{Review} of The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston

The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

GENRE: Paranormal
THEME: Myth, Romance
RECEIVED: NetGalley

BLURB:

WINGING IT

Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even see her die.

In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life—but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the Marines.

But Vig can’t give up on someone as special as Kera. With a storm of oh-crap magic speeding straight for L.A., survival will depend on combining their strengths: Kera’s discipline, Vig’s loyalty… and the Crows’ sheer love of battle. Boy, are they in trouble.

REVIEW:

I’m a big fan of Shelly Laurenston’s Pride and Magnus Pack series, they always had great story arcs and tough alpha males, so I was super excited for some tough Vikings and an even tougher female lead. The back-story and connection to the Nordic and Greek mythology was by far the best part of this first installment.

The Unleashing follows Kera Watson a military veteran who works as a waitress in Los Angeles. But one night while trying to help a woman in an alley leads to her being stabbed. She is given a second chance and brought back as a different version of herself. Kera is now a Crow, apart of a group of powerful woman who fight for their god and given special abilities to handle dangerous beings and people. Along with the Crows there are many clans, such as the Ravens who are Vikings fight for their god. But something is causing trouble and Kera is thought to be the cause. No Kera and her sister crows along with Vig, work together to figure out what’s really happening.

Kera is a major hard ass, she is tough because of her military experience and has a battle ready attitude. She is trying to grasp her new life as a Crow, which doesn’t come easy due to her clashing with some of her fellow “sisters”. I loved every minute that Kera had with the rest of the Crows, Erin being her mentor clashes with her immediately. But nonetheless they need each other when it comes to battles and Kera has to learn their ways. Kera does struggle with her new life, I kind of wished she would listen to the others instead of being more of an irritation at first. But she does come to terms with her new self after Vig explains their life. Another dynamic that was extremely strong was that of Kera and her dog Brodie who was her best friend in her first life and even more of her protector in her second. She because apart of the crows with Kera and even powerful. In the end Kera is given a major task, I have a feeling Kera’s importance is just beginning and her role among the gods is going to change the Crows’ future.

Vig is a fellow member of The Ravens, who are Viking men that take on Odins tasks. He is also the man who has for Kera to have a second chance, for a long time he has come to the coffee shop where she worked and was treated with kindness. Vig is a big softy when it comes to Kera and has wanted her for a long time. My main issue with him is that he was made out to be kind of a fool who wanted to sleep with her. Later on his character grew on me but I like my alpha males not so childish. I did however like his relationship with his sister who is a valkyrie, she also has a good head on her shoulders and helps her brother with Kera.

Overall this was a great start, I loved the world building of all the clans and their god, as well as how the Crows become what they are. My only trouble was how much was introduced; I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with all the characters and the clans, along with the gods. I was able to grasp most of it by the end and re-reading bits when I got a little lost. The characters however do make the story because they were a colorful bunch, especially the Crows. Each woman was so different, their lives, careers, deaths, and power made them a force to be reckoned with. So I’ll definitely be coming back to this series because I want to see how each Crow grows.

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