Forged of Immortal Blood by V. M. Nelson

A Norse farm girl fated to save the gods. A best friend and lover turned valkyrie. A fierce right hand to the jarl with a secret that might end his life. Their forbidden love for each other may ruin them and the gods’ plan to change their own future. Every year, the gods pay a visit to Skuld—the most powerful seer—to receive a vision of what their future holds. This year’s foresight will lead them to Solveig, a young woman fated to save them from their demise. Solveig doesn’t know that she is part of the gods’ destiny. She only knows she was born into a world that will not let her love her best friend—Hilde—and instead takes everything from her, including her choice of who she will marry. In a desperate attempt to plan their getaway, Solveig and Hilde encounter the gods’ seer, who tells them their prophecies. After that, nothing is the same. Solveig, desperate to get away from her betrothed—a man of great cruelty—runs away, leaving everything behind. Alone and afraid, death comes for her, and she finds an unlikely ally who offers her two different paths. Become the warrior she has always wanted to be and maybe one day return to her family or hide in a neighboring village and change everything she is, in hopes that the man she is running from never finds her. When the odds are against you, what path would you take?

New Adult • Fantasy • Fantasy/Historical • Fantasy/Mythic, Retelling, and Folklore • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+/Own Voices

Content Warning: Content and Trigger Warnings Alcohol Arranged marriage Battle between clans Blood and violence – on- and off-page Brutal Injuries Bullying Children in battles Death of children in battles Death of family Death and dismemberment Decapitation Domestic violence Hand-to-hand combat Intense violence Mention of animal cruelty Mention of kidnapping a child Murder Sexual assault Sexual assault by more than one-person Sexually explicit on-screen scenes Stabbing Torture Victim blaming