Brothers of the Wild North Sea

This was published in 2013 and although I apparently bought the ebook before the company that originally published it went out of business, I just now listened to the audiobook. It's a long book, and I left it in my TBR pile because it intimidated me. I loved it, though, and wish I'd read it sooner.

The audiobook narrator, Hamish Long, is especially good. He did unique voices for all the characters, and the voice he performed for Caius really kept in my mind that Caius was very young, only about 25. Because he takes on a lot of responsibility over the course of the story, his age was easy for me to forget.

The book has many of the elements I expect from Harper Fox, such as religion and spirituality, a strong sense of place, unexplained supernatural events, mysterious old people, a truly swoony romance, and emotional sex scenes. I really like the way she writes all of those things. I was also impressed at how relatable these ancient people were to a modern reader, without seeming like modern people. This is a hard balance to strike in historical fiction but I think she did it perfectly.

Book Review: Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

This series had historical and paranormal elements that made it really enjoyable. The unlikely and different pairing of a monk and a Viking really stood out for me. Both characters had so much depth and complexity that you could feel for them. I cried for them, which is a sign I was emotionally invested. I do enjoy an enemies-to-lovers story, and Fen and Kai got an ending that they both deserved. Overall, this book was a great read, earning a solid 4 out of 5 stars.