The story was not what I expected. It was more of a contemporary novel. Still, it made for an entertaining read. I thought Anna was a fun and interesting character. I heartily recommend this for those who looking for a light and cozy read.

Anna is a wonderful character and her story will make you smile and cry. She is back at her childhood home to bury her father and clean out the house. She did this less than two years ago when her mother died. She finds a file box that was her father's current project. He was researching adoptions from the 1940's and she learns that he was looking for his biological mother. Anna decides to finish his search and discovers her Icelandic Viking heritage. She searches 4 generations and discovers some secrets that had grave implications for her life. She ends up meeting a wonderful man, Logan. More romance than historical, I still learned things about World War II I never knew. This is the first I've read Heidi Herman but it looks like most of her books are set in the Icelandic culture. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest reviw.

A sweet love story. No hot intimate scenes. I enjoyed the sweetness of the love story itself but I noticed many spelling and word usage mistakes and even an incorrect character name at one point, that distracted me from the book. I would recommend an editor and/or proofreader.

After losing her mother less than two years before, her father is suddenly killed, leaving Anna Miller alone. With no other family and a dismal dating history, loneliness and depression overwhelm her. As she struggles to cope with the loss, she comes across a family secret that changes her future.

She finds new purpose after discovering her father’s hidden research and is determined to complete what he had started. Anna begins a journey to unravel the family mystery buried in four generations of deceit. As she follows the clues, she opens herself up to a love and a new sense of belonging, but is it real? The answer she searches for may reveal her true heritage but might just threaten her own chance at happiness and a new life. - Goodreads

I was in a mood for a romance. A romance that promised intense emotion, history and a form of betrayal. Did this book have all three of those qualities? Kind of.

Anna is looking for not only family but a new chapter on life. As a only child and as her parents being only children in their families, Anna doesn't have any blood relatives she can depend on. So when she find this project her father was working on, she jumps to it, which is understandable because I would too.

The story moves pretty fast. It doesn't take her long to hit a huge breakthrough and it doesn't take her long to find someone she has the heart eyes for. Literally, it was instant. Did I feel a chemistry between them? Not at all. They were attracted to each other. Extremely attracted to each other but how fast their romance moved was just amazing. Also, although Anna's love interest had a point, he was a tool. 

Another thing that bothered with this read was how every person, Anna spoke to always commented on her beauty and allowed her into their home with no second question. That form of welcoming just didn't seem right and I was waiting for the worst to happen every chapter. 

Not only did the story move really fast but it was predictable. You knew exactly where it was going from beginning and end. This book had a great a foundation but it did not live up to expectations. When you see Viking, you think Viking history, you think intense emotions, be it anger or passion, you see and feel excitement none of that was in the book. Even at the end when Viking history was mentioned, it was very slight. I wanted there to be so much.

This could have been a fantastic read but it just didn't hit that spot. 

Overall, 

2 Pickles