The Unleashing

Five stars book!

I got this book for an honest review, and I couldn't be happier.

It was my first vikings book and I couldn't get enough of it.

The storyline was amazing, perfectly written, and the characters were detailed to perfection, i felt i knew them all, like they were my close friends.

The story behind the crows and ravens was superb and interesting, the battles felt ruthless and bloody through the pages, but sort of felt like I was really there.

We traveled through kera's transition from alive to dead and finally to crow, she stars to understand what its like to be a part of the Gods world.

Her relationship with Vig is steamy hot and at the same time lovely...sex with a viking... You get the idea!!!

I honestly recommend this book! Can't wait to keep reading.

If you were to give a roller derby team wings like Valkyries, throw in some creative Norse mythology and task them with meting out vengeance in the name of the goddess Skuld-then you might come close to imagining Shelly Laurenston's (G.A. Aiken) warrior woman known as the "Crows." The humor, bad-ass vibe, and overall craziness in this new series is sure to please both new and old fans.

Kera, a former marine, works behind the counter of a coffee shop trying to get use to everyday civilian life when one night she is stabbed while taking out the trash. The goddess Skuld is convinced by Ludvig "Vig" Rundstrom, a Raven warrior to Odin, to save Kera. After a completely crazy conversation with the goddess, Kera agrees to become a Crow as long as her rescued pit bull Brodie comes too. From there it only gets more fun. Action, fight sequences and romance all round out The Unleashing into a very fun and entertaining read.

The Crows give new meaning to chaotic and badass. When I first saw the cover I thought this would be more on the side of a paranormal romance. Although there is indeed some great sizzle that involves Kera and Raven warrior Vig (think vigorous), the story is really greatly focused with Kera acclimating and becoming part of this wonderfully wacky sisterhood. I laughed as she tries to take control and micromanage her fellow sisters while running around carrying her clipboard, only for them to toss it, along with her, out the window. I liked the fact that despite being a former marine and tough, she has this endearing quality about her that she really does not want to wreck vengeance unnecessarily like her fellow sisters. It takes awhile, but she finds a nice balance. Getting there is all the fun. Shelly throws in paranormal bad guys from rival Norse clans that offer up danger, lusty and bitchy sisters who have her back, and her dog Brodie who ends up with a few unique gifts courtesy of the goddess Skuld, and yes, let's not forget the romance with a Norse warrior to heat up the pages.

The Unleashing offers up great humor, action, and sizzle. Off to a great start in which I hope to see much more of this fun new series.

My Rating: 4 stars. I really liked it!

The first book in a new series, which is every bit as awesome as all the books I’ve come to love from Shelly Laurenston. Kera Watson is a new Crow and she’s not adjusting very well, after all she’s a Marine who’s used to order, and the Crows are bloodthirsty and thrive on chaos.

Some of the best moments are Kera trying to get the Crows to live with some semblance of order and their over the top aversion to any and all forms of order and their crazy hatred of clipboards and lists.

Vig saved Kera’s life, because he has a bit of a crush on her, even though she thought he was a PTSD ready to snap veteran. Watching these two interact and fall in love was a fun romp, because they easily fall into their relationship partly because him as a member of the Ravens and her a Crow, they aren’t supposed to fraternize yet they are completely meant to be.

This story has all the snark, humor and hot sex mixed with some serious hijinks, that I’ve come to expect from Ms. Laurenston. It’s a strong showing and a great start to a new series that I look forward to reading more of. I definitely highly recommend this to fans of funny paranormal romance and will anxiously await more.

Are you ready for an entire new Shelly Laurenston Series? I am gonna say nope! This book was spectacular! And different enough from Ms. Laurenston's other series that it totally caught me by surprise.

The premise?? A Modern Day world where the gods have people in this world who do their work for them. As the gods can't interfere in the human world. The Call of Crows series is so far about the Viking Pantheon and each clan serves a god. There are the Giant Killers, The Crows, The Ravens, the Silent Ones... but the "heroes" of this series is the Crows and their counterparts, the Ravens.

The Ravens are like so many of the other clans and were born into this world. They were raised to serve in their clans and had generations of family who had served. They are all men... Now the Crows.. well they are just a little bit different *snort* more than a little. These women were chosen and all had to die first. Upon death they were given a chance at a second life (not the game) and could come back to serve with the Crows. There is no nationality, no personality type, no organization (well sortof). These women are the clean up crew. Their job is to kill!

So when Kera Watson, former marine, is offered a chance at second life, heads are gonna but! She wants to organize the crows, carries a clipboard and everything. She doesn't understand why they have to kill everyone, can't they just solve the problem and let the humans go? Yep, sparks are flying and they aren't the sexy kinds.. So maybe there is this loverly love interest..

Ludvig "Vig" Rundstrom has fallen for the sexy former marine in first life so when she dies, he begs that she be brought over to the Crows.. Now the quiet man has to find a way to explain who he is (she thought he was a homeless vet, fallen on hard times) and just how he feels about her.

Now that we have the interpersonal stuff out of the way.. What is going on? Evil is coming and no one is sure just what it is. So now Kera has to figure out how to be a Crow, how not to kill the Crows (they are on her team after all) and how she can get together with the sexy Viking who isn't a brain damaged war vet.

This is going to be yet another wonderful series by Ms. Laurenston, I can feel it in my bones. What hasn't developed yet is the insane humor of her other two series. That may come, the inklings are there but the knee slapping pee your pants humor.. So far it's not there. Surprised me a bit but it certainly didn't hurt the book.

Don't want to wait for more!

Shauni

LOVE Shelly Laurenston -- books are great -- snarky and funny.

The Unleashing is the first in a fabulous new series by Shelly Laurenston. As with her other books it is liberally laced with humor and snarky women. Fans of Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark will get a kick out of the Crows and other Clans. This is action, adventure, romance and pure fun at its finest. I couldn’t put this book down.
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really liked this!! I'm super impressed with the creative concept of this story too. This is not your every day urban fantasy - something new is happening here. And I love it.

The main characters, despite being completely kick ass and slightly scary, were generally relatable. I loved that Kera questioned unnecessary violence and even got in a girl fight. Because, let's be honest, if you're a chick and you live with other chicks - that's bound to happen (though it might not be that violent).

The story was awesome. Like I said before - this was nothing like I was expecting. Going in I was thinking Were-Crows or something, but I was pleasantly surprised. The whole concept was excellent. There was also a fair bit of intrigue happening for book one. Usually, book one is just kind of explaining the fantastical world - but this book immediately set us up with a bigger plot. Loved it!

Shelly Laurenston, you far surpassed nailing it.

Review:

This is the first book I have read by this author and all I can say is WOW!!!! I've been missing out! The Unleashing was absolutely fantastic!

I liked Kera's character and she was well-written. Really though, I adored Vig and his sister Kat. They were my favorite characters in the story. Jace was interesting too.

The world building that the author wrote was extremely compelling, creative and genuinely fun to read. The characters were quirky, the Norse mythology was interesting and the romance was sweet.

This is only the first book in her new series and now I'm stuck wondering what is going to happen next. I really hope it is more Kera and Vig, because there is so much more to be told in their story.

Overall, this was a wonderful work of urban fantasy/paranormal romance. This is one you should pick up and enjoy. I highly recommend The Unleashing and look forward to reading more by this author. This book gets five glittery stars for being exactly what I was looking for in a book when I started reading it.