Audiobook
In this series Vikings come to a Pict village where almost all the men have been killed through illness or raids. So the headman’s daughter makes a deal: don’t murder us and you can live here and take brides from the eligible women. All the women but one are widows, some of the men are widowers, so that angle of comparing to previous spouses comes up a lot. Also, I know it’s in keeping with the time period, but it's a little frustrating that each man has the mentality of "she will learn to obey me or else"; almost all of the tales have the Hero determined to force the wife to be obedient, but what they consider disobedience is often stupid or negligible. Most of the stories have some aspect of BDSM (tying up, lots of spanking) and, big shock, somehow each woman's secret desires that she didn't even know she had matches with her husband's kink. But despite the authors all having experience writing BDSM, you don't get a lot of the usual talk about consent, aftercare, or the power a woman gets through submission. In general, I’d pass on this series but there are a few gems. I’ll detail about each book below.
Brandr - 3 stars
This story is about the leader of the Vikings, and the de facto leader of the village of women. At first I really liked the Hero and heroine. I liked that despite her fear, she was willing to stand up to the Vikings and make a deal. And I like that he seemed like a strong alpha Hero, and still cared about "the weak." But then, in an effort to incorporate a little BDSM into the story, the author decided to make the Hero into spanking. Which really doesn't bother me, except for the fact that he would do it for stupid reasons, and I started to get frustrated with the Heroine for just taking it. It just seemed like a poor excuse to incorporate some kink into the story. The romance aspect wasn’t really here.
Ragnar - 4 stars
This story is about a Viking whose wife is the village healer. His kink is tying her up and blindfolding her, and she likes it because she can let go of all the control she must have to do her job. This story at least made a little more sense in regards to how she submits to him. I didn't like how the end of this tale had a sudden twist and tied everything up neat and tidy, but the writing was good and the characterization was excellent.
Graeme - 2 stars
This one is different in that it is a female Viking and a male Pict, who is lame. I was not a fan. It frustrated me that Hero professed to admire her wildness and strength, and then sought to "break her" and "get her fully under his control" and force her submission through tying up and spankings and punishments for really stupid things. And yes, those are actually things he says. And, big surprise, for some reason this virgin heroine is totally a closet submissive. It was just too cliché and not plausible and felt like a very superficial story. The heroine was a caricature of a warrior woman, and the Hero an ignorant bully, who thinks things like "when he finally finished with her, she would respect him and agree to abide his commands." And when she asks if she gets to punish him when he disrespects *her*, he just laughs. It's infuriating. There's no instance of him trying to win her love, just own her. Skip this one.
Magnus - 5 stars
This is the first story so far that didn't have a kink in it. This one is a little heartbreaking, but in the best way. The Hero is definitely broken, but the writing is so good that he not a cliché. The heroine is both determined to fix him and also allowed her moments of self-pity and sorrow at his rejection, which makes her realistic and relatable. The writing is very good and full of emotion. The romance develops at a good pace for a short story. I loved both characters, and I liked that the plot wasn't hinged on them misunderstanding each other. Ended a little abruptly, but it is a short story so I'll let it slide.
Thorolf - 2 stars
Heroine is coming from an abusive prior marriage, Hero is smart enough to value her the way she should be. The set up was good on this one and I was excited to read it, but then the author skips over much of their early interactions. Hero seems instantly taken with her and yet still doesn't make an effort to learn her language for a while, which caused confusion. And the Hero of course punishes her misunderstandings with spanking, which she of course gets turned on by, and then she always apologizes for whatever, because of course getting spanked makes everything better... Sigh. The writing is a little all over the place, with lots of background explanation just dropped in whenever the author feels like it, and random comments about what else is happening in the village that's not related to either h/H, which disrupts the story. And then the big misunderstanding that form the major conflict is so stupid that she should never have fallen for it. Ugh. Skip this one.
Garth - 4 stars
Heroine is an outcast because she's a seer, Hero at first doesn't want to be with her. This one felt short because their conflict was over quickly, but the writing was good and the author kept the focus on the pair. There were a few too many things happening plot-wise and I still didn't like that he punishes her and she just takes it and then loves him automatically with no semblance of heart-to-heart... I think the author might be better at a full novel though.
Jerrik - 3 stars
Hero is a womanizer, heroine a single mom of an 8-year-old. Here are some actual quotes from the book: "Good, he thought. So, the little woman can be compliant. She can be taught." "No one was injured during the punishment spankings, although he had been known to birch a woman to the point of blood on occasion." Just by those two lines, it’s hard for me to like the Hero. And the heroine is so timid and subservient and obviously trying to do whatever he says, and then the first time she disobeys him (to go look for her son) he acts like she's perpetually defying him and so willful. He also wins over the boy too easily, and I wanted more father/son interaction to build that relationship. Finally, time seems to jump around: sometimes it's been two years since she was married, sometimes her son hasn't had a father since he was 3. The writing is really good, but I couldn't get over the plot, so that lost it a star.
Steinn - 2 stars
This one started off with marital rape, which already turned me off, but I tried to keep an open mind reading the rest. It was difficult because the Hero thinks that just because the heroine’s body responds that equals consent, and he gags her when she tries to say no. But beyond that, he doesn't listen to her at all, just see her as his sex doll whenever he wants it. He's also super insensitive to the fact that she still loves her dead husband, and only sees her as he wishes to see her: he doesn't acknowledge her anger, or gruffness, or spite, but continues to say she is sweet and shy, which her actions totally don't show. Yet he says he loves her, when he doesn't even know anything about her? Then they have a drug-fueled sexual encounter…It was weird. I would have preferred him to be the only one high and show that he actually cares about her thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, she still tries to kill him at every turn, and he is so clueless, and not in the lovable dumb way but in the dumb dumb way. And then she has a sudden change of heart and hooray, the story is over. Ugh. Skip this one.
Bjorn - 5 stars
The writing of this one is really good. And this was the one story that felt like the characters were fully realized and not just caricatures. For instance, this is the only Hero who thinks, "There was something heady and powerful in knowing that such a strong woman would defer to him and reserve a softness only for him.” That is a true indication of the tone of the story, and not just lip service paid because the author knows she needs to show the consent side of BDSM. This is probably the best story in the whole book.
Viking Surrender
(10 book series)
Kindle Edition
You've subscribed to Viking Surrender!
We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
There was an error.
We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.
Get the series on Kindle
There are 10 books in this series.
Select the number of items you want to purchase.
Items
See included books
Get the series on Kindle
There are 10 books in this series.
Select the number of items you want to purchase.
Items
Kindle price
$1.98
$6.96
$14.91
+ applicable tax
By clicking on "Buy now" you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use
Sold by:
Amazon.com Services LLC
Items included:
Kindle price
$1.98
$6.96
$14.91
+ applicable tax
By clicking on "Buy now" you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use
Sold by:
Amazon.com Services LLC
Books in this series (10 books)
1
Kindle Price
$0.00
$0.99
Price was $0.99. Current price is $0.00.
2
Kindle Price
$0.99
Or
$0.00
3
Kindle Price
$0.99
Or
$0.00
4
Kindle Price
$1.99
Or
$0.00
5
Kindle Price
$2.99
Or
$0.00
6
Kindle Price
$1.99
Or
$0.00
7
Kindle Price
$0.99
8
Kindle Price
$0.99
Or
$0.00
9
Kindle Price
$0.99
Or
$0.00
10
Kindle Price
$2.99
Or
$0.00
