Heart's Ease (Northwomen Sagas, #2)

Heart's Ease (Northwomen Sagas, #2)
By Susan Fanetti

SUMMARY
The follow-up to the bestselling Viking romance, God's Eye.

When raiders from the North land in Olga’s world and take it over, she is captured and made a slave. She and her people suffer at the hands of creatures that seem more beasts than men, and not even her talent and skill as a healer can help them.

But one barbarian, big and golden, seems different from the others. He doesn’t revel or partake in the suffering of the new slaves, and, when he learns that Olga is a healer who knows some of their words, he releases her from her bonds.

The raiders stake claim to Olga’s world and mean to settle it, and she and the rest of her people who survived make a new community with the invaders. The barbarians who destroyed her world and made her a slave grow to be her friends and her equals.

The friendship she forms with the one who cut her bonds is the deepest of them all.

Leif is a valiant and esteemed warrior who’s raided for many summers. As a leader in this new world they mean to settle, he forges deep, close ties with those who’d been only allies, and sometimes enemies, and with the native people of this new land.

In particular, he’s drawn to the dark-haired healer, whose tiny body holds the will and spirit of a mighty raider.

Leif is deeply loyal to the jarl who’s treated him as a son. When the jarl arrives to view their success, Leif struggles to understand the ways his mentor has grown cruel and deceitful and to see the man he’s loved as a father, whose sons he loves as brothers. But he recognizes the brutal lies for what they are.

Torn between the man to whom he’d long ago sworn his unconditional fealty and the friends to whom he is devoted, Leif makes a devastating choice, trying as best he can to save those he loves, at any cost to himself. Even at the cost of their love for him.

The consequences of his choice are severe. Perhaps too severe to allow forgiveness.

But until there is forgiveness, there can never be ease.

Note: Explicit sex and violence.

REVIEW
Good second part

I liked the story. It did get a little draggy because we had a review of parts of the first book. I know it was necessary, but at times I was bored.

Olga was a darn strong woman, I thought the God's Eye was strong....heck no. She went through so much pain and loss, but kept surviving. I am glad she overcame her hatred to make a happy life. 

Leif was very complicated and I did have lots of resentment towards him at the end of the first book. I always felt he could have done more. I too had a hard time forgiving. 

Good to visit Vali and Brenna in the book I loved them! There story was better, but this was good too. I couldn't put it down.