What an amazing end to a series as we meet the fourth, no wait, or is it fifth (?) main Forgotten Brotherhood character! To have all of the brethren and their women wrapped up in the final story made for an extremely powerful ending. It never ceases to amaze me how original N.J. Walters is when creating her paranormal characters. This has been an amazing journey and I encourage all fans of this author to read the Forgotten Brotherhood series. If you've never read any of her work and are reading this review I strongly urge you to pick up a copy of "Fury Unleashed" and begin the journey of this series. Each novel is a standalone but the characters intertwine with each novel.

A captivating read, Bjorn Cursed is book 4 in the Forgotten Brotherhood. I enjoyed the character dynamics and interaction as well as the intriguing story. I would recommend this book and series and will be hopefully reading many more book to come by this author.

This is book four in the 'Forgotten Brotherhood' series. I missed out on the first three books in the series and I want to read them now. This book was so good I want to know the other characters stories in the book. In saying that, this book can easily be read standalone the author does a brilliant job of giving you the information you need from past books to not feel like you missed something while reading this one.

Bjorn Knutson is a Viking. Over 1400 years ago he returned home to find his family slaughtered and cried out to Odin for vengeance. He was cursed to become the first Norse werewolf and father to the current werewolves in the world. He never stopped loving his wife, and even though he is part of the Forgotten Brotherhood he still mourns the loss of his family.

Anja Knutson died fighting to save her children. Freya offered her a deal, in exchange for her service in Valhalla, her children would get to be reborn and live the life stolen from them. She's a fierce warrior and would do anything for her family.

Odin orders Bjorn to hunt down the woman who escaped Valhalla and kill her. Bjorn takes the assignment not realizing it's his long dead wife.

Anja wakes up in current day New York with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she is saved from three attackers by Bjorn, they are both shocked.

This is only the beginning of their story of reunited love that endured centuries of separation, meddling gods and powerful friends. Gods and hunters are determined to bring her back to face Freya's justice and they are just as determined to never be separated again.

I loved this book from beginning to end. It checks all the boxes, deep enduring love, intense passion, fierce battles, loyal friends, a touch of humor and the best kind of happily ever after for these two warriors.

I received a free copy of this book and I'm voluntarily leaving a review. If you like my reviews I hope you will follow my blog. https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

3.5 smutastically entertaining stars!!

That is what I needed today. This book entertained the shit out of me. I was pulled in from the start and couldn't wait to see how it ended. Oh and should I mention, once again, I'm starting with the 4th book in a series, instead of starting at the beginning. I feel like that is a true test for a book, if I can start halfway through a series, love it and want to go back to the beginning we have a winner.

Bjorn and Anja were married when they were separated by death. Living in different worlds for over 1500 years they are finally together again and they will stop at nothing to stay together. This book, even though it spans only over 24 hrs, bring them through a whirlwind. Yup, you know it's good when it all happens in 24 hrs people.

If you need a fun paranormal book that helps you brain turn off, definitely try this one.

NJ Walters is back with another exciting book in the Forgotten Brotherhood and I’m happy I’m all caught up!

After the murders of his wife and children, Bjorn was cursed to become the first werewolf by the Norse god Odin. Centuries later, Bjorn is a member of the Forgotten Brotherhood and has been tasked by Odin to hunt down and kill a woman who escaped the Norse afterlife. When Bjorn catches up to the escapee, he is stunned to find out that it’s his wife Anja.

I like the idea of a forever kind of love, like the one between Bjorn and Anja. The way the author wrote their romance came across as something genuine, passionate, and strong. I loved that these two had an established history that was used to reconnect them in the present without too much drama. The real conflicts for Bjorn and Anja were Lucifer, Odin, and Freya, all of whom wanted to separate these two for one reason or another. The twists and turns of the plot from start to finish kept me reading late into the night and while some of those twists and turns may have been predictable, it didn’t stop my enjoyment of the story. I love well written action, strong female characters, and worthy villains which is what Bjorn Cursed has. I also enjoyed having a bit more room for previous characters to appear since the members of the Brotherhood tend to be loners, in some cases cranky loners but when push comes to shove they are there for one another. And while Ash is still my favorite of the Brotherhood, I can make some room for Bjorn too.

I love a good urban fantasy and this one did not disappoint. It was compelling and sexy...very sexy. I really enjoyed the characters and the banter among them. I love the mixing of mythologies (I'm a mythology geek). Can never have enough. And the ending was great. Can't wait to read more.

The Forgotten Brotherhood cannot catch a break. Lucifer stops at nothing to reek havoc in their lives and does the unthinkable in Bjorn Cursed. After being tasked by Odin to capture and kill an escapee from Freya's Hall, Bjorn seeks out the aid of Maccus and Asher. On his way to Maccus's home, he comes across a woman being attacked. Bjorn cannot believe the woman he is about to rescues is his long-dead wife, Anja. She is also who Bjorn has been commanded to seek out and destroy.

Bjorn Cursed is an amazing and epic paranormal novel. The author continues a good versus evil storyline with so many twists, turns, and events the reader won't see coming. I was completely engaged in this story and the characters. I enjoyed the path Bjorn and Anja had to travel in order to get to their ultimate destinations. I loved how the continued storyline makes a dramatic collision in Bjorn Cursed. Someone is out to destroy the Forgotten Brotherhood from the inside out and the attempts continue to increase. The events occurring at the end of the novel left me reeling.

The author crafted a unique world and a story that was intriguing. The book is full of mystery, suspense, action, and wonderful characters. I was easily drawn into the book and found myself completely immersed in the lives of Bjorn and Anja. How they get to the events occurring in the book is heartbreaking. Their backstory, history, and lives they've lived while apart broke my heart. Their reunion is a complete shock and I felt the emotions of both Bjorn and Anja. I love the world created by N.J. Walters and look forward to reading more by the author.

A special thank you to Entangled Publishing for a copy of this book to read.

Book four of this highly addictive series does not disappoint as Bjorn unexpectedly finds his dead wife Anja alive. Worse than that he has sent to find the woman that escaped from Freya’s hall only to find it is Anja.
I loved Bjorn as the original werewolf but Anja was something else as she had to deal with a modern world she had never seen & she was so strong in her own right.
The storyline was good & brought in the others from the Forgotten Brotherhood which was a real treat to see them all interacting.
I couldn’t see how it was all going to be resolved as it became more & more crazy but it was a great ending leaving me waiting for the next one.

This is book 4 in the Forgotten Brotherhood and I would absolutely read them in order or at the very least the previous book, although this whole series does have a bigger ARC involved that they all lead to in this one. Bjorn Knutson was cursed as the first werewolf after the slaughter of his wife and family centuries ago. Lucifer has had a woman pulled from the afterlife and flung into his path. And he has been tasked by Odin to kill the woman as a lesson to all. But before he can start tracking down this mystery woman, he comes across a woman being attacked by three men in an alley. And gets the surprise of his life when he realizes that it is his wife, Anja. And realizes the one he has been tasked with tracking and killing is the one woman he could never do that to, his own wife.

I really wanted Bjorn's story after reading the previous book, and this in no way disappointed!! I loved it from start to finish! Bjorn went through literal hell when he lost his wife and kids, and his grief drove him to make decisions that no one in their right mind would make. He still has so much anger, rage, and grief when it comes to what happened to his family. Even after so long after it happening. And that just shows how much he truly loved them. Anja is this strong as all get out woman who fought with everything in her to try to save her children. She sacrificed everything for her family. And it tore my heart apart with how much these two loved each other and lost. And the twist? That just broke my heart even more. I believe this book is supposed to be the end of the series but I really hope that the man involved in the twist gets his own story and HEA, because he deserves one as well!! Loved this whole book from start to finish!

4 stars

When I first read about Bjorn, the First werewolf, I really really wanted to know his story. I'm a sucker for werewolves and it's always fun to discover and read new takes of the werewolf lore.

Here, we read how Bjorn was turned into the First werewolf by Odin. After finding his wife and children slaughtered, he rages at Odin and begs for vengeance. Unfortunately, Odin is not a merciful god and he proceeds to curse Bjorn. Following years of being out of control with rage and pain and the compulsion of his curse, Maccus and Asher find him and help him gain control and sanity. He becomes a member of the Forgotten Brotherhood, killing paranormals who do don't follow the rules. Hundreds of years pass, and Bjorn still mourns his wife and children. They are never far from his thoughts.

Since Lucifer can't take Maccus on, he has been messing with the members of the Brotherhood. So, when Odin summons Bjorn and orders him to kill a woman that escaped Freya's Hall(Norse afterlife) he knows that something is wrong. When he finds out that the escapee is his wife, everything changes. He will not allow any harm to come to his wife, now that he found her again. But Anja isn't a wallflower. She's Viking! Ready to fight and defend her husband. But can they survive fighting against the gods?

What I truly loved about these two, was their love and loyalty to each other. Yes, the sexy times were hot but their love transcended everything. The fact that Bjorn had been roaming the earth for hundreds of years and never took another lover in all that time made me love him all the more. And Anja waited for him all that time to die and join her in the afterlife.

Now, that they are reunited they have to figure out what exactly Lucifer has done and how to evade Odin and Freya. This was an easy, entertaining read with appearances from the rest of the Brotherhood and their mates from the previous books as well as some special guests. I really hope N.J. Walters gives us a book about Death too.

** ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC., via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When Bjorn's wife and children were killed, he went crazy with grief. That's when Odin came to him and made a pact with him. Bjorn would get his revenge and Odin would give him the gift to get his revenge. But Bjorn didn't realize that the gods rarely give you anything without a price to pay for it. Bjorn's price to pay was becoming the first werewolf. With his new superior strength and viscous animal rage, he got his revenge but also killed a lot of innocent people along the way. It wasn't until be met the Brotherhood that he was able to get his wolf under control with their help.

After Anja was killed, the goddess Freya told her that she would let her children be reincarnated, born to new parents to live their lives because she and her oldest son had fought so hard to stay alive and save each other and the smaller kids. But Anja would forever stay in Freya's hall being a servant to pay for this and Anja agreed.

This story starts out with Anja finding herself away from Freya's Hall and thrust into our world with no knowledge of how she got there. Bjorn has just had a visit from Odin and given an assignment to capture and kill a female that escaped Freya's Hall, not knowing that the woman is Anja. When Bjorn hears a woman being accosted in an alley by several men, he goes to help the woman and finds his long dead wife...the woman he's supposed to kill. Of course he's not going to kill her though.

Bjorn enlists the help of the Brotherhood and it was great to see all of them again. They don't know how they're going to fight the god's so Bjorn and Anja travel to his cabin until they can come up with a plan. But Freya is informed that someone escaped and she sends her warrior to bring Anja back.

Watching the events from this point unfold had my heart pounding because the twists this story took made me sad for a while. But so many of the characters from past books show up to throw new twists in this story that I never knew where it was going to end up which was a lot of fun. Why does Ms. Walters always make me cry with the books in this series? I know it's a good book when an author can elicit strong emotions from me while I'm reading. I was holding my breath to see what would happen but I was not disappointed at all. I read this book in 2 hours because I couldn't put it down. I read fast but whew, this one had me scouring the pages faster than usual to see what would happen next. I have loved this series from the beginning but this was by far my favorite book so far. I cannot say enough good things about this series.

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bjorn Cursed by N.J. Walters
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Genre: Sci Fi & Fantasy
Release Date: January 18, 2021

Bjorn Cursed is the fourth book in the Forgotten Brotherhood series by N.J. Walters. I hadn't read the previous books in the series and was pleased to find that this was definitely a standalone novel.

This was an interesting book and I really wanted to love it, but I struggled to really get into the story. I can't put my finger on what didn't work for me, but I had trouble keeping my focus on the story.

That being said, overall, I enjoyed the story. It was interesting take on mythology and of course, I loved the vampire and werewolf stuff. I thought it was neat to see the gods of different mythologies interacting.

The romance was steamy (NSFW) and I enjoyed the love story.
I'm so grateful to N.J. Walters, Entangled Publishing, LLC, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This is the fourth book in the Forgotten Brotherhood series. It can be read as a stand-alone but I really recommend reading this series from the beginning. This is Bjorn Knutson's book who we meet in the third book of the series.

A woman finds herself taken from the afterlife and left in a foreign land. Odin himself orders Bjorn to kill the woman who escaped from Freya's Hall. Before he can start his task he comes to the aid of a humans woman being harassed by three men. Never expecting for the escaped woman to be his wife Anja.

I loved Bjorn and Anja's story. There was a lot of action like in the other books, which kept the story moving at a nice pace, even with the emotional repercussions of their individual guilt. My favorite fight scene was the last one between Anja, Bjorn, and the gods.

If you love paranormal romances I like you'll really like this.

Thanks so much to Entangled, NetGalley and the author N.J. Walters for this ARC to review.

The Forgotten Brotherhood is quickly becoming one of my favorite paranormal romance series. The tie in to different religious pantheons and traditions is so entertaining and the sex is steamy. There’s just enough humor to balance the danger and suspense.

Bjorn was cursed by Odin to be the first werewolf to avenge his murdered family. But now he’s a part of the Forgotten Brotherhood. Odin comes to him to kill a soul that has escaped from the afterlife. Only the soul he finds is his wife. Anja doesn’t know how she got back to earth, but she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her husband.

Despite the fact that this one didn't seem to have a whole lot of action, I really enjoyed it. And that mostly came down to Bjorn and Anja and their relationship. Of course, I loved all the Maccus we get (still my favorite) and I was thrilled to have Asher being his funny self again. I like how this series has the different pantheons and that this time we get the Norse. Always a favorite of mine.

At first I was a little surprised about how almost immediately Bjorn and Anja meet again. I wasn't sure how much I liked it happening so soon either. But that quickly left me when we see how these two are together. Despite all of the years these two were apart their love and devotion to each other has never wavered or faded. I liked how Anja was trying her best not to be overwhelmed with everything she learns and how she trusts Bjorn to protect her and to tell her the truth of things. I read a couple reviews that mentioned how they thought these two were having sex too much, but come on. They're vikings. Those people lived for war and sex.

Like I said, there wasn't a whole lot of action until the end because most of the story is about Bjorn trying to help Anja acclimate to this new world, these two getting to reknow each other again, and the whole group trying to figure out who would have taken Anja out of her afterlife and why. They have a very good idea who is behind it and who helped them, but it's near impossible to prove it. When Bjorn gets Anja to a cabin he has in the middle of nowhere, they think they will be safe. For a short time anyway. But they're very wrong. Freya has sent one of her immortal hunters after Anja and he has never gone against or questioned his goddess. Until it is figured out who he really is. Which only complicates the whole situation even more. Of course things escalate even more when Freya and Odin both show up next. With the Forgotten Brotherhood behind him, Bjorn will do what he has to to protect his wife and his brothers. But Anja will do the same for her husband. As if all that craziness wasn't enough, Cassie's father even shows up and that was just fun. Leave it to Death to have the last word.

I have an idea who the next book will be about, and if I'm right, I am expecting it to be good. And even if I'm wrong, I'm totally going to still read it.

I honestly don’t know why I keep coming back for more with this series, especially since my grievances keeps getting worse for every book, and I haven’t even read the first one. I guess it says something about either the writing or plot that I’m still in it, even though I can’t pin point what exactly.

My first grievance is also hard to explain. It’s just something with the writing that makes it feel detached in some way. The book has so much; action, romance, drama, a billion myths, creatures and pantheons. Yet it offers so little at the same time. While containing all these things the story floats along to the end without much of a development or impact. I don’t know how to explain it really, but it was just too convenient how it all happened. Bjorn just happened to run into his long dead wife (yeah, yeah, he was hired to do so, but he still just randomly ran into her as soon as he was given the job). They just happened to be reunited with their son (hard to see a goddess being so thoughtless that she didn’t see that one coming) and the brotherhood just happened to be at their beck and call and suddenly all a tight knit family. And let’s not forget the ending after a very schizophrenic fight (all that back and forth, yet nothing actually getting anywhere gave me whiplash) where death and magic suddenly, with no reason and out of nowhere just solves everything with a snap of his fingers. Instead of letting the story and the characters build up the story into a impactful conclusion it was the writing with a very visible author behind the pages that solved it for them, and the end result was not great. It left the story so bereft of complexity and made it forced and underwhelming.

The characterization was not treated any better either. Without names there would be no way to tell the characters apart because they were all so generic, and that literally goes for every character. The only one that tried to stand out was Asher with his jokes and not in a successful way. The jokes were bad, ill timed and out of character (I have no memory of this Asher from book three). The rest of them was one blob where the men were stereotypical masculine guys putting their women on a sky high pedestal and having their lives revolve around protecting them. The women were supposedly badass, yet also somehow constantly women in distress, sacrificing everything for what they stood for and loved. Oh, and also putting their men on sky high pedestals as well.

It was kind of over the top in a way, especially the dialogues. Some “I love you” would be completely fine, but no. That apparently was not good enough, since the only dialogue between the couple was so forced and exaggerated with how high their love could reach and how much they would sacrifice for each other. No normal conversation to be seen in miles so it really was not that strange that the romance just like the plot and characters fell flat. Because that was all there was between them; sex and over the top love declarations and sex. Oh, and how miserable they had been while apart from each other since their Norse days, which leads me on to my next grievance.

Maybe it’s just me nitpicking but to me it felt off how American both main characters were for both being from Norse times. All love declarations aside, they talked and acted like normal modern Americans, for example Bjorn calling Anja “babe”. Sure, he had lived a long time in, I assume, America so maybe he gets a pass. Still though, it felt off to me how modern they were talking with each other and that they were speaking English to each other. Or at least that’s what it seemed since the surrounding characters understood what they were saying. I mean, supposedly Anja learned it in Freja’s hall, but why would she speak it with her Norse husband? And her Norse son? It did not make sense to me, and apologies for my frankness, but it seemed kind of like lazy writing that the author didn’t even try to make authentic Norse characters more than giving one of them a Scandinavian name. And even the name was Americanized being Bjorn instead of Björn, Bjørn or Bjðrn.

I don’t know if this was the last book in the series and if I will continue if another book gets released. For all my bitching throughout three books I’m still here so there is something, albeit small, calling out to me in these books. I don’t know what it is.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book honestly wasn't my favorite. I didn't realize it was the 4th book in the series. I hate not starting at the beginning but I don't think I really missed out on a whole lot. I think it read pretty well as a stand alone.

I just wasn't a huge fan of the storyline. Bjorn's wife is basically brought back to life and Bjorn is suppose to kill her. I just didn't like this second chance story. The banter was awkward and I didn't like Anja or Bjorn.

I did like the writing and the world quite a bit though. I plan on reading the first book and I hope I enjoy it more than this one.

I’ve read all the books on this series, and I’ve loved everyone of them, big, gruff and surly, alphas to the core and happy to be on their own. But as you get to know each character, you realise it’s a bluff, they were lonely, and they needed their other half to drag them up and onto the light.
And Bjorn is not exempt from that either, but unlike his brotherhood, Bjorn had a family, he had a wife and children, but failed to look after them. They were slaughtered in a raid on his village!
But he’s secure in the knowledge that they are happy and together in the afterlife.
Bjorn is the first werewolf that was created, by Odin (he saw Bjorn’s pain and granted him vengeance against his enemies) and so he’s been around a long time. He has had regrets, namely bitting people who didn’t deserve to become wolves, he’s learning control everyday, and he is at peace with himself and the wolf within.
He’s also wary, it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that he’s being sent out to track this missing person from Freya’s (Norse gods wife) home. The brotherhood have been targeted for a while now, and the main culprit seems to be with Lucifer.
He’s in for a bigger surprise when he catches up with his target.....
Anja is confused, she’s got no idea where she is, she’s been in the dark for what seems like a lifetime, so she’s in no rush to return. Being ambushed by men has her fighting for her life. Until a stranger shows up to help her......
This book is different from the others. It had a completely different feel to it, and at first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the new formula (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)
But by the time I put the book down I had to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Bjorn has been mentioned a few times, and been seen briefly in the previous books, so I was curious about his story.
A husband and father that loses his whole family. So you can see why he’s so driven for revenge, and then to protect the innocent. He’s a great character, the first original werewolf turned by Odin is a great story.
The action like in the previous books is a steady flow. Catching up with other characters in the series is always a favourite part of mine. We get to catch up with how they are getting along.
A few laughs and funny moments break up the tense and heartbreaking moments.
Really well written as all her other books in the series.
There are a few surprises in the book.
You don’t really need them in order, as it stands on its own ok. But reading them in order gives you a better sense of the world the forgotten brotherhood are living in.
So will Bjorn capture and return the female back to Freya?
But what if it’s someone he knows? He knows she will be punished, can he really give her back to Odin and the Norse gods?


🦋

Three and a half
I've loved this series and would happily recommend to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance. Yes it was wonderful for the guilt ridden Bjorn to finally meet up with his wife Anja but sadly for me their sexual antics just seemed continuous and I really wanted more action. I did enjoy the twist about a new character introduced but the ending just took forever with God's bickering and everything back and forth until if blunt I just wanted it over. I cannot stress how much I really like these characters and I would normally rate higher but alas the petty, Norse Gods just got totally on my nerves. If there's more to come though I would love to read it and I'd love for the evil, meddlesome Lucifer to get dragged down a peg or two.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

4 - "You… Just you." Stars!

We return to the Forgotten Brotherhood series for the fourth, but hopefully not the final book; Bjorn Cursed giving us Werewolf shifter Bjorn’s story. Changed by Odin centuries ago, Bjorn has roamed the earth doing his bidding without question ever since. That is until the woman he is sent to kill turns out to be his wife. Only Anja has been dead for longer than he has been serving Odin.

"Is it really you… I’ve dreamed this so many times."

I really enjoyed this one, another rip-roaring adventure, where the twists and turns do not stop right up to the end, and the sexy times are added generously throughout to keep you invested on that front as well. The only reason this dropped from five stars is because I guessed several of the twists coming before they happened, and although it didn’t detract from the story overall, its not something that usually happens with this authors books.

So many years had been taken from them…

And we get a visit from my favourite polar bear shifter; Alexei too, so all ended well with the story for this reader. There was a sense of finality about this one, but I hope that’s not the case as I have really enjoyed the series as a whole.