Review of Mistress of the Wind

Bjorn needs to find a very special woman . . .

The fate of his people, and his own life, depends on it. But when he does find her, she is nothing like he imagined, and may just harbor more secrets than he does himself.

Astrid has never taken well to commands. No matter who issues them . . .

She's clashed her whole life with her father, and now her lover, the mysterious man who comes to her bedroom in darkness and disappears to guard his mountain by day as a bear, is finding it out the hard way. And when he's taken by his enemies, no one is prepared for Astrid's response.

It is never wise to anger the mistress of the wind . . .

A captivating and magical adult retelling of the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

I picked this book because of the beautiful cover and for once the inside lived up to the cover art!

Mistress of Winds is a story about a man, Bjorn, cursed to be a bear and find his love before a year runs out. If he fails, he must marry the troll queen’s daughter. I expected the other half of the equation, the love, in the form of Astrid, to be a weak character. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Astrid carries the show. She is strong, inquisitive, and not about to take anyone words at face value. Soon she discovers she has power in her own right.

Half the fun of this book was looking for all the references to myth and fairy tale. The author added great twists to many old folklores. I spotted parts of the Cupid and Psyche myth and The Brown Bear of Norway, all done in a fresh and exciting new way. It held my interest all the way through.

There was warning that this story wasn’t for younger readers. This warning worried me because I don’t care for books with graphic passages, but there was only one short scene of that kind in Mistress of Winds and it was very inoffensive.

This is one of the best books I’ve received from Net Galley, I’d highly recommend it.