Karina Halle

A STANDALONE ROYAL ROMANCE from the NYT bestselling author of The Pact and The Swedish Prince. When I first applied for the job I thought it would be like all the others: working as a nanny for an aristocratic family. Then I got the job and found out how wrong I was. Now I'm the new nanny for two adorable little girls who happen to be princesses. Their father is the widowed King of Denmark. And my new home? The royal palace in Copenhagen. Adjusting to my new life isn't easy but the hardest part hasn't been the girls who still grieve over the loss of their mother. It's their father. Cold, mysterious and moody, with an icy stare that seems to penetrate your soul, King Aksel may have hired me to take care of his daughters but he wants as little to do with me as possible. Yet the longer I share these palace walls with this man, the more that I'm drawn to him. His chiseled face and sexual swagger are only part of the package. It's in the long, intense glances at the dinner table, the way we'll brush up against each other in the halls, the rare glimpses of the man deep inside, like the sun passing through clouds. But no matter how I feel about him, we can never be together. You think it's bad enough being in love with your boss? Try falling in love with a king.

A Nordic King

Lover of Romance 

A Nordic King is a stand alone romance that features a widow father of two children and a nanny that come together. I haven’t read Karina Halle in years, but this title really worked for me and after reading some raving reviews I just knew that I needed this book in my life for sure. I have such a weakness for royal characters in my romances and A Nordic King had everything that I really look for in a set up of a story.

Aksel, is the King of Denmark, he has two little girls, and at the beginning, we see his wife, the woman he does love, having an affair…a woman who really only wanted the crown and never him. And through a set of unfortuante circumstances, she was killed in an accident and now its just up to Akel to raise his daughters on his own and run a country. But he also bears a huge weight on his shoulders of the guilt he feels. Our delightful heroine, Aurora, moved from Australia to Europe and became a nanny. When she is called in for a new job, she has no idea that it will be for a royal family. She shapes a strong bond with the two little girls that she will be taking care of…Clara and Freja. But upon the first meeting of their father Aksel….he wants her gone because he finds her too beautiful and too much of a temptation for him. But his daughters have him wrapped around their little fingers and yields in allowing Aurora to stay. There are sparks and flames that fly between Aksel and Aurora, a sizzling chemistry but when their pasts collide with their present…will the love they have be forsaken …..

 “I’ve found love, love that I’ll wear better than any crown.”

What an incredible romance and honestly I didn’t want to put this one down. I love books that I can’t put down and you never want this book to end. I will admit that I have read Karina Halle and it was years ago and it was more dark than I was ready for. But after reading a fantastic review from one of my closest blogging friend Michele @ Harlequin Junkie….I knew I had to pick it up. Plus I am a sucker for royals and most especially single dads…and what a father Aksel is. Aksel is one of those fathers that will do anything for his children. I love how they really can get him to agree to just about anything…show some tears and he caves hehe Its pretty amusing in many ways seeing how much he loves his little girls and will do anything to make them happy. They are spoiled but I love Clara and Freja…they are so darling. They have gone through a lot though losing their mother and never finding a good nanny that they like…at least until they meet Aurora who has a Aussie accent….teaches them about gods and goddesses and accepts them for who they are.

Aurora has been burned in the past from being a nanny, and Aksel knows about her history as a nanny. Even though he feels a strong attraction to Aurora and wants to act on it he also doesn’t want to scare her or make her think that he is anything like her previous boss who pretty much was sexually harassing her. What I found most interesting was that these two both have painful pasts….taking actions that they both regret. Neither of them are perfect and have made some mistakes, but they have learned and grown from their history and become better for it.

 “Is that the only thing that’s important to you?” he asks, his voice low and rough. “The job?”
 “No. The girls are everything to me,” I take in a deep breath. “As are you.”

Now I did want to focus on the relationship that Aurora has with the little girls and how crucial these girls are to the story…but that they don’t distract from the romance. Clara and Freja are definitely in need of some maternal guidance….they have never really had a strong influence of a loving mother. They were both young went their mother was killed. They are a bit spoiled at times, but they aren’t brats. They are willful and independent at times but adore their father. They form a strong bond with Aurora…who is kind and gracious towards them and doesn’t look down at them…treats them as her equal and they respond in kind. And lets be honest…they become a bit of matchmakers, its very obvious that they want their father to be with Aurora.

The romance that develops between Aksel and Aurora is so sexy yet sweet. They definitely have their “Hot” moments, but there is so much endearing qualities to their story it really balances out.

 I surrender completely.
 I want to give him everything.
 I want him to take me, take me over, devour me.
 Rule me.
 I want every single part of him, deep inside. I want to see how much of him I can take, how he feels from the inside, what it’s like to be thoroughly fucked by the King of Denmark

There is some fun bantering especially in the beginning of the story. Aurora is no door mat and she gives back as good as she receives and doesn’t let “his highness” go all over her despite the fact that he is her boss. She doesn’t want to give into what she is feeling for him though, because of the fact that he is her boss and a king and he is out of her league. She knows her past and fears what would happen if the truth would ever come out. But I love how she acts on what she feels eventually and what a slow burn romance this one turned out to be and I wasn’t expecting that from this author. But I was more than happy for it to happen. We see them slowly fall in love before any sexy times happen and once they do start having sex…it only becomes a more emotional experience for the reader.

 She’s not just a nanny.
 She’s Aurora.
 She’s my reckoning and saviour all at once.
 She’s her namesake, those northern lights that brighten the darkest winter skies.
 She’s my homecoming.
 And I’m in love with her.

I fell in love with both of these characters and their endearing love journey and they both surprised me in the end here….I liked that once the truth comes out and its not all super angsty like you would expect. They talk and communicate with each other and become more open with each other and boy I LOVED that. That they are both mature adults and understand the importance of forgiveness and acceptance.

 I am a king. And I belong to you in ways I never thought possible. More than I belong to my people, more than I belong to the people, I belong to you.

Overall A Nordic King is a sensationial romance that brings together a family of loss and hurt and betrayal….there is a fresh and renewed feeling to this story that gives off a feeling of passion, laughter and true partnership and a love worth fighting for! BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN.

 “You love me. I am home.”
 Tears spring to my eyes. “Home?”
 He nods, just an inch, brow forever furrowed. “I’ve waited forty years for my heart to have a home… I’ve waited for you.”

Jennifer Eggleston 

Let the mask drop ...

Aksel and Aurora ... Widowed Dad who is also a king and the nanny. Trope heaven! Not sure why it took me so long to read but it was a great read! 

This is a slow build romance with some steam heat! Once the masks drop it moves fast! 

If you are a fan of royal romances then add this book to read!

cris 🫀

Un forbidden love con age gap, grumxpy x sunshine con single dad y muchas escenas buenas de smut.


A Nordic King es el tercer libro de la serie Nordic Royals que puede ser leído como un standalone. Askel es el rey de Dinamarca, el más joven en toda la historia en asumir el reinado del país; durante toda su vida Askel ha buscado pertenecer a alguien, y lo único que ha encontrado ha sido una tragedia tras otra. La más resiente es que ha perdido a su esposa, y se ha quedado viudo con dos hermosas niñas por cuidar. Debido a su desesperación entre ser padre y rey, debe encontrar a una niñera lo más pronto posible, y es ahí donde conoce a la entrañable Aurora. Aurora James es una encantadora joven de 22 años que huye de un pasado doloroso y solitario, tratando siempre de superarse a si misma acepta ser la niñera de esta familia real. Lo que comenzó con una relación de odio entre Askel y Aurora, poco a poco se va convirtiendo en el más dulce de los amores. Ambos tendrán que vencer a sus demonios del pasado (y algunos del presenta) para poder estar juntos.

OMGGGG con este libro. Ha sido una lectura hermosa de principio a fin. Confieso que comencé esta serie gracias a que mi amiga me dijo de que trataba este libro en especial, y si bien el primero me gustó y y el segundo fue agradable ¡ESTE ES EL GANADOR! Ha sido mi favorito de toda la serie por mucho.

Tiene tantos tropes que hace que la historia sea muy interesante. Lo comencé hoy mismo en la mañana y no lo he soltado. Askel comenzó siendo siempre tenso y en ciertas ocasiones un idiota, pero poco a poco iba bajando la guardia con Aurora y nos dejaba descubrir al verdadero hombre que se ocultaba detrás de la fachada de rey frío. Me gustó mucho que desde el principio nos contaran el el prólogo lo que pasó en realidad entre él y Helena, sobre todo porque no soy fan del trope de la esposa muerta, pero una vez conociendo sus verdaderos sentimientos y toda la situación, fue mucho más fácil de digerir. 

Aurora era un rayo de sol dentro de la tormenta que representaba Askel, siempre sonriendo y brillando, no dejándose pisotear por nadie, ni siquiera por el mismísimo rey de Dinamarca. Su relación con las niñas, Clara y Freja, me encantó. No fue para nada forzada y genuinamente sentía el cariño que las niñas le tuvieron y viceversa. 

El vínculo de Aurora y Askel lo sentí mágico, como si dos almas gravitaran al mismo punto para encontrarse en una colisión inevitable. La forma en que ambos bajaban sus paredes, se deconstruían para mostrar su verdadero yo frente al otro fue sorprendente. Aprecié en todo momento el hecho de que Askel jamás tuvo miedo al qué dirán por elegir a Aurora, me enamoré de la forma en que él se refería a ella como "su hogar" y "su reina"; fue muy hermoso.

Por otro parte no me gustó mucho el climax, siento que había otras posibilidades de desarrollarlo para no sentirlo más como algo que tenía que presentarse porque todo apuntaba a eso. Hubo muchos elementos que sentí desaprovechados como la relación entre Askel y su madre, ahí pudo haber un gran momento que aportara algo a su personaje. O que la participación de Nicklas en el problema principal fuera tan pobre, cuando Askel ya lo había tenido que agentar años; siento que no valió la pena para la trama.

Dejando eso de fuera, como dije, ambos son mi pareja favorita y se agradece que su libro fuera tan bueno después de su antecesor.

** spoiler alert **
           Ya he mencionado esto varias veces, pero tras leer tantos libros de romance, me he vuelto mucho más exigente con las historias y ahora casi nunca logran convencerme del todo.

¿Las disfruto? Por supuesto que sí, pero hasta ahí.

Tenía muchas ganas de leer este libro, y más porque decían que este era el mejor libro de la serie; y aunque no estuvo mal, y fue un romance lindo, simplemente no me generó nada y al final se me hizo un poco meh.

Soy fan del trope de la esposa muerta, pero no soy tan fan cuando me plantean este trope con el trágico desarrollo de que el culpable de la muerte de la esposa, sea el mismísimo esposo. Tal vez el matrimonio de Aksel y Helena era falso, y nunca se quisieron en realidad (y ella lo estuviera engañando), pero qué horror que el plan de Aksel le haya salido tan para la mierda (esperar que Helena y su amante estuvieran juntos para exponerlos) y haya tenido que cargar con la culpa del accidente. Y no solo eso, sino que tuvo que contratar al tipo con el que su esposa lo engañó, por la culpa (y la obligación) que tenía con este porque él sabía su secreto tras lo que realmente sucedió ese día (aunque para mí el accidente fue culpa de todos).

El pasado de Aurora me pareció un poco cliché, y su historia no me generó nada. Era triste, por supuesto, pero de alguna manera me pareció más de lo mismo. Pensé que se abordaría más sobre su pasado (su infancia, su madre desaparecida o su ex), pero más que darnos flashbacks, simplemente eran conversaciones vagas, pero con detalles, entre ella y Aksel, para que el lector tuviera una idea de qué había sido de su vida antes de llegar al palacio (o a Europa). En realidad, no estuvo mal, pero esperaba un poco más de todo eso.

Incluso las niñas se me hicieron un poco meh (y eso que amo las historias que involucran a niños en lo general). Además, acá me fastidió algo, y es que creo que a veces los autores se olvidan de darle diálogos acordes a la edad de los personajes infantiles. Tal vez los niños de hoy en día son bastante adelantos, y más en este caso que son princesas y su educación capaz es diferente o no sé, pero más de una vez olvidé que Clara y la otra (se me olvidó el nombre de la niña y acabo de leer el libro) tenían unos 7/6 años, y no más. Y no solo fueron las niñas, sino también los hijos de Aksel y Aurora en el epílogo, que supuestamente tenían como unos cinco años, pero sus escasos diálogos me hacían pensar que eran mayores.

Lo único que rescato, es que no hubo ningún drama innecesario, y gran ejemplo de eso fue cuando Aksel se enteró del pasado de Aurora, por un momento pensé que él se molestaría y la dejaría ahí tirada, y se iría sin escuchar su versión de la historia. Pero en vez de eso, simplemente se enojó, luego recapacitó, y después de un rato de tensión le dijo que básicamente quería todo con ella sin importar qué, y su única preocupación era si ella deseaba lo mismo que él. Además tengo que señalar que Aksel se lanzaba frases muy bonitas y eso me encantaba, pero me temo que tampoco se me hicieron muy memorables…

En fin, viéndolo desde otra perspectiva, este es tremendo libro porque tiene como protagonista a un padre viudo de unos cuarenta años (así que lo podemos considerar un dilf en todo su esplendor), y de paso, no es cualquier hombre, sino que es ni nada más, ni nada menos que, el rey de Noruega.

Increíble, nunca entenderemos porque no me encantó este libro.

soph

NO PUEDO DESCRIBIR LO FELIZ QUE ME HIZO ESTO, DIOS

Laja

Karina strikes again! She is the queen of royal romance and I need more! I can't express how much I loved this book. I genuinely loved it so much and read it so fast. I honestly can't choose who I love more between Viktor, Magnus, and Aksel. They are all very swoony but something about a single dad romance gets me.

Let's just start with the characters. I really loved to read in Auroras point of view. She was funny, charming, and was all around a great character. I didn't really have any moments where I was like "will she just shut up already", which is great because I get to that point a lot in romance novels. 

Aksel, of course, was the king I needed him to be. As a king, he was Handsom, Serious, and mysterious, but without the title, he was charming, sexy, and such a dirty talker. I really loved the dynamic between Aurora and Askel and how smooth it was. Don't get me wrong, I do love some good insta love but this was just the right pace. 

I also love the little backstory we had on Aksel and his wife. I loved how it added a little mystery to the plot. The little-added touches like the pig, Snarf Snarf, and the girls were too cute! 

I absolutely loved this story and already want to binge all three of these royal romances again. I highly recommend if you're looking for a fun royal romance! and did I mention its H.O.T! This can be read as a standalone but highly recommend reading Viktor and Magnus stories! 
 ***I was sent an ARC in exchange for an honest review***

Preye

This was quite good! I took one star off because I didn't like the end.

Elif Gültekin

Tropes; 
•Single Dad
•Royal
•Grumpy/Sunshine
•Nanny Romance (slightly employee and employer)
•Healing (romantic relationship way)

 It was not the most realistic scenario of all time but it was very enjoyable. The plot and backgrounds of characters were strong. But this part can be more detailed. I love two little princesses and Royal drama. 

Amanda J 

Seemed a bit unreasonable (even with acknowledging it as unreasonable to begin with)

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads.


I'm totally loving Karina's recent royal romance releases. (Hey, alliteration!) I've always enjoyed royal romances, but I've not read that many of them for some reason. But, of the ones I have read, hers are near the top of my favorites list. A Nordic King is probably at the top of the stack, too. I adored this gorgeous book.

Karina has a way of grabbing me from the very first page of every one of her books. A Nordic King was no exception. The prologue was gripping and totally made my jaw drop. There's no slow build when it comes to a Karina book and I love that. Now, there was a great slow BURN when it came to the romance, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I fell in love with Aksel, Aurora, Clara and Freja SO HARD. Oh! And I can't forget Snarf Snarf. What an adorable little pig. 😍I love me a good grumpy hero and Aksel certainly fit the bill in the beginning. I'm glad we had both his perspective and Aurora's, else I might've thought he was more jerk than swoon-worthy man. The characters in this book were just wonderful. Aurora was easy to love. The girls, Clara and Freja, were absolutely adorable and so full of personality. Snarf Snarf brought the feels and the giggles and definitely added to the story.

Aksel and Aurora's chemistry was fantastic. The sexual tension sizzled. I wanted to lock the two of them in a room so they could just get it on already. That's perfectly normal, right? 😂But I think it was that slow burn that made it apparent what was going on between them was more than just lust. The feelings were real and they were building towards something amazing. I was all for it, too. Their unconventional little family was perfection and I loved seeing both of them move on past the guilt and uncomfortable parts of their pasts.

I always say no one writes complicated love quite like Karina and that was as true as ever with A Nordic King. The only thing was, this time it felt like things SHOULD be more complicated because of the number of things stacked against Aksel and Aurora. But, they just fit. Things flowed. They communicated like adults. I appreciated the lack of intense angst. Their relationship wasn't without some drama, but it wasn't overwhelming. And I still got all the feels I want in a book. This one just made me flat-out happy. It was charming and swoony and sexy as hell. The perfect combination, IMHO.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FAVORITE QUOTES

For the first time in my twenty-six years, I feel like I'm actually living a life I love. For the first time, I have everything to lose.

"What a rare and beautiful thing you are."

I want to give him everything. I want him to take me, take me over, devour me. Rule me.

"I am a king. And I belong to you in ways I never thought possible. More than I belong to my country, more than I belong to the people, I belong to you."

Michelle Vasquez

My very favorite of the series!

“she’s not just a nanny. She’s Aurora. She’s my reckoning and savior all at once. She’s her namesake, those northern lights that brighten the darkest winter skies. She’s my homecoming.”

King Aksel is stoic, uncanny and everything you look for in a king. He puts the needs of his two girls and his people before his own, but in private, he’s slowly losing himself and the life he thought he had before he lost his wife. It simply took someone that brought his girls joy to open his eyes to what his heart needed to heal.

“A Nordic King,” is book three in the Nordic Royals Series by Karina Halle. It can be read as a standalone, and is a royal single dad/nanny romance. Aurora and Aksel were magnetic from the moment they met. She was fire and he was ice - and the pull that they had back and forth with one another and it gave each one of them something they both needed; to be loved and to have someone be their home. 

“I’m a king with a palace full of treasures and yet she is my greatest possession.”

This is by far my favorite story in this series, simply because of the emotions evoked by Aksel and Aurora. Their chemistry was emotionally charged and I was obsessed with watching their love story come alive.

Chantale

Bibi Disco

Lacey

4-4.5 stars!! I haven't loved Karina's recent books, but I had such high hopes for A Nordic King because of the single parent trope, the forbidden love, and the royalty involved. I'm so glad I fell in love with King Aksel and his goddess Aurora! It was a delicious, forbidden slow burn romance that was surprisingly as sweet as it was sexy. I'm definitely going to have to go back and read KH's other royal romances!

A Nordic King

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