#danielle jensen

GENERAL RATING: 1/5 stars

SMUT RATING: 2/5 stars (yes, there are a few spicey scenes, but they were underwhelming and felt unearned.)

this was not my first book from jensen. i had read through most of the bridge kingdom, but i genuinely can't remember if i dnf'd it or if i made it all the way through. just wasn't feeling the (painfully predictable) twists and turns.

speaking of painfully predictable, this book almost feel in that category. the only think keeping it from that was how vague and confusing some of it was, likely due to having an unreliable narrator. either way, the romance between bjorn and freya started off fun -- their banter was cute and flirty. however, i didn't really feel like their relationship was well developed. the MC felt very impulsive and didn't tend to think things through and, while that may have been an intentional character choice, it mostly just annoyed me.

WHERE'S THE SPICE? (light spoilers)

The first spicey scene is just over halfway through the book and is pretty nice -- while not much happens, it did a good job of building anticipation. I'd say the same with the second spicey scene. However, the final few chapters of this book were a whirlwind of disappointment. Yes, there is back-to-back sex towards the end of the book, but it comes after a... well, a really weird series of events that mostly just frustrated me with the story. The scene itself was actually pretty good, but it felt unearned in the context of the broader plot.

Is love real if there is no trust?

I think I'm done with this series. I found the first 30ish% so slow and repetitive, and just could not find a single character I cared about. I did think things improved once we hit the 30 or 40% mark. It was just a bit of too slow of a start for me.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the dual narrators for Freya and Bjorn did a great job. As I physically read the last book, I didn't know that I was pronouncing a ton of stuff wrong--though I suspected I was...I also really liked the idea of the alternating perspectives but as stated before, things were so repetitive that I was constantly thinking, move on already.

Read in: August 2025