again and again, and again. Unfortunately, this one did plop into my hands in the midst of a horrific reading slump, so it was with both trepidation and hope that I opened The Undoing up and started reading.

I don’t know that this has broken my slump, because Laurenston is on a whole different level, but The Undoing absolutely captivated me. The gang’s all here and back better and more blood thirsty than ever. And Jace was probably the most interesting side character from the last book. A female berserker, a quiet soul, and a dog lover, she’s such a writhing mass of contradictions and mystery that I couldn’t be more pleased that Laurenston went with her next.

And you’ve just got to love Laurenston’s heroes as much as her heroine. They tend to be alpha rather than alpha-hole, and there isn’t much they like more than a dominant and violent woman.

Jace growling at him. Ski smiled. He couldn’t help it She was so cute when she was drenched in the blood of their mutual enemies.

And beyond that sort of dynamic, Laurenston’s books tend to have rather feminist, if bawdy and over the top, sensibilities.”

“Why? Because you’re a pussy?”

“I don’t like that,” Haldor announced. One of the Protectors who wasn’t just quiet-the man could literally go for months without saying a word.

Frieda gawked at him. “You don’t like that? So?”

“I have a daughter and I’m trying to teach her self-respect in a very male centric world. And suggesting someone’s weak by calling them female genitalia bothers me. Viscerally.”

Seriously, it is just nice to have that sort of thing becoming more commonplace in romance. And while I was a little bit sad that we weren’t going to get another really Viking hero, it turns out a hero from a Clan of Protectors who are obsessed with book is just as good. And they provide a nice steady influence to the tone of the characters in this series…in their own OCD way.

Quieter, and perhaps more rational these protectors might be, but that are hilarious. They are laugh out loud hilarious, and I mean that literally. I was literally laughing until I sobbed, and I have’t laughed that hard since I read the Craig’s List llama dog post. Also, there are plot pets, the bestest, most wonderfulest plot pets EVER. Serious, I love a well done plot pet, and these two rock.

Is the mythology potentially dodgy? I personally am going to go with “creative”. Are there plot holes? If you went and looked for them I am sure you would find them. But none of that is important, this story is like the Crows themselves, raucous, and funny, and insane. You just go with it and enjoy the ride. And it is a hell of a ride, I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. Jace and Ski are perfection together, their friends are a riot, and this thing is action packed. I also have no clue who the protagonists will be in the next book, but whoever it is, I can’t wait.