When Loki wakes up naked and encased in ice, the last thing he remembers is Ragnarok. Much has happened since then, because his body is now that of a mortal human woman, he no longer has any of the runes that gave him his powers, and Huginn, one of Odin's ravens, is a ragged chicken. (I will be using male pronouns throughout this review because Loki indicates multiple times throughout the book that he still thinks of himself as a man, right down to his choice of which public bathroom to enter. Speaking of which, content warning: there's some brief transphobia in that scene.)

The person who finds him and takes care of him is Gunnar Magnusson, an archeology grad student who's due to fly back to the US soon. Gunnar doesn't believe that Loki is really a god and is concerned about leaving this obviously confused person behind, but Loki turns out to be pretty resourceful. The end result is a road trip with Loki, Gunnar, Gunnar's rich stoner friend, and Huginn the chicken.

This was one of my Book Bonanza purchases. I don't think I originally intended to buy any of Grey's books, but she was part of one of the panels I attended, "The Outliers," and my ears perked up when she mentioned her "Loki returns in the body of a human woman" series. Then came several whirlwind hours of walking around, buying books, and getting autographs. I almost forgot that I wanted to visit her table and, thankfully, remembered just in time. I spent the last of the cash I brought with me on this book.

I bought a lot of books at Book Bonanza without actually checking any reviews. Maybe not the best idea. My biggest concern about this book was that it'd turn out to mostly be sex scenes. To my relief, that wasn't the case - although Loki was interested in Gunnar and very much enjoyed learning about vibrators (there's one on-page but not terribly detailed scene in which he uses one), Runed is definitely urban fantasy and not paranormal romance or erotic romance.

Loki's complete lack of knowledge about modern times and, in the beginning at least, modern languages made for a bit of a rough start, but I liked Loki's "voice" and Gunnar seemed like a nice guy. Then Gunnar left for his flight and the story abruptly shifted into high gear. Loki accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time, and he and Huginn were lucky they didn't end up dead.

Loki was generally a fabulous train-wreck, and I enjoyed finding out what he was going to do next. Freddie, Gunnar's rich stoner friend, didn't particularly appeal to me but still worked well as part of Loki's little group - I could believe that he'd follow someone like Loki, if only for the entertainment factor, and his money and car came in handy. Gunnar was a bit more difficult. I liked him, but I had a hard time believing that a responsible guy like him would do all the things he did, particularly near the end of the book. The only way I could even vaguely get him to gel as a real character rather than a convenient plot device was to view him as the sort of person who tended to be a passive follower, prone to ending up in the orbit of wild people like Freddie and Loki.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next book and am hoping that the revelation at the end of this one doesn't result in some personal growth backsliding on Loki's part. Also, here's hoping that Loki doesn't try to ditch Gunnar for stupid reasons, that Gunnar gets more of a chance to shine, that Muninn gets a speaking role, and that Grey doesn't insert a love triangle into the series. Considering Loki's reaction to Darryl Donovan and my suspicions about his identity, I have a feeling that I'm not going to get my wish on that last one, unfortunately.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Special Agent Trace Dyson races around the world, retrieving priceless artifacts from criminals. But his one dream is to recover a spear, stolen from The Valkyrie's Tomb. It's his family's White Whale, his father and grandfather's unfulfilled mission—and when he sees a beautiful and mysterious woman steal a bracelet from the tomb’s exhibit, he’s intrigued. Before he takes her to jail, he has a few questions. Laila Nyland is a Valkyrie on the edge—worn out from her duties, her final mission is to come to Midgard and find a mystical spear lost centuries ago. Forced into a partnership with Trace, she can't help but be attracted to the hardcore treasure hunter even if he drives her up a wall. The more she learns about him—the harder it is to lie to him about her mission. Before their secrets rip them apart, these two will be responsible for saving the world—that is if they can trust each other longer than two minutes.

I’ve been trying to find more Norse mythology themed books since the Thor movies came out so I had high hopes for this book. Overall, it was a pretty decent read. I was hoping for a bit more adventure, but that’s ok. The romance was pretty quick, as it tends to be in many books. I wish there had been more about the Norse mythology. I wouldn’t mind reading more from this author. I recommend.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Charmed Fates is certainly an appropriate name for this newest addition to the Omega Date Diaries. This opposites attract story is both charming and sweet. Indigo has an innocence about him that is oh, so endearing and Aaron is quite the skeptic, but still a likable character. The book is well-written and entertaining. It is a quick read, but there's no shortage of story here as Indigo and Aaron find themselves thrown together, again and again, by an uncanny set of coincidences. While there is some blush worthy steam, this one has a bit more on the sweet romance side than others in the series, but it's just as good and this pair is so good together in spite of their differences. It is part of a series, but each book is a standalone, the only connection being the Omega Date app. All in all, Nightshade has given us another delightful Alpha/Omega tale. 

I've enjoyed all three books in Nightshade's Omega Date Diaries series, but this one is definitely my favorite so far and it's most certainly the most emotional. It's not an overly long story, around two to three hours read time, but there's a lot packed into that time. Tarly and Roam are keeping secrets as they get to know one another and their anxiety over those secrets is almost palpable. Tarly's situation is scary and heartbreaking, especially when he reveals his turbulent past and Roam's determination make the relationship into something real is like a ray of hope to the lonely Tarly.
Roaming Free is not one of those action-packed shifter tales of wars between rival packs. It is a romance, in every sense of the word. It's all about Tarly and Roam and their journey to happiness, and what a sweet, engrossing tale it is.
I have to add that as a writer, Tarly is working on a book throughout this story. I've seen this done before, but I have to say that for an author to add in pieces of another, completely separate, story in the middle of everything going on between the main characters, and make it just as interesting, takes talent. Nightshade pulled it off splendidly and even had me curious about the characters in the Tarly's story.
Overall, Roaming Free is a tale of love, loss, hope, and ultimately, happiness. It's a story of two people finding that special someone to share their life and make a family with. Oh, and an absolutely adorable toddler to lighten things up when they get a little heavy.

Tina was at a wedding of her best friend.That had married a 1/2  Sons Of Odin biker, The reception had ½ socialites and half good people who get  a bad rep. Tina had been the maid of honor and Vincent was best man. But Tina had an uncontrollable attraction to Vincent. Tina had met Vincent at Tito’s six months earlier and has wanted to sleep with him since. Tina was a Jr associate lawyer. But Vincent wouldn’t let himself give in as he had two bad marriages behind him and didn’t do casual . Vincent also knew he’s fall in love with Tina.

Good story. I enjoyed it a lot. Had a little of everything : sexual tension, family, lawyer, stalker, murder, MC sit down, MCS, adoption, love, kids, fear, anger, attitude, and a lot more. I good spin on an MC story. Nice to see a lawyer with a biker. I loved the characters especially Vincent and Tina and all the ins and outs they go through.I recommend.

I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.