Kristia Tostenson prefers Earl Grey to Grey Goose and book clubs to nightclubs, but when she transfers from her one-stoplight town to Cardiff University in Wales she falls in love with Ull Myhr. Her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. He’s an honest-to-goodness Norse God — an immortal assassin fated to die at Ragnarok, the battle destined to destroy Asgard and Earth. Kristia’s crazy visions are the only thing that can save their realms. Her orderly life just got very messy.
I have loved Norse mythology ever since I read L.J. Smith’s The Forbidden Game trilogy in middle school, so I was psyched to read this one.
In Elsker, ST Bende takes classic bits of Norse mythology and throws in original elements to create her own tasty Nordic blend. The book stars Kristia, a mostly-normal college student whose study abroad venture brings her face-to-face with Ull, the Nordic God of Winter. Their story is Edward-and-Bella-esque, but without all the melodrama and no-fun broodiness. As the first in The Elsker Saga, Elsker is mostly about the love that blossoms between Kristia and Ull, but towards the end of the book we get some family (read: Nordic god) drama that will unfold (and add more thrills) in the sequel.
Elsker is a light and clean romance that makes for fun summer reading. There’s no stereotypical smut in this NA, which personally I loved. The writing is simple, but with beautiful setting descriptions and lovely kissing scenes sprinkled throughout to tug at the heart strings. At first, Ull is generically unlikable, but he becomes more and more real (and likable) as he begins to open up to Kristia during the story’s progression.
Kristia herself is adorkably lovable, the kind of girl it takes a special guy to see the value in. She spouts cliche after cliche, which should be annoying, but somehow comes across as cute. She’s so cheesy that she’s funny–for example, saying, “Is that your family calling?” after a clap of thunder–and I’d totally be friends with her in real life. I’m an editor, so I couldn’t help but notice that the book could use some line editing, but I had so much fun reading it that even I didn’t mind. I’ll definitely be checking out the sequel!
Elsker was written by ST Bende and published by digital publisher Entranced Publishing’s Blush imprint in April 2013.
