Murder by Death

Vikings and Norse mythology.  Almost enough 'said.

Unfortunately there's a love triangle and it's one of the super annoying kind, with a self-centred ass with puppy dog eyes (Val) as one point of the triangle.  The bull-in-a-china-shop kind of alpha.  The other point of the triangle was Thorin - Thor's son, so we all know whose side I was on.

It's a good story; once I started I was loathe to put it down, but watching Val bluster about, trying to boss and bully Solina, got old long before the book was half-way over.  Thorin wasn't much better but at least he improved, while Val just become worse.

This is book 1 and it's not meant to work as a stand-alone.  There isn't a cliffhanger but there isn't any resolution either and the ending left me annoyed and feeling like another over worn trope was going to be the center of book 2.  Fake death anyone?

Not sure if I'll get the next book or not; I'm invested in the characters, but I'm not sure I trust the author not to screw with them beyond my (personal) definition of reading entertainment.