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S.T. Bende is an Amazon best seller for a reason! Check out my review of the Elsker Saga below!!

Book Length: 305 pages
Main Characters: Kristia Tostenson and Ull Myhr

In Elsker, You don’t win the heart of an immortal assassin without making a few enemies along the way. 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.

Oh wow! Just wow!! I didn’t know what to expect from this book when I picked it up…I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t even read the excerpt first!!!

This book was totally action packed and filled with a romance that kept me begging for more! My first thoughts when I finished this book were “SERIOUSLY…that’s where you’re leaving it!!” lol needless to say I was not ready for the book to be done!

I adored the writing style, it just grabbed me and pulled me into the story from page one! The plot is very fast paced with lots of unexpected plot twists. I really enjoyed the mythology that was explained in this story. It gave us such an amazing back story that helped me feel even more connected to the characters.

Kristia is a very relatable character. She is just your typical small town girl…with an added bonus of seeing visions and everyone around her thinking she is insane! I will admit to finding myself comparing this story line with that of Twilight….while I enjoyed the idea of Twilight I also had some issues with it. With this book I found myself thinking…”Really? A brooding male that is trying NOT to love a girl with low self-esteem and a weird mental quirk in order to keep her safe from him and his “baggage? Like that isn’t familiar!!!” However, I kept reading, and I’m super glad that I did! The story line veered away from Twilight-ville and into something amazing!

Ull (Ugh, I still don’t know how to pronounce this!! Someone please help me!!) is a sexy, strong, sweet, and temperamental man. It was interesting to get to know him throughout the book and learn why he was such a jerk in the beginning. Watching him and Kristia try and interact was just hilarious on so many counts…I still can’t get over the fact that they are both apparently virgins! Dude is over 800 years old!! Seriously?!? Just wow! I adored seeing how protective he is over Kristia and when you learn more about what is destined to come you sort of understand why he was so stand-off-ish. I can’t state enough how awesome it was to see his reactions when Kristia (who, for once is not some push over woman) stands up to Ull and tells him no on many occasions! He is just flabbergasted and I LOVE IT!

This book is amazingly written, has a great plot line with super well developed characters, and very few errors! Overall, I HIGHLY recommend that you read it! I know that I just couldn’t put it down and am sooo ready to read the next one!

Tur: An Elsker Saga Novella

Book Length: 53 pages
Main Characters: Inga and Gunnar Andersson

Inga Andersson is the envy of every girl in Asgard. On the surface she has it all — great friends, a job as Odin’s personal fight choreographer, and a happy ever after with her realm’s hottest assassin. But when evil invades Asgard, her perfect world comes crashing down. Someone is planning to kill off the gods, and Inga’s best friend Ull is first on their list. With the Norse apocalypse a nanosecond away, Inga has to decide how she’ll spend her final moments of freedom. Because from the moment this battle begins, Inga’s happily ever after will be nothing more than a memory.

Some things are worth fighting for.

Okay, so I admit it…I totally read this prequel after I read the first book in the Elsker Saga! I honestly wish that I had read this one first, it totally gives you a better understanding of who Inga, Gunnar and especially Ull are and what is causing them to behave the way that they are. While this is a SUPER short book, I was amazed by the amount of plot and information that was able to be worked in. It is extremely fast paced (I mean duh…it’s 53 pages!) and a ton of fun to read!

I love Inga, she is just such a trip to read! She is strong, independent and totally knows what she wants and how to get it; at the same time, she cares for the two men in her life and will do anything and everything in her power to keep them happy. I love that Inga is the type of woman that can go from baking some awesome cookies, to hand-to-hand combat, to seducing her man all in the blink of an eye! She is definitely one skilled woman….or well goddess I suppose 🙂

I am greatly enjoying this series. Most adult paranormal romances…heck any adult romances lately have a TON of pretty racey scenes. These two books somehow manage to drag you in to this awesome romance, get all steamy and good and make you want more…without ever getting explicit! It is nice to read something without blushing or deciding to skim over some scenes lol

Overall, READ IT! Oh…let me change that…READ IT FIRST! lol I really do wish that I had read this book before I started in on Elsker, it just fills in a lot of back story that you don’t get from the main book. Now I guess I must wait for the next books in this saga! Fingers crossed I don’t have to wait too long!!

~S.T. Bende~

Before finding domestic bliss in suburbia, ST Bende lived in Manhattan Beach (became overly fond of Peet’s Coffee) and Europe… where she became overly fond of the musical Cats. Her love of Scandinavian culture and a very patient Norwegian teacher inspired the ELSKER series. She hopes her characters make you smile and that one day pastries will be considered a health food.

You can follow ST Bende on Twitter @stbende, or send an e-mail to stbende@gmail.com.