Ravager gave me a lot to love as a dark romance, but I ended up feeling like it fell just short of being something I truly loved. I think I would’ve loved this more as a dark romance just between Cherine and Erik, but throwing Rolf into the mix often seemed like too much without any real payoff. I felt no connection between Rolf and Cherine; even when Cherine claimed she was initially enjoying her time spent with Rolf, I couldn’t feel any real connection between them. To me, Rolf was nothing but a catalyst to draw Erik and Cherine closer together, and everything physical between Rolf and Cherine was just wasted words on the page.

Erik was where it was at for me. I loved that Erik was portrayed as a reformed man. By the time Cherine meets Erik, he no longer associates with the man he once was, and he spends his journey throughout the novella proving he’s changed, both to himself and his Viking brothers. For me, Erik was a much more developed character than Rolf, and he was the easiest one to relate to.

This romance doesn’t stray too far into dark romance territory. As a MFM romance, there are no swords crossing and we only truly get one scene where all three characters are involved. Again, I think I would’ve enjoyed this story more without the distraction of Rolf, as he only seemed to detract from the endgame of Cherine and Erik.

Overall, the darker aspects of this story were just “meh” for me. I liked Cherine as a strong female character and liked her storyline with Erik, but it felt like most of the romance was trying too hard to be something it wasn’t.