Review: A Nordic King by Karina Halle

“Let’s just say that Aksel may make an appearance on my book boyfriend short list for the year.”
~ Under the Covers

I fully admit I’m a sucker for a good single father romance, and especially when it involves the nanny. I was extremely excited to read about this one because that single father happens to be the King of Denmark. After his wife died he’s left to rule his country and care for his two little girls. So his aunt goes looking for the perfect candidate and finds Aurora. She’s been living and working as a nanny in Paris, originally from Australia, and sort of trying to find herself. While she was planning to move on to the next chapter in her life, she can’t refuse to take this amazing position for one year.

I’ve always liked Karina’s characters and Aksel and Aurora were no different. Aksel is quite frankly a jerk, but from the opening of this book we know what made him like this. His life has been about duty and country and he had dreams of having a loving family, something he never had growing up, but he quickly realized that wasn’t in the cards for him. I found Aurora to be just the right type of character to shake him up from that mental box he had put himself in.

Then there’s Aurora. She’s young and has a fiery personality. Also, she didn’t grow up with any knowledge of royalty so she acts in ways that a King can’t even imagine. It was so endearing. I liked her connection not only with Aksel but also with his two daughters. And then there’s Snarf Snarf, the Royal pet pig. I almost want to say I wanted more Snarf Snarf 😉

But back to the romance. This is an age gap romance but it’s done very nicely. While Aksel is much older, Aurora is not a starry eyed teenager. She’s had some life experience and is old enough to go into this relationship with her eyes open to make her choices. And the fact that this is a slow burn makes it all the better. Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t sexual tension because there was and when they finally give in to it the sparks are blazing hot. Let’s just say that Aksel may make an appearance on my book boyfriend short list for the year.

While there is a lot about this book that I enjoyed, I still have some issues with the writing at times. It’s not the first time when I read a Karina Halle book that I find myself pulled out of the story for some reason or another. That can sometimes be because two consecutive paragraphs have the same opening sentence. Or there are multiple times in one page where the same phrase or word is used. I think a little more editing would make this an even better story.

I’m still excited to read another book by Karina Halle because I know I’ll enjoy the stories she crafts and the characters she creates. I may not be jumping on another one quite that fast but it’ll happen.

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[about-author author=”Karina Halle”]