The Road of Bones

The Ashen Series, Book 1

By: Demi Winters

Narrated by: Islay Jacobs

A woman on the run. A crew of Viking mercenaries. A forbidden romance. And the secret that threatens them all.

Silla Nordvig is running for her life.

The Queen of Íseldur has sent warriors to bring Silla to Sunnavík, where death awaits her. When her father is killed, his last words set Silla on a perilous quest: travel the treacherous Road of Bones—a thousand-mile stretch haunted by warbands, creatures of darkness, and a mysterious murderer—and go to Kopa, where a shield house awaits her.

After barely surviving the first stretch of road, a desperate Silla sneaks into a supply wagon belonging to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she must win over Axe Eyes, the brooding leader of the Crew, while avoiding the Wolf, his distractingly handsome right-hand man. But the queen's ruthless assassin has other plans and hunts Silla obsessively.

Will Silla make it safely to Kopa? Or will she fall prey to the perils of the Road of Bones?

Featuring an immersive world blending fairy tales with Vikings, The Road of Bones leads you on an adrenaline-fueled chase with fun banter and a slow-building enemies-to-lovers romance. It is book one in the Ashen Series.

©2023 Demi Winters (P)2024 Podium Audio

I’m OBSESSED

This is literally how every romance fantasy series should be written. I personally pride myself on being able to see most twists coming but this book had me listening until 4 am?! I had to physically put my phone in another room to get sleep. It doesn’t help that the narrator was so good! Her pronunciations on words was so crisp and clear, her inflections were infectious.

Finished this book in a few days time and now I’m desperate to get book 2. Let me just summarize what this book has: enemies to lovers, queens and kings, heretics, disgusting men with one thing in mind, the most delicious kind of shadow daddy, twists you never see coming, addiction, other written perspectives, and SEVERAL unraveling mysteries.

Engaging story, interesting premise

I really enjoyed the Viking backdrop to the story, but could have used more Norse culture in the story. Well written and fun!

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS

Definitely a 5 star book! Cannot wait for the next one! The plot twists, the romance, the fresh new fantasy world! Chefs kiss

Just the thing

This was a delight. I generally am waiting for the eye-roll ridiculous in fantasy romances and this one nailed the story and characters. Sure there’s some thing that stretch believability within the framework of the author’s world, but the thing I liked most is that the main character is believable while pulling off some very intriguing plot developments. I would even go so far to say this was better than ACOTAR or the Crescent City books.

my new favorite

I'll preface this by saying that I am INCREDIBLY picky. To a fault, sadly, and maybe it's just my ADHD and short attention span. So when I say this book is amazing, please believe me. The writing is artful without being too cumbersome and the narrators voice is very suiting to the overall theme of the book. I'll probably listen to this few time over because of how much I love it and I've already pre-ordered the next book. so if you're like me, and on the fence about this book, jump right in.

Such a good read!

if you're a fan of the acotar, 4th wing, or from blood and ash series chances are you will love this. Story is really well written, imo way more well written than acotar. ( no hate I love me my sjm). The author definitely did her homework with this one. I was a little overwhelmed with all the Viking esk names and places in the beginning but, after I got a feel for the characters and the terminology, it's great. Fantastic set up for slowest of slow burn. I would give it a 1-1.5 on the 🌶️ scale but loved it nonetheless. Cant wait to read the next one.

Bonus: I also loved the narration.

A must read.

slow start but it ramps up quickly and I couldn't put it down, a must read for sure.

Absolutely absorbing

When I first started this book, I almost gave up on it, but I am so so glad I got past the first few chapters. The beginning is a bit confusing and the names of the characters threw me off, but once the story really got started, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read book 2.

Great listen!

Love the voice and accent! Plot and story line was wonderful! Keeps you on the end of your seat!

I felt every emotion possible

Like most fantasies, the beginning was a little slow, but it picks up nicely. I really enjoyed the story, the characters were well written, AND there was even a plot twist I didn’t see coming. It was really refreshing. If only I could’ve liked the MFC, this would’ve been one of my favorite reads of the year. I did not agree with most of the things she did in this book. It was irritating and I was constantly rolling my eyes. I was sad that even after 21 hours, I still hadn’t warmed up to her character. It completely turned me off from wanting to read book 2 until I realized that it also has her sisters POV.

I was super happy with the narration. Pat yourself on the back, Islay Jacobs. Beautifully done!