Review originally posted on Fiction Vixen in March of 2016 by Angela.

The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston
Call of Crows #2
PNR
First Published March 29, 2016 by Kensington

I read Shelly Laurenston when I need something just a little bit crazy, but a whole lot funny. Anyone who has enjoyed either her Pride series or Dragon series written under the pen name G.A. Aiken knows exactly what I’m talking about.

The Undoing is the second book in the Call of Crows series and features Jace, the berserker Crow who while loyal and fiercely protective of her fellow Harbingers of Death, is a little misunderstood. Jace is a badass fighter, and that’s even before she gets super pissed and her eyes turn red, but when at home she kind of just wants to be left alone with her books. All of the Crows living their second life died the first time around under violent circumstances. In Jace’s case that involved being murdered by a husband who was the so-called Prophet of an extremely fanatical cult. While her life before was oppressive and ended violently, it did enable her to broaden her linguistic skills, which she will need when the shit hits the fan and all the clans have to come together to battle and ancient god.

This is where I usually mention the hero of the book and give a short synopsis of his background, personality, etc. I’m not going to do that here because while The Undoing is a paranormal romance, I really don’t know much about the hero except that he is a Protector and wants Jace in all her weird, anti-social, raging awesomeness. Ski Ericksen is second in command for his clan and comes into contact with Jace often, but it’s not until she comes to work for the Protectors translating ancient books that he realizes that he wants her. Badly.

While most paranormal romances focus tightly on the relationship development between the main protagonists and tend to be heavy on the angst and drama, almost all Shelly Laurenston’s titles have a heroine who is just as strong and alpha as the hero and are light and laugh out loud funny. With this series, she’s taken Viking mythology and created an entirely new cast of characters who are split into clans depending on which god they serve and who while partying together when the situation calls for it, almost always tend to be antagonistic toward each other in some way.

I think what I really enjoyed about Jace the most was that everyone around her thinks she’s shy because she would rather be left alone to read, but she’s really just introverted and not into small talk. But Ski gets her. He gets that she’d rather drink sprite and people watch while her sisters are getting rip-roaring drunk and starting brawls. He’s not afraid of her when in the midst of a fight her internal berserker kicks in and she goes on a vicious rampage. He’s willing to wait her out and take his time until she’s just as intrigued by him as he is by her. They have a sweet romance that slowly buds into a sexy, loving relationship with a solid HEA.

While I would urge fans of this genre to read The Undoing, I would say that they should definitely pick up book one first. There is an ongoing series arc that could be a little confusing if you haven’t read The Unleashing. But if you like Viking mythology, laugh out loud dialogue and original characters look no further. This book is for you. Final Grade- B-

Favorite Quote:

There was just something about him that made her so crazy. Like hot and cold and itchy. Normally these would be considered sings of an infection. But these weren’t unpleasant experiences for her, just something different.