To Seduce a Siren

Dangerous Tides #1

by Jenny Nordbak

Astrid is a lowly tavern wench on an island ruled by pirates. If anyone discovers what she really is, she’ll be executed. Her world is turned upside down when her father bargains her to pay a debt, and she's forced to marry Talon the Destroyer, a ruthless pirate captain known for his brutality.

Talon Thorvald is an exiled prince of Daneland, a berserker who’s near invincible in a fight. But he’s powerless to fight what he feels for his treacherous wife. She ran from him seven years ago, and now she’s a feared pirate captain in her own right.

Now he's hunting his wife...

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Pirates, Fantasy Romance, Romantasy, Magic, Smut

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2023

About the author

Jenny Nordbak is an author, retired dominatrix, and former archaeologist. When she isn't writing romance novels, she cohosts two podcasts centered on the romance genre, and delights in narrating the steamiest of audiobooks. Jenny is an advocate for sex positivity and intersectional feminism. She lives in Southern California with her handsome Viking husband and two adorably feral children.

Reviews

[buket · Rating 4 out of 5]

i guess when it's done right i do love MISCOMMUNICATION trope 😮😮😮💋💋

imagine being forced🤪 to get married to the man you loved secretly for years 😻 and guess what he's been in love with you too?!?!?!😌 some madness and some sadness happened at your wedding night 💍 annnnnnd 7 years later you see your husband first time again 🤭💋

this had pirates🏴‍☠️, arranged marriage💍, a siren🚨🤭, enough angst to keep you entertained😈 so what do you need more???????????

⚠️🚨for safety both of them are celibate during their 7 years separation
no owd
no omd she kissed her bff to make hero break and it does work perfectly 🤭 it's something i wouldn't enjoy normally but this time it works so wellllllllll

🧿 “You waited for me?”
I nudged her nose with mine. “There’s no one else for me.”
“Even when you thought I’d betrayed you?”



🧿 There wasn’t time to tell her she was the heart beating in my chest, my reason for being. So I kissed her, making myself let go the instant I felt her song even though it felt like tearing something essential from myself.



🧿Torturing it out of her was the obvious solution. But I could more easily remove one of my own limbs than hurt her. It was an unacceptable weakness.



🧿 There was a knife at my throat.
If I stayed asleep, I wouldn’t have to face what that meant, and maybe she’d cut my throat and be done with it.
I’d fallen for her trap.
Again.



🧿 “But I love you, Talon Thorvald. Only you. Always you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you he’s the Saxon heir, but I was worried that if it came to it, you’d sacrifice him to save me, and I couldn’t live with that.”
“You love me?” I repeated, heart racing.
She breathed a laugh. “Is that the only part you heard?”
“It’s the only thing that matters,”

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋 HE'S SUCH A BABYGIRL💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I love that he didn't have sex with other women during their separation. I HATED how many times he distrusts her.

I left this book feeling frustrated and I can't pin it down entirely. I think it's partly because no one is safe and happy at the end of this book.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 2 out of 5]

mediocre tbh…the mmc was just corny and not a convincing badass type character idk

[Liz | lizzuplans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not motivated at all to finish this.

Interesting premise, OK characters, but too dragged out to keep me connected. Curious to know what happens, but not to keep reading.

DNF @ 34%.

[think for yourself · Rating 1 out of 5]

Тупенька та пожована історія. Хаотична, безглузда.
Не сподобалось.

1/5

[Hijinx Abound · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viking berserker pirates and a secret siren tavern wench who is given away to settle her dad’s debts. Just put it in my veins.
I usually hate miscommunication but here I am, eating this whole book with a giant spoon.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about needing to fan myself, whew!

[KB *cursed with a freaking salmon patronus* · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 50%?? miscommunication trope sucks and it’s even worse when you do it OVER AND OVER AGAIN

[Ayushi (bookwormbullet) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

[Casually Bookish Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounding down because of GR. Spicy and fun, it was exciting to see another piece of the Dangerous Tides universe.

[Poppy || Monster Lover]

DNF 66% - not bad, but not holding my interest

[Nessa]

F**king DROPPING THIS. Worse male lead and characters ever.

When a husband and wife have trust issues, that's the sign your marriage is coming to an end. The funniest shit? The MCs in this story only got married and BOOM distrust happens. The misunderstanding was quite silly. I'm this close to calling it STUPID, and I had zero respect for the dumbass male lead who kept suspecting the worse of his wife.

If your partner jumps to conclusion and accuses you of something you're NOT GUILTY of, WITHOUT ANY PROOF, and screams at you to "Get the fuck out of here, and I'll kill you if I ever see you again"....tell me, what's the first reaction that's going through your head right now?

EXACTAMENTO! Now you get why I'm so annoyed!

Avery's fear of being a Siren was something I couldn't understand. The author wrote their separation for the sake of angst that DID NOT MAKE SENSE. Their motivations and etc just didn't align and there was only lust and NO LOVE between the duo. I absolutely hate when sex is written in when the couple HASN'T EVEN KISS OR MADE UP, and I'm not talking about hate fucks.

I failed to buy into it, and I HATED how TALON didn't even trust his wife, assumed the worse out of her and I give up the moment the heroine took him back without even making him apologize for painting her as a traitor, stomped all over her fragile feelings and NEVER GIVING HER A REASON WHY SHE SHOULD EVEN WANT HIM IN HER LIFE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

I'm sorry if this is my 21st century mindset speaking, but goddamned, who needs a man like Talon who can't even trust or respect his wife? Girl needs to have more dignity.

[Mindy Lee]

DNF 31% - hate a miscommunication trope and this one seems over the top already

[BB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope, here it was at least plausible but it's a rough start to the series. It was hard to get invested, dry(but angsty) characters, sketch action scenes. It def felt like it spent the whole time trying to be more

First and probably last. Seriously considering just skipping to the authors I know/like

KindleUnlimited

[Dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You need to know you can do it yourself. It’s yours to give before it’s ever mine to take.”

I enjoyed the books from the Peculiar Tastes kickstarter (created by the Bonkers Romance podcast team), so it was super exciting to hear about their latest kickstarter, Dangerous Tides. Jenny Nordbak’s The Death God’s Sacrifice was one of my favorites in the first set, and her newest book To Seduce a Siren did not disappoint.

Talon and Astrid’s relationship suffers from a boat load of miscommunications. From the first night they are set to be married, to the night circumstances tear them apart, and finally to their inevitable reunion years later, it’s one miscommunication setback after another. Usually, this would be annoying for me as a reader. However, it worked for the story and it made the eventual resolution so much sweeter. Specifically, if you know anything about Jenny Nordbak’s books , you can rest assured that the reunion between the berserker and his siren is capital H-O-T.

Like the books from the Peculiar Tastes kickstarter, the books from the Dangerous Tides kickstarter exist in the same universe and share worldbuilding. With both Talon and Astrid having their own pirate commands, a lot of the book takes place on the open water and readers don’t get to actually visit the much anticipated Atlantis until towards the end of the book. That was a little disappointing to me, since I wanted to get more on page time for the pre-introduced characters like Eloise and Seiko. Thankfully, the time we did get was a nice little snippet (especially with the the Kickstarter bonus epilogue) and I’m excited to see their appearances in the other books.

Overall, To Seduce a Siren was another entertaining and steamy read from Jenny Nordbak. I recommend this book for those who enjoy mature romance books with elements of fantasy thrown in. I’m excited to read about the stories of Talon’s siblings, Thorin and Sigrid, when the author releases them in the future. I believe Sigrid’s story, To Wed a Warrior Queen, is projected to come out later this year.

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of the Author): Explicit sex, violence, murder, threat of sexual assault (non-explicit, briefly mentioned), threats of torture, aphrodisiac sex magic (doesn’t compel anyone to do anything they don’t want to do), kidnapping

[Juliette Brandman · Rating 4 out of 5]

So as we know I hate a miscommunication trope HOWEVER this was sexy and not annoying because of the dual POV you as the reader know that these two are fated to be together!

I love this fun pirate world and the characters have depth and it was fun and sexy and like campaign 2 critical role brought to life so I loved that💕

The Viking stuff pulled me out, but it was still fun and I’ll totally read the next book because it’s giving enemies to lovers to Allies and all😍

This book was spicy and sexy and I loved

⭐️���️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶.5

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing of To Seduce a Siren was all over the place. The story was chunked out more around percent of book completed compared to what would’ve fit more naturally to the narrative.

Talon is a berserker and a Viking prince who has become a pirate with his two brothers and sister. He can read people’s desires, which comes in handy around the sexual and romantic desires in this plot, but otherwise, it only plays into the miscommunication. Astrid is a barkeeper sold off by her father to Talon to keep the peace on their pirate island. She’s a secret siren and, of course, a virgin because sirens are executed for their powers.

After their wedding ends in disaster, the two are separated for 7 years. During that time, Astrid becomes a successful pirate and Talon believes she is a spy and helped their Saxon enemies. When the two reunite, they spend almost all their time either lusting after each other/having sex or Talon being mad at her for yet another miscommunication on his end.

About half of the multiple miscommunication moments made sense, and the rest felt shoehorned in to drive unnecessary conflict. Nordbak is setting this novella up to launch a series about the rest of Talon’s family.

Talon and Astrid have their coming together (pun intended) moment that signals their HEA, and then the final chapter is an “epilogue” where the couple goes back to the battle against the Saxons. It ends on a cliffhanger. I don’t mind the cliffhanger — perhaps because I didn’t care enough to continue with this series — but to call it an epilogue came across as Nordbak adding something called an epilogue because that’s what you do in romance books. Between that ending and the pacing, I found the book pretty frustrating despite a few interesting characters and some cool world-building.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miscommunication: The Book

Normally I hate the miscommunication trope, but this book was so fast paced that it didn't really matter. And boy howdy was there a lot of miscommunication!! It seemed like as soon as the characters talked through one thing, something else was misunderstood. It was getting ridiculous!

I was disappointed in the time skip in the beginning. One second Astrid is a "tavern wench" forced to marry one of the hottest pirates on the island...we get some miscommunication...and suddenly she's a badass pirate captain with an equally hot quartermaster?? Where's the juicy middle of that?? We get told what happened in the in-between, but I want to see it, not have it told to me by other characters, you know what I mean?? Like Astrid makes all these friends in Atlantis, but we only get told that they're her friends, so I don't really feel connected to them.

Also I feel like the public sex and the mass orgy is caused was a kink that maybe should have been expressed by itself in the beginning content warnings?? Cause when I got to that part I got a little whiplash ngl. This is why we check the tags people! 🤣

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooh, very good!!!! A little bit Viking/Saxon, a little bit early American settlers, a lot of pirates, and a bit of magic - it's a good combination! Talon and his siblings want to set themselves up as the pirate rulers of Ocracoke island, and Talon gets his wish/desire to marry the Pearl in the bargain - but Astrid's secret and a sneak attack on their wedding night leads to tragedy and separation. There's a time jump of 7 years and we see that Astrid has thrived while on Atlantis, gaining strength and skills and confidence, but that's almost all undone when Talon catches up to her.

Yes, there's a lot of conflict caused by misunderstanding, but both leads have good reasons for not trusting the other with their biggest secrets. Once they do talk it out it's them against the world, and especially Talon against the world if anyone does Astrid wrong. The whole supporting cast is wonderful, and I'm so excited to read the rest of these. Picture it like the Vikings and Black Sails TV shows mixed together, with a hint of magic, and I think you'll be pulled in too.

[Blake! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astrid is a tavern wench with a shitty Dad on an island ruled by Pirates. She has a dark secret though. She is a Siren, which is an automatic death sentence. Her father sells her as a debt to Talon Thorvald, an exiled Pirate Prince who is also a Berserker. They are wedded, and right when they are getting down to consumating it, a battle breaks out. Talon thinks Astrid has betrayed them, and Astrid thinks Talon has discovered she is a Siren, so she runs away. Seven years pass, and Astrid is now a Pirate herself. What will happen when she runs into her husband?

I liked this book, even if there was a lot of miscommunication and not a lot of substance. This is definitely a case of "He Falls First" and Talon is a total simp for his wife.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I'd started this book midway through a series, and I had to keep checking that this was the first. There were so many characters and plots that had come before, and many were quite superficially described in this book. So, it felt like I'd missed something and just had the recap.

Regardless. I enjoyed the world and plot. The main couple felt almost tangibly linked with good chemistry.

I liked that their breakup came from genuine miscommunication and assumption rather than stubbornness or purposeful deceit.

I definitely want to read another book in the series, and I'd like to think with this back story now under our belt they are more developed.

[K.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly hate the miscommunication trope, and this book uses it in spades, but that should tell you how much I loved To Seduce a Siren, considering I still gave it five stars. The two main characters were fascinating, both their different personalities, and their abilities as a berserker and a siren. I loved the dynamic, the powers, and the world-building. Even all the side characters were great, and I'm super excited to keep reading the rest of these books to see what happens with the siblings. Gotta love a forced marriage that ends in true love.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting my Dangerous Tides kickstarter ebooks. Started with Jenny Nordbak since that was first in the list. Also, apparently the island-wide orgy that occurs in this book is reflected in other books, so it seemed appropriate to start with this one.

This is extreme second-chance-romance-marriage-in-trouble-extreme-miscommunication-siren+berserker romance. One million bananas. Also, at least ten showers on the Tara Scale. Bravo Jenny. (also, way to set up more books for this series independent of the kickstarter)

[Jai M {Cat Crazy Dragon } · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

Too tired of this to write a full review.

Weak pirates, MMC lacking any sort of resolve, constantly thinks the worst of FMC at the slightest provocation.
Weak, whiny, FMC, who becomes [is?] a Mary Sue. Initially deserves MMC scorn, then deserves it, simply because she tolerates it unfairly 🥱

Massive miscommunication trope, and betrayed body.
‘I can, I can’t’ trope, that is severely over written!!
Major cliffy, despite this being the end of this couples story. New book, new couple.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The FMC was shamed for her sexual desire from a young age and has very much internalized this at the start of the story, if that's a problem for you, be kind to yourself and skip this book.

Also, I went into this thinking it would be a standalone and although the couple ends up together, the story is very much not finished, despite having an epilogue. For the main characters of this book, it's not a cliffhanger, but it most certainly is for 2 other couples from which the story will continue with their vantage points, with 2 books announced.

[Books_n_tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just fine till 80% of the book.

I loved that it was dual POV and the miscommunication felt genuine at first.

But when the same thing repeats and we get the same reaction, it hurts.

Talon (MMC) was sweet with his words but his gestures sometimes said otherwise.

FMC was written nicely, her hesitation and trust issues were genuine.

I had a major issue with the FMC kissing her best friend in front of the MMC (even though it was instigated because of MMC). It felt weird that the bestfriend responded back. Kinda odd, but can be overlooked.

[ErikaWasReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by Jenny was a kickstarter and I was excited to jump into this one.

This book centers around miscommunications (hence why they are apart for 7 years), which is normally a pass for me. But I thought it was handled well, and the author did a good job of helping the reader understand why they might not be open with each other.

It was delightfully steamy and fast-paced, while also setting up books for the siblings.

[Jeanette S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. Didn't hate it but didn't love it. I was getting extremely frustrated with both characters. The amount of mental gymnastics both characters had to do to keep up the miscommunication trope was giving me the spins. And I usually LOVE miscommunication. I did wish that it wasn't a novella. I think if it was longer the author could have developed these characters in the way they needed to be developed. I did enjoy the world and would read another book in this universe.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen, I HATE the miscommunication trope. However, I was able to let it go because the chemistry between Talon and Astrid was just off the charts! I really loved the action in this and the stakes that they were building up. I haven’t read the rest of the stories in the Dangerous Tides anthology yet but this was a great introduction! It ended kinda abruptly for me though, which 100% left me wanting more! I need more Talon in my life!

[OnTheSamePaige]

DNF at 23%, so no star rating. Awkward info dumps of worldbuilding. I thought maybe this wasn't the first book.

Acted like the idea that she is a Siren is a secret reveal to us. It's IN the title, we knew.

She was going to tell him her secret, but then they came up with another reason for miscommunication. This whole book rests on miscommunication, and I found it frustrating rather than a steamy slow burn. Not for me.