When Bjorn's wife and children were killed, he went crazy with grief. That's when Odin came to him and made a pact with him. Bjorn would get his revenge and Odin would give him the gift to get his revenge. But Bjorn didn't realize that the gods rarely give you anything without a price to pay for it. Bjorn's price to pay was becoming the first werewolf. With his new superior strength and viscous animal rage, he got his revenge but also killed a lot of innocent people along the way. It wasn't until be met the Brotherhood that he was able to get his wolf under control with their help. 

After Anja was killed, the goddess Freya told her that she would let her children be reincarnated, born to new parents to live their lives because she and her oldest son had fought so hard to stay alive and save each other and the smaller kids. But Anja would forever stay in Freya's hall being a servant to pay for this and Anja agreed.

This story starts out with Anja finding herself away from Freya's Hall and thrust into our world with no knowledge of how she got there. Bjorn has just had a visit from Odin and given an assignment to capture and kill a female that escaped Freya's Hall, not knowing that the woman is Anja. When Bjorn hears a woman being accosted in an alley by several men, he goes to help the woman and finds his long dead wife...the woman he's supposed to kill. Of course he's not going to kill her though. 

Bjorn enlists the help of the Brotherhood and it was great to see all of them again. They don't know how they're going to fight the god's so Bjorn and Anja travel to his cabin until they can come up with a plan. But Freya is informed that someone escaped and she sends her warrior to bring Anja back. 

Watching the events from this point unfold had my heart pounding because the twists this story took made me sad for a while. But so many of the characters from past books show up to throw new twists in this story that I never knew where it was going to end up which was a lot of fun. Why does Ms. Walters always make me cry with the books in this series? I know it's a good book when an author can elicit strong emotions from me while I'm reading. I was holding my breath to see what would happen but I was not disappointed at all. I read this book in 2 hours because I couldn't put it down. I read fast but whew, this one had me scouring the pages faster than usual to see what would happen next. I have loved this series from the beginning but this was by far my favorite book so far. I cannot say enough good things about this series. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bjorn Cursed by N.J. Walters
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Genre: Sci Fi & Fantasy
Release Date: January 18, 2021

Bjorn Cursed is the fourth book in the Forgotten Brotherhood series by N.J. Walters. I hadn't read the previous books in the series and was pleased to find that this was definitely a standalone novel.

This was an interesting book and I really wanted to love it, but I struggled to really get into the story. I can't put my finger on what didn't work for me, but I had trouble keeping my focus on the story.

That being said, overall, I enjoyed the story. It was interesting take on mythology and of course, I loved the vampire and werewolf stuff. I thought it was neat to see the gods of different mythologies interacting.

The romance was steamy (NSFW) and I enjoyed the love story.
I'm so grateful to N.J. Walters, Entangled Publishing, LLC, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This is the fourth book in the Forgotten Brotherhood series. It can be read as a stand-alone but I really recommend reading this series from the beginning. This is Bjorn Knutson's book who we meet in the third book of the series.

A woman finds herself taken from the afterlife and left in a foreign land. Odin himself orders Bjorn to kill the woman who escaped from Freya's Hall. Before he can start his task he comes to the aid of a humans woman being harassed by three men. Never expecting for the escaped woman to be his wife Anja.

I loved Bjorn and Anja's story. There was a lot of action like in the other books, which kept the story moving at a nice pace, even with the emotional repercussions of their individual guilt.  My favorite fight scene was the last one between Anja, Bjorn, and the gods. 

If you love paranormal romances I like you'll really like this.

Thanks so much to Entangled, NetGalley and the author N.J. Walters for this ARC to review.

The Forgotten Brotherhood is quickly becoming one of my favorite paranormal romance series. The tie in to different religious pantheons and traditions is so entertaining and the sex is steamy. There’s just enough humor to balance the danger and suspense.

Bjorn was cursed by Odin to be the first werewolf to avenge his murdered family. But now he’s a part of the Forgotten Brotherhood. Odin comes to him to kill a soul that has escaped from the afterlife. Only the soul he finds is his wife. Anja doesn’t know how she got back to earth, but she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her husband.

Despite the fact that this one didn't seem to have a whole lot of action, I really enjoyed it. And that mostly came down to Bjorn and Anja and their relationship. Of course, I loved all the Maccus we get (still my favorite) and I was thrilled to have Asher being his funny self again. I like how this series has the different pantheons and that this time we get the Norse. Always a favorite of mine.

At first I was a little surprised about how almost immediately Bjorn and Anja meet again. I wasn't sure how much I liked it happening so soon either. But that quickly left me when we see how these two are together. Despite all of the years these two were apart their love and devotion to each other has never wavered or faded. I liked how Anja was trying her best not to be overwhelmed with everything she learns and how she trusts Bjorn to protect her and to tell her the truth of things. I read a couple reviews that mentioned how they thought these two were having sex too much, but come on. They're vikings. Those people lived for war and sex.

Like I said, there wasn't a whole lot of action until the end because most of the story is about Bjorn trying to help Anja acclimate to this new world, these two getting to reknow each other again, and the whole group trying to figure out who would have taken Anja out of her afterlife and why. They have a very good idea who is behind it and who helped them, but it's near impossible to prove it.  When Bjorn gets Anja to a cabin he has in the middle of nowhere, they think they will be safe. For a short time anyway. But they're very wrong. Freya has sent one of her immortal hunters after Anja and he has never gone against or questioned his goddess. Until it is figured out who he really is. Which only complicates the whole situation even more. Of course things escalate even more when Freya and Odin both show up next. With the Forgotten Brotherhood behind him, Bjorn will do what he has to to protect his wife and his brothers. But Anja will do the same for her husband. As if all that craziness wasn't enough, Cassie's father even shows up and that was just fun. Leave it to Death to have the last word.

I have an idea who the next book will be about, and if I'm right, I am expecting it to be good. And even if I'm wrong, I'm totally going to still read it.

I honestly don’t know why I keep coming back for more with this series, especially since my grievances keeps getting worse for every book, and I haven’t even read the first one. I guess it says something about either the writing or plot that I’m still in it, even though I can’t pin point what exactly. 

My first grievance is also hard to explain. It’s just something with the writing that makes it feel detached in some way. The book has so much; action, romance, drama, a billion myths, creatures and pantheons. Yet it offers so little at the same time. While containing all these things the story floats along to the end without much of a development or impact. I don’t know how to explain it really, but it was just too convenient how it all happened. Bjorn just happened to run into his long dead wife (yeah, yeah, he was hired to do so, but he still just randomly ran into her as soon as he was given the job). They just happened to be reunited with their son (hard to see a goddess being so thoughtless that she didn’t see that one coming) and the brotherhood just happened to be at their beck and call and suddenly all a tight knit family. And let’s not forget the ending after a very schizophrenic fight (all that back and forth, yet nothing actually getting anywhere gave me whiplash) where death and magic suddenly, with no reason and out of nowhere just solves everything with a snap of his fingers. Instead of letting the story and the characters build up the story into a impactful conclusion it was the writing with a very visible author behind the pages that solved it for them, and the end result was not great. It left the story so bereft of complexity and made it forced and underwhelming.

The characterization was not treated any better either. Without names there would be no way to tell the characters apart because they were all so generic, and that literally goes for every character. The only one that tried to stand out was Asher with his jokes and not in a successful way. The jokes were bad, ill timed and out of character (I have no memory of this Asher from book three). The rest of them was one blob where the men were stereotypical masculine guys putting their women on a sky high pedestal and having their lives revolve around protecting them. The women were supposedly badass, yet also somehow constantly women in distress, sacrificing everything for what they stood for and loved. Oh, and also putting their men on sky high pedestals as well. 

It was kind of over the top in a way, especially the dialogues. Some “I love you” would be completely fine, but no. That apparently was not good enough, since the only dialogue between the couple was so forced and exaggerated with how high their love could reach and how much they would sacrifice for each other. No normal conversation to be seen in miles so it really was not that strange that the romance just like the plot and characters fell flat. Because that was all there was between them; sex and over the top love declarations and sex. Oh, and how miserable they had been while apart from each other since their Norse days, which leads me on to my next grievance. 

Maybe it’s just me nitpicking but to me it felt off how American both main characters were for both being from Norse times. All love declarations aside, they talked and acted like normal modern Americans, for example Bjorn calling Anja “babe”. Sure, he had lived a long time in, I assume, America so maybe he gets a pass. Still though, it felt off to me how modern they were talking with each other and that they were speaking English to each other. Or at least that’s what it seemed since the surrounding characters understood what they were saying. I mean, supposedly Anja learned it in Freja’s hall, but why would she speak it with her Norse husband? And her Norse son? It did not make sense to me, and apologies for my frankness, but it seemed kind of like lazy writing that the author didn’t even try to make authentic Norse characters more than giving one of them a Scandinavian name. And even the name was Americanized being Bjorn instead of Björn, Bjørn or Bjðrn. 

I don’t know if this was the last book in the series and if I will continue if another book gets released. For all my bitching throughout three books I’m still here so there is something, albeit small, calling out to me in these books. I don’t know what it is. 

 I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book honestly wasn't my favorite.  I didn't realize it was the 4th book in the series. I hate not starting at the beginning but I don't think I really missed out on a whole lot. I think it read pretty well as a stand alone.  

I just wasn't a huge fan of the storyline.  Bjorn's wife is basically brought back to life and Bjorn is suppose to kill her.  I just didn't like this second chance story.  The banter was awkward and I didn't like Anja or Bjorn. 

I did like the writing and the world quite a bit though. I plan on reading the first book and I hope I enjoy it more than this one.

I’ve read all the books on this series, and I’ve loved everyone of them, big, gruff and surly, alphas to the core and happy to be on their own. But as you get to know each character, you realise it’s a bluff, they were lonely, and they needed their other half to drag them up and onto the light. 
And Bjorn is not exempt from that either, but unlike his brotherhood, Bjorn had a family, he had a wife and children, but failed to look after them. They were slaughtered in a raid on his village! 
But he’s secure in the knowledge that they are happy and together in the afterlife. 
Bjorn is the first werewolf that was created, by Odin (he saw Bjorn’s pain and granted him vengeance against his enemies) and so he’s been around a long time. He has had regrets, namely bitting people who didn’t deserve to become wolves, he’s learning control everyday, and he is at peace with himself and the wolf within. 
He’s also wary, it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that he’s being sent out to track this missing person from Freya’s (Norse gods wife) home. The brotherhood have been targeted for a while now, and the main culprit seems to be with Lucifer.
He’s in for a bigger surprise when he catches up with his target..... 
Anja is confused, she’s got no idea where she is, she’s been in the dark for what seems like a lifetime, so she’s in no rush to return. Being ambushed by men has her fighting for her life. Until a stranger shows up to help her...... 
This book is different from the others. It had a completely different feel to it, and at first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the new formula (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it) 
But by the time I put the book down I had to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
Bjorn has been mentioned a few times, and been seen briefly in the previous books, so I was curious about his story. 
A husband and father that loses his whole family. So you can see why he’s so driven for revenge, and then to protect the innocent. He’s a great character, the first original werewolf turned by Odin is a great story. 
The action like in the previous books is a steady flow. Catching up with other characters in the series is always a favourite part of mine. We get to catch up with how they are getting along. 
A few laughs and funny moments break up the tense and heartbreaking moments. 
Really well written as all her other books in the series. 
There are a few surprises in the book. 
You don’t really need them in order, as it stands on its own ok. But reading them in order gives you a better sense of the world the forgotten brotherhood are living in. 
So will Bjorn capture and return the female back to Freya? 
But what if it’s someone he knows? He knows she will be punished, can he really give her back to Odin and the Norse gods? 


🦋

Three and a half
I've loved this series and would happily recommend to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance. Yes it was wonderful for the guilt ridden Bjorn to finally meet up with his wife Anja but sadly for me their sexual antics just seemed continuous and I really wanted more action. I did enjoy the twist about a new character introduced but the ending just took forever with God's bickering and everything back and forth until if blunt I just wanted it over. I cannot stress how much I really like these characters and I would normally rate higher but alas the petty, Norse Gods just got totally on my nerves. If there's more to come though I would love to read it and I'd love for the evil, meddlesome Lucifer to get dragged down a peg or two.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

4 - "You… Just you." Stars!

We return to the Forgotten Brotherhood series for the fourth, but hopefully not the final book; Bjorn Cursed giving us Werewolf shifter Bjorn’s story. Changed by Odin centuries ago, Bjorn has roamed the earth doing his bidding without question ever since. That is until the woman he is sent to kill turns out to be his wife. Only Anja has been dead for longer than he has been serving Odin.

"Is it really you… I’ve dreamed this so many times."

I really enjoyed this one, another rip-roaring adventure, where the twists and turns do not stop right up to the end, and the sexy times are added generously throughout to keep you invested on that front as well. The only reason this dropped from five stars is because I guessed several of the twists coming before they happened, and although it didn’t detract from the story overall, its not something that usually happens with this authors books.

So many years had been taken from them…

And we get a visit from my favourite polar bear shifter; Alexei too, so all ended well with the story for this reader. There was a sense of finality about this one, but I hope that’s not the case as I have really enjoyed the series as a whole.

3.75 stars

Finally, Bjorn, father of all werewolves, gets his happily ever after! Bjorn Cursed is another fun installment in the Forgotten Brotherhood series.

After centuries of being ignored by the Allfather, Odin appears to Bjorn and assigns him to find and kill an escapee from Freija's Hall. On his way to meet his Forgotten brethren, he stumbles across a woman being accosted in an alleyway only to find it is his wife who has been dead for centuries. It soon becomes clear that the gods are playing tricks again and somehow Lucifer is at the root of it all. Bjorn swears he will not fail his wife given this second chance but can he defeat a god let alone multiple gods across multiple pantheons?

I was super intrigued by Bjorn in the last book, Burning Ash. He was scary and brutish and mysterious and you just *knew* he had a super awesome backstory. Sigh, there were so many "wrongs" righted in here, that you just can't help but feel satisfied. I'm not normally a fan of "second-chance" romances and this isn't - but - it kind of technically is. And, I was so down for all that closure happening in Bjorn's life. Plus, we get a new "brother". The gods bickering and the whole build-up to the great battle/climax/war-resolution kind of fell a bit flat because it was just -gods bickering- and being all narcissistically close-minded gods. I wish we got some more lucifer being all devil-y and stuff but se la vie.

I have very much enjoyed this series and am so looking forward to more. 

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Stupendous!  

Bjorn and Anja have a love that defies eternity!  I couldn't put this book down; emotion, action, twists, heat and visits from favorite characters.  I can't wait to see what comes next.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

Bjorn Cursed, the 4th book in N.J Walters's Forgotten Brotherhood didn't really lived up to the previous books in this series. I enjoyed the world building, the banter between the brotherhood but I couldn't get into the romance between the 2 MCs. It didn't feel organic to me and I couldn't feel the chemistry between them.

Nevertheless, I still will not give up on this series and I'm looking forward to reading the next one. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy, the thoughts above are of my own.

This series has a superb mix of paranormal, mythology and religious beliefs and characters all given their own twist in fascinating supernatural adventure.

The first ever Norse werewolf, created by the Norse god Odin, is Bjorn Knutson. When Odin gives him the task by of killing a woman who has escaped from Freya, he never dreams the woman is the one he could never kill - his wife Anja. So begins his adventure and fight to save her and keep them both together, despite the other supernaturals who are determined to capture her and the gods who are involved, too. Can these two long parted lovers find romance again and live to share a future together or will fates intervene and part them again?

This is a steamy, action packed romance with plenty of twists. There are new characters introduced, new interventions made and arguing gods to add to the mix. It is a good addition to the series and should still work well as a standalone, though I confess I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the earlier books in the series. There's a lot of time spent with the couple making up for lost time and with gods acting like bickering, spoilt brats but the intervention by a couple of surprise characters definitely added to the mystique and gives the possibility of further stories in the series in future.

Thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

Bjorn Cursed
Forgotten Brotherhood #4
N.J. Walters 
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bjorn Knuston was cursed and became the first Norse werewolf after the slaughter of his family centuries ago. Back then he was tortured and broken, but the Forgotten Brotherhood helped him become a better person and one of their own. Now all of a sudden Odin himself has tasked him with killing a woman who has escaped from Freya's hall and he can't disobey a direct order from Odin can he?

Before he even has a chance to track the woman or meet with the Brotherhood, he hears what sounds like a woman being accosted. When he gets there he finds out that it's three men and he knows he can't kill them, but he can't let it go either so he intervenes and is more then shocked to recognize the face of the one woman he would never kill, the one woman that he has been thinking of for centuries. He sees his wife Anja.
He then realizes she's also the one that he is hunting and if he doesn't kill her then both of their lives are at stake.

As the Brotherhood get together they come to realize that this is Lucifer's doing and he's just trying to cause problems for the Brotherhood. Big, big problems.
Will they escape this with their lives or will they both die trying?

N.J. Walters is absolutely fabulous. This book was incredible. Somehow this author manages to take paranormal beings, Viking's, God's, and Goddesses from different folklore and time bringing them all together in one story. Bjorn is the Alpha of all werewolves and so strong, yet he has the sweetest side for his Viking wife. He's loves her so much that he decides he will do anything to keep her safe. Then we have Anja. She is one tough Viking woman who also loves and only wants her husband safe. When she and their children were murdered Freya came to her and offered her a deal because Anja fought so well. This deal was that Anja would spend eternity working for Freya in her hall and Freya would make sure that each one of her children were reborn into good lives. Anja being the woman she was jumped at this deal. Until Lucifer decides to butt in and Anja ends up alive again in modern times. I don't want to ruin this book for you so I'll say no more except that I had a blast reading this book and understood Anja's love for her family. If you love the paranormal side you will not want to miss this. There are more plots, twists, turns, and arguments between the gods then I have ever read and I will definitely be giving it another read at some point. N.J. Walters you wrote an amazing book and I felt like I was along for one of the best rides of my life.

This book was refreshingly different.   I actually thought "this has the loving family feel of a Hallmark movie" only with all the supernatural beings l personally like to read about and really steamy romance. Bjorn is the father of werewolves. Odin has ordered him to kill a woman. The only thing is unbeknownst to Bjorn it's the one woman he could never harm. 
Anja is thrust into a world she had only heard stories about from the new dead in the goddess Freya's hall. Anja has been a servant there since the Viking age.
Toyed with by the God's and stalked by bounty hungry werewolves these two are doing their best to survive. With friends like the Brotherhood they might have a chance.
I would like to thank Entangled publishing and Netgalley for the ARC copy of Bjorn cursed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I just reviewed Bjorn Cursed by N.J. Walters. #BjornCursed #NetGalley

Bjorn Cursed is the fourth book in N.J. Walters captivating and thoroughly addictive Forgotten Brotherhood and while I have enjoyed all the books in this series, I must admit that this one fell short. Constantly bickering Gods became annoying and distracting, and the character growth just didn’t happen in this book. For me this was a story with a volume of potential that never really developed. Bjorn Cursed is definitely my least favourite of this series to date.

If you love a touch of Norse legend, shifters, vamps, and fallen angels and the women who "tamed" them with the added second chance romance and fight with gods over their lies and stupidity then BJORN CURSED will fit that bill. 

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Complete review may be found at: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=72785

Being at the whim of a God or Gods is uncertain at best.  Being in service to one is unending.  Bjorn and Anja have a path strewn with pitfalls and danger.  Their story is one of unending love and and the pride of Gods.  An intricate tale woven with clarity and skill.  I highly recommend it

First, I want to say I love this series and hate to give it a low rating. I was excited about Bjorn’s story since he was introduced in the last book. He was full of anger, sadness, and loneliness so I couldn’t wait to meet his heroine. Although I like that it was the wife he lost centuries ago, their reunion and established familiarity was immediate in the first few chapters. He lost all the brooding alpha characteristics that made him interesting to me and his only purpose became repetitious scenes of introducing Anja to a new world and protecting her. That and their horniness was the majority of the book. Unfortunately I never connected to Anja or their chemistry so I skimmed almost all of those scenes.

My favorite part was what I kept thinking as the Avengers assembling for the final confrontation. Mostly they stayed in the background, which was understandable, but felt like a miss. I was relieved when Maccus said “It’s time to put an end to this once and for all.” I’m sure he meant Lucifer but I just wanted the (again, repetitious) back and forth to end. There were so many brief skirmishes between Anja/Bjorn with their Nordic gods (bored and ‘this is bothersome’ Odin/Freya). Repetition  of how impressed Bjorn was with Anja’s bravery or how they’d always be together filled the long awaited confrontation. 

There is the introduction of a new character that was a nice surprise and has me looking forward to the next book. I'm left wondering how he’d be a member when I’ve thought each were the supreme of their beings (vampire, shifter, etc.) Maybe that will be discovered or explained or the Brotherhood will expand beyond its original concept (for more books)?  

In the end this wasn’t my favorite but establishes a new character and background. I loved seeing all of the previous characters and hope that continues.