Oath Undo Me (Viking Trading Lands Series)
880 CE. Astrid travels to her aunt, hoping for a place to stay after being widowed. It was not a love match, and Astrid vows never again to be chained by marriage. Her dream is to raid and adventure like her late father. She reunites with a childhood friend and old flame, Sven, and together they seek admittance into a warband. With no man to vouch for her, Sven proposes marriage and confesses his love to Astrid. Hurt and feeling betrayed, she runs. A chance encounter takes Astrid to the Rus’s lands, where she’s employed by a widowed businesswoman. However, rumors begin to spread about how her boss unfairly treats the farmers who sell to her. Can Astrid find answers in a land where she’s only just learning the language, and with few she can trust? Or will she undo the freedom she’s worked for?
There are some editorial errors in the text, mostly involving punctuation, like missing exclamation points or uncapitalized letters. There’s also a lot of eye-rolling, which wasn’t used as a gesture of exasperation or sarcasm until the 1980s. Besides these concerns, the story of Astrid starting a new life in an unfamiliar land is engaging. Since she uses a false name when accepting the job, she’s constantly under threat of discovery, along with the concerning rumors about her employer, both of which steadily raise the tension in the story. Astrid struggles with trust, particularly as she feels backed into a corner by her best friend. Overall, though, Astrid’s development is charming, and the landscape comes alive vibrantly. I look forward to book two in the Viking Trading Lands series.
