A Perfect Death by Kate Ellis


A Perfect Death by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When a woman is burned to death in Grandal Field in Devon, it looks like it could be a case of mistaken identity. Until DI Wesley Peterson learns of a legend involving a woman who died in similar circumstances in the thirteenth century.

It seems clear that there is a link between the mysterious legend and the recent murder when Wesley discovers that records of a previous site excavation have vanished, and two archaeologists involved in the dig died tragically.

The case echoes a story of twisted love and obsession from many centuries ago, and Wesley realises that edging closer to the truth brings unexpected danger . . .

DI Wesley Peterson and his wife are enjoying a short holiday in France, with nothing more important to do other than decide which restaurant to enjoy their next meal in. But while out on one of their walks Wesley bumps into Ian Rowe, a former fellow student from his archaeology days, and Ian seeks Wesley’s help with a missing friend. When Wesley returns to Devon he discovers there’s a far bigger mystery surrounding this situation. Can Wesley and his team discover what’s really going on?

I enjoyed this addition to the series and found the usual blending of current police procedural crime linked with the archaeological history as gripping as ever. The main thing that stood out for me personally, however, was that the author slid into the main storyline a very good way to finally bring Pam – Wesley’s wife – around and somewhat redeem her character. I feel with the author having Pam invested and interested in the mystery Ian brings Welsey on their vacation, as well as her continuing enthusiasm and curiosity bodes well for her being more invested in Wesley’s police career. Pam’s impatience with Wesley’s divided attention – even though he clearly makes a concentrated effort to spend as much time as possible with his family and children – has rankled me for a while now. I am very hopeful this might be Pam finally turning a corner here.

Outside of this rather large character arc change, the mystery itself was very well handled I felt. I was pleased that it took the police quite some time to identify the woman who was murdered and burned, and there were a number of different events surrounding the death that muddied the waters to a good degree. I feel readers who enjoy a complicated mystery and a lot of police procedural detective work should enjoy this plot and pacing. While there is a good element of archaeology in this story – as there usually is within this series – I did feel this took somewhat more of a back seat and so readers who prefer the archaeological side to these books might feel that this is lacking somewhat in this particular book.

With a strong and interesting plot and a cast of well known and long-standing characters this is a good read and a strong mystery book.

Deep Freeze by John Sandford


Deep Freeze by John Sandford
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Virgil knows the town of Trippton, Minnesota, a little too well. A few years back, he investigated the corrupt—and as it turned out, homicidal—local school board, and now the town’s back in view with more alarming news: A woman’s been found dead, frozen in a block of ice. There’s a possibility that it might be connected to a high school class of twenty years ago that has a mid-winter reunion coming up, and so, wrapping his coat a little tighter, Virgil begins to dig into twenty years’ worth of traumas, feuds, and bad blood. In the process, one thing becomes increasingly clear to him. It’s true what they say: High school is murder.

Virgil Flowers is back in the town of Trippton, Minnesota after a woman is found dead in the river – frozen into a block of ice. Many of the locals remember Virgil from a previous investigation he concluded in their town, but this time everything initially seems linked to a twenty-five-year high school reunion planning meeting. But as usual, Virgil’s case is complicate when the new governor also wants him to help a Private Investigator run down the source of some bootleg Barbie dolls – ones that have rather X-rated additions added on for adults only. As usual, can Virgil piece together exactly what’s going on while keeping himself out of some serious trouble?

I’ve been a big fan of John Sandford for many years now – enjoying all three of his main series, Kidd, Lucas Davenport as well as Virgil Flowers. This book can absolutely be read by itself, but I feel fans who know a number of the main characters will get a deeper level of enjoyment out of the antics and crossovers between the series.

One thing I always enjoy about the Virgil Flowers stories is there is usually an element of the absurd to them, whether it’s dog-napping rings, stealing animals from the zoo or – in this case – grown up amendments to bootleg Barbie and Ken dolls. I think it would be near impossible for anyone to read this book and not crack a smile, if not a few downright chuckles. Just the situations that seem to spiral out of control and the amusement Virgil and many of the other characters seem to use to embrace the crazy and just take it all in stride. I find it endearing and endlessly fun to read – and reread again later on.

I found the two main plots were very well woven and executed, Sandford really is a star when it comes to writing these and weaving things together without actually making any huge leaps or annoying “just happens to overlap”. Indeed, I enjoyed the fact the two cases remained distinct cases and they didn’t dovetail together towards the end of the story. Each case finished up on its own merit and I really enjoyed that.

I feel readers who pick this up fresh might enjoy a funny and well plotted murder mystery style novel set in the freezing cold, wintery Minnesota, but readers who have read at least a few of Sandford’s previous books will definitely enjoy reconnecting with Virgil and enjoy his latest antics. An excellent book and well worth having a look at.

Mutiny in Chapter Three by Shelby Morgen


Mutiny in Chapter Three by Shelby Morgen
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Amy’s having a bad year. She’s lost her husband and her job and all she’s got left is a house with a mortgage and a book that refuses to be written. But she’s got Marley Davis, a great critique partner who never gives up on her, and a dozen Chapter Threes that just need to be turned into books. If only she could get past the sex scenes.

Jean and Danny — or whoever their names are in this chapter — have been stuck in these files far too long. They’ve had enough. Time for the characters to take over. It’ll take everything they’ve got, and maybe a little help from Marley, to save this book, but they’re not going down without a fight. It’s Mutiny… in Chapter Three.

Having lost her husband and her job, Amy is having a rough year. Her mortgage is becoming urgent and the book she’s trying to write just is not working. Marley, her critique partner is excellent and won’t give up on Amy, but all these Chapter Threes need to get past the hurdle of the first sex scene. Meanwhile Jean and Danny – or whatever their names are in this particular edition of the chapter – are tired of languishing in the files. They’re ready to get out and if it takes mutiny to get there, then so be it.

I found this to be a fun and lighthearted quick story. I loved the fact the characters in many senses were “real” and despite the fact they were all in Amy’s head in this story they helped direct their own story. I also found it deeply amusing that all the chapters in the first half or so of the book were various editions of the dreaded “Chapter Three”. Readers who are looking for something a bit more humorous and not afraid to take itself lightly should find this a hilarious read. Grab a drink, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Readers looking for a complicated plot or a story that’s intense won’t find that here. This is a fun rollick – rather like a cheesy 80s movie with a lot of fun, humour and banter. I thought this would be a lovely story for a quick pick-me-up when you’ve had a rough week or for a bit of steamy, laughter filled sexy reading time before you go to sleep. The first half of the book is a mishmash of the characters trying to work out exactly what’s going on and get themselves organized, then for the second half the book progresses a bit more logically with a steamy and still fun conclusion.

For a very different, and laughter filled quick read this is a good and fun story that I feel sure should make you smile and leave you feeling satisfied.

Early Adopter by Drew Harrison


Early Adopter by Drew Harrison
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The Price of Tomorrow, Paid Today
“Early Adopter” is a collection of short stories from the edge of human progress. Eight stories hold dark mirrors to our own world… experience thought-provoking sci-fi, technologic tragedy, and pulse-pounding thrillers.

To Run Again: Dr. Laura Brandie is ready to change the world.
She’s the lead researcher behind the KSE, a revolutionary cure for paralysis and neurodegenerative conditions. And now, by good fortune, she’s found the perfect candidate for her first human trial: a man who suffers from locked-in syndrome.
Brett Harmon’s paralysis is total: he can’t move his arms, legs, torso, neck, or face. To the outside world, he’s little more than a statue that breathes… but Dr. Brandie’s KSE might be the miracle that allows Brett to run again.

Homonoia: The world faces an unprecedented alignment of catastrophes and failing systems, far too intricate and interconnected for any human to solve. Frank Burman joins with seven other volunteers for Project Homonoia–a radical, last-ditch effort to postpone the apocalypse. Separate minds link to form one multidisciplinary consciousness, the world’s first human superorganism… a hive mind. But with the world’s health rapidly failing, can Project Homonoia work out its kinks in time to make a difference?

Early Adopter: A loner enters into a relationship with a new type of partner: an AI agent, programmed to be the “perfect companion.”
Sure, it’s all self-deception and a game of pretend, as she’s not actually real… but where simulated consciousness is concerned, maybe the lines between real and real enough can get blurry.

And many more!

Science fiction is for everyone, the earnest and the unsure alike.

The character development in “Early Adopter” was realistic and well done. While the unnamed main character was intelligent and resourceful, he was also incredibly sexist. I was as irritated by how he objectified and dismissed women as I was intrigued by his budding relationship with Alison, the AI agent he created and then spent hours interacting with each day. Part of him seemed to understand that it was deeply wrong for him to treat women – and women-shaped artificial intelligence – the way that he did, and I had to keep reading to find out if this faint glimmer of self-awareness would be enough to encourage him to make some genuine and sorely needed changes to his life. This could have easily been expanded into a full-length novel, yet I was satisfied with the way it ended even while daydreaming about what might happen next.

While I enjoyed reading them all, there were a few stories in this collection that I thought would have benefited from some more development of which “Commercialopolis” was one such example. It was written from the perspective of a robot named Addybot V3 who was hired to increase sales by coming up with ads that humans would enjoy. While I liked the fact that the author took creative risks here by writing it in the form of a poem and not following conventional storytelling rules, I struggled with how little the plot progressed. There were plenty of descriptions but not much time spent showing what Addybot V3 did at work or how their choices affected the world around them. If only this had been easier to follow!

Reverends aren’t that common in modern science fiction, so I was curious to see how Reverend Jacob Waters would respond to a mysterious job offer from his old friend Alex in “The Emulated.” Alex had been hired to create a computer simulation that became far more complex and human-like than she would have ever assumed it could, and she needed Jacob’s advice to figure out how best to respond to this unexpected turn of events. There were some fantastic plot twists in this one that asked thought-provoking questions about forgiveness, why a benevolent god or programmer would allow evil to exist, how humans are naturally meant to behave, and how we should respond to suffering among many other topics. Any one of them would have sufficed to nudge the plot forward, so having all of them included only deepened my enthusiasm to see where things went next.

Early Adopter has piqued my interest and made me want more from Mr. Harrison.

Dance in the Meadow by Cathay O. Reta


Dance in the Meadow by Cathay O. Reta
Publisher: Keep Walking Publications
Genre: Contemporary, Inspirational, Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

What do you do when you become widowed, leave your church family of 45 years, retire from your job and move halfway across the country? You get real with yourself. Emerging from a season of loss and the unraveling of every belief and certainty she had so carefully cultivated, Cathay began to sit in conversation with God. With God, not to God. Listening to the still, small voice of her spirit, their conversations went deep and released a well-spring of life and wisdom. These musings will leave you feeling inspired to reflect on your own life and to find answers to questions you didn’t know to ask. They will leave you knowing that you are not alone.

This book took me a while to review because I kept making notes, re-reading certain passages or chapters and brought the book with me on trips. For people who are aghast at readers who mark pages in books, they’d explode because I have chapters, pages and sentences underlined (in pencil) and I have post-it notes sticking out all over the place and weird items being used as bookmarks. I found many references I could relate to in my own life. I found inspiration and experienced more Aha! moments than I expected while reading Cathay O. Reta’s journey with God as she navigated the dark times that followed upon becoming a widow. For the first time, she was defined not by the person she married or the job she had and what she did during it, but as her own person. Thing is, after identifying herself as part of everything outside herself, how does she see herself when all she has is … herself? All good questions.

There are many chapters and sections in the book so at first it might look overwhelming. The chapters are short, like baby-steps on a journey. Each one tackled a perception of self that needed to be torn down and re-written with the focus on how God sees and loves us. There is strength to be gained when we get out of our own way and let the good Lord lead us where we are meant to go. Dance in the Meadow is a year’s journey in the life of the author; what she learned, the internal conversations she had during meditation that led her to self-awareness, and their results. It may sound a bit woo-woo-ish, but meditation is practiced all over the world as part of many religious rituals and practices. The concentration needed to accomplish deep meditation is hard. Our world is inundated with distractions, noise and problems, and they affect the mind to the point it’s as busy as the world. At times, it is almost impossible to shut out. The author found a way to escape from the chaos, but it was not an overnight thing. Again, baby steps.

Elvis Presley was a distraction at one point (I do that kind of thing), the realization that rain isn’t an enemy, it’s adulting that makes it so, and the idea that certain foods weigh you down in unexpected ways (Chapter 25), was eye-opening. In Chapter 27 I learned that clutter isn’t restricted solely to our homes, but our souls and hearts, and is just as distracting and burdensome. What was interesting to me was the explanation of how love works. Not the love we read in romance books, but a healthy, non-commercial, spiritual, and profound love that is hard to put into practice. We’re actually out of touch with its true application in our lives. The author discovers that and more on her relationship journey with God. I even found it fascinating that we really do jump to negative interpretations. When we hear our boss say, I’m going to give you a challenging project, or if you are told, ‘here’s something to challenge you’, our response is most often negative, and we jump into self-protection mode. Yeah, I relate to that. But there’s another way to look at it, and Chapter 31 offers up that way. All I know is, that chapter is me.

There were a few observations and sections I didn’t agree with, some parts I gave the side-eye to, but overall, this book really does deliver an insightful, positive, and uplifting look at healing after the upheaval of becoming a widow after decades of being married and being part of a couple. Healing is not easy or quick, but with the right focus, it can happen.

Dance in the Meadow was a book I savored slowly. It’s going on my keeper shelf, mostly because of all the markings and notes I made, making it a book I’ll revisit for reference and to be reminded of what is and should be important in my life. To remember that I’m loved, not because of anything I’ve done or will do, but just because God loves me, unconditionally, unceasingly, and unswervingly. People can’t help but put conditions on it, whether they realize it or not. This book helped me to remember how it’s supposed to be. I’m glad I read it.

Knot Real by M.C. Roth


Knot Real by M.C. Roth
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Moonflower

Vale will never have to worry about a mating contract, right?

Vale considers himself lucky that he’s exempt from having a mating contract. Why would any omega want thousands of alphas to bid on them and try to prove themselves worthy?

From his best friend Zyke to the cute omega he met at a house party—everyone’s lives seem to revolve around the search for a single mate. It’s simple… The alphas bid and the omegas make their choice, while protective instincts take care of the rest.

But the barbaric practice has its own beauty that will always be just out of reach for Vale. Maybe if he had a contract, he would find someone who would love him wholly and completely and he wouldn’t have to spend his time cherishing the last few days with his best friend before Zyke inevitably finds a mate of his own. Maybe he wouldn’t be so lonely…

Knot Real is a standalone as far as I can see, but I would love to return to this world and see further into how it works!

Vale and Zyke are best friends who everyone thinks are a couple. Vale is one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to have a mating contract, but he’s not looking forward to when Zyke has one in case it impacts their friends. Well, Zyke gets a contract, and it does have an impact, but maybe not in the way Vale was expecting!

This was a great story with plenty of emotion. It was pretty clear what the lay of the land was, but I enjoyed staying with Vale as he discovered the truth about the situation, Zyke’s feelings, and his own.

A quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending.

Scorned by Angela Addams


Scorned by Angela Addams
Publisher: Totally Bound
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Moonflower

Hell hath no fury like a werewolf scorned.

All I’d ever wanted was to blend in among the humans, but my stepbrothers had other plans. When one of them sent a thug to abduct me, I had to let my true self out, claws and all.

That was the thing… The men in my world were always underestimating me.

Being the hothead that I was, I went straight to the source of the problem—the new alpha of my family’s clan, my stepbrother Sal. He had a surprise of his own, though, and when he hit me with a magically infused pure silver collar, I crumbled like I didn’t have A-plus DNA in my blood.

That was when the Duke brothers entered my life. Heroes in their own minds, they worked a deal with Sal to buy me… as if I were a commodity. To the males in my species, that was what I was, but to the Duke brothers I was the final piece in a prophecy puzzle. They wanted me to rule their clan, be alpha to their pack, which meant they wanted me to take the bites of all three of them.

To that I said, not on your life, boys. But, damn, they were hot, and I was willing to give cohabitation a try. I’d explore their old-world scrolls and prints and listen to their fairy tales about a superpowered queen alpha. I could even get behind training with their pack, but I wasn’t ever going to let a werewolf take a bite out of me.

At least that was what I kept telling myself. The beast inside me had other plans, and I’d never truly known how to stop her from getting what she wanted, no matter who she might have to destroy to achieve her goals.

Scorned is the first book in the Hell Hath No Fury series, and we start with Charlie trying to live as a human after being exiled from her pack. After something happens, she returns ‘home’ to give her stepbrother, Sal, what for. Things don’t turn out the way Charlie was expecting though – including her being sold to a different pack!

The three brothers are all unique, with their own very differing personalities. They want Charlie to lead their pack and they’re not too bothered about how they go about that, being as they say she has been calling to them for years. I loved the aspect of Charlie learning about her beast and abilities with the brothers.

I was thoroughly enjoying this book, right up until the last scene. And it’s not because I don’t like BDSM scenes because I do. What I didn’t like was how this took place in the dreamscape with no consent or talks about limits. Yes, that may take the sexy out of it, but it is needed!

I look forward to reading more in this series and seeing how the story continues.

Love Rains by Kira Stone


Love Rains by Kira Stone
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

He’s loved her since they were children, before he even knew what real love is. As an adult he loves her even more, but she doesn’t belong to him. Yet. Maybe she never will.

She always felt he needs to be a part of her life, but exactly how remains uncertain. She loves him, but is it a forever kind of love?

When love rains down, these two meet to see what’s possible between them when the past is washed away.

They’ve always been a part of each other’s lives and he’s always loved her – but she can’t belong to him. She loves him but remains unsure if it’s a forever kind of love. Can these two meet each other’s needs when love rains down?

I enjoyed this very short story and found it refreshingly different to so many out there. Written in a slightly different way to most stories I come across – no names are used, just the “she” and “he” style of descriptors. At first I thought this would really detract from my being able to enjoy the characters and feel attached to them but I quickly found that this wasn’t true. Indeed just be reading “she/he” I found it sort of helped my own imagination fill in the blanks and almost create or embellish the written story already there. I’m honestly not sure this would have worked for me personally on a longer story – with too much vagueness the bubble might have burst – but for such a short story this really worked well for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’m also deeply curious as to whether another re-read in a few weeks or months might prove that I actually come away with a slightly different context or image of the story and am intrigued enough to really want to reread it soon and discover this.

This story felt to me very much like a vignette – a snapshot of a scene in the middle of a much larger story. A lot of things were left unanswered which I do understand might annoy some readers, but equally I really feel as if there is a lot of hope in this ending. Readers who need a Happy Ever After ending won’t find this satisfying I don’t feel, and while I’m not certain this is even a Happy For Now style of ending it does feel as if both parties are happy and satisfied with the way things between them are left.

A refreshingly different story this was a great quick read and an author I will be keeping an eye out for more of.

Mysterious Island 3: Here Be Dragons by Greig Beck


Mysterious Island 3: Here Be Dragons by Greig Beck
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Contemporary, Action/Adventure, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Below the English town of Ipswich a tunnel boring team is digging through solid rock when unexpectedly, they break into an ancient cave system filled with animal bones. Strangely, there were also the remains of men, knights in armor, some crushed, and some seemed to have had their bones and flesh melted. And there was one more thing found: a huge, egg-shaped ruby that glowed like a setting sun.

Just over 2000 miles away, still trapped on the lost island of Lemuria, Troy and Anne know that the time of monstrous beings long thought only existing in our legends or lurking in our nightmares, was returning.

But they now have a chance of escape – they have found the fabled submarine, the Nautilus.

Together, Troy, Anne, the secretive Elle, and the huge Viking woman, Yrsa, work together to break free so they can warn the world of the terror that is coming.

Under the earth on a mysterious island, Troy, Anne, Elle and the huge Viking warrior Yrsa are working together to escape the lost island of Lemuria. They’ve been gone for almost two years, but after surviving death many times they remain determined to return to their world. Will they be successful?

Meanwhile in the town of Ipswich in England a team is boring a tunnel unexpectedly find they break through into an ancient cave system filled with animal bones. The team discover an enormous, egg shaped ruby and all too soon human greed takes over on a journey that can’t be reversed.

This is the third – and technically final – book in the “Mysterious Island” trilogy by Greig Beck. While I do feel this book can be enjoyed by itself and much of the plot is very well explained just be reading this book alone, I do strongly feel the characters, the overall story arc and much of the deeper emotions will be better enjoyed if readers start at the beginning with the first book. I was very relieved and pleased that the bulk of the story throughout this full length novel was centered around Troy, Elle and Anne returning back home. This was the part of the story I was most heavily invested in from the previous two installments.

That said, I thought it was exceedingly clever of Mr. Beck to have incorporated from the beginning a secondary plotline about a new egg/dragon ruby being found in England and the new problems arising from this. A part of me felt very vindicated for Anne – human greed being what it is I nearly despaired of anyone believing her theory about these “dragon rubies” and having Anne proven correct felt wonderful to me. I was also deeply satisfied that even though I felt he was seriously slow on the uptake – Troy finally managed to work out who he could trust and who would turn on him when the opportunity arose.

I must point out that a number of Mr. Beck’s books don’t end on a traditional Happy Ever After (and not even a Happy For Now) style of ending. This is absolutely one of those series. There are a few twists at the end. One of them was fairly clear – to me at least – from early on in this book but another was quite a sharp plot twist right at the end of the book that I really didn’t see coming. Readers who like all their loose threads neatly tied up might not find this to be a fully satisfying ending, so be warned. This also does not have anything close to a traditional ending so readers should be aware of that, as well, going in.

Mr. Beck has loosely mentioned on Facebook that there may be a fourth installment coming. I think I’d be equally fine whether that happened or not. While I completely understand the ending might not be comfortable for everyone and might not be my own personal preference – with exceptional writing, brilliant characters and a fabulous plot a few small niggles can be easily overlooked.

A brilliant trilogy with a solid plot, dragons and Vikings and deep under-ground worlds, adventure and plenty of danger, I feel this book straddles numerous genres and should be a fabulous read for everyone.

Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert


Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Erotic Romance, LGBTQ, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Dicentra

Aphrodite has never flinched at getting her perfectly manicured hands dirty, and she’s not about to start now—even if that means marrying Olympus’s enemy number one, the new Hephaestus. She has a wicked plan to keep her deadly new husband off-balance, seducing the one person he seems to care about most in this world: Pandora, a woman as beautiful as she is sweet.

Two can play the seduction game, however, and Hephaestus is all too happy to put his new wife in her place. Her ex, Adonis, seems like he’ll do the trick. It doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous in the way of fallen angels, either.

The only problem with using seduction as a weapon? Hearts are all too quick to get involved. With Hephaestus and Aphrodite trading venomous strikes that feel a whole lot like foreplay, lines become blurred and emotions entangled. But a broken heart may be the least of their worries. With unrest in Olympus reaching new heights, these bedroom games may have deadly consequences for themselves, their city, and everyone they’ve come to love.

As someone who enjoys anything related to Greek mythology, I’ve been a big fan of Katee Robert’s ongoing Dark Olympus series. One of the latest releases, Cruel Seduction, centers on the Aphrodite and Hephaestus myth. A very loose re-imagining of the original story, the author does a great job honoring the tone and heart of the source material while still weaving in their own trademark spiciness and complexities.

If you had to sum up Aphrodite and Hephaestus’ relationship in one word, it would be complicated. In almost every version of the myth, Aphrodite was not exactly thrilled about getting married to her husband. That holds true in this book as Aphrodite (formerly known as Eris) is forced to marry the new Hephaestus in order to secure his cooperation in working with the other members of the Thirteen for the good of Olympus. Those who have read the previous books in the series know that both are very talented when it comes to manipulation and politics. Since they can’t physically hurt their spouse, they choose to go for the emotional jugular and seduce their spouses’ former lovers (Adonis and Pandora, respectively). Romance readers who pick their books by trope will be pleased to know that the ‘marriage of convenience’ and ‘second chance romance’ feature very heavily in this book. The whole situation between Hephaestus and Aphrodite gets very complicated very quickly (turning into what the author terms as a ‘polyamorous knot’) and it was quite entertaining as a reader to follow along.

The worldbuilding of each book in the series works off of the foundation that previous books have laid. I’ve really enjoyed getting to learn more about how the city works, and what forces are working against it. While the plots of each book are constructed such that they can be read in any order and independently of each other, I do recommend reading it in order for the best experience. If you read this and subsequently start reading more of Katee Robert’s books, you will also notice that her different series are interconnected. I highly recommend checking out their graphics on Instagram to see the different connections. As a side note, for those who might be going into this as your first Katee Robert read, I do want to warn you that the spiciness rating is very high; multiple explicit and intimate lovemaking scenes are scattered throughout the book.

Overall, this was an excellent read that’s left me excited for more. Audiobook narrators Alex Moorcock and Zara Hampton-Brown did an excellent job bringing multiple perspectives to life with their performances in the audiobook version of the story. I’m super excited for the next installment in the series (due out January 2024), which features Charon, Eurydice, and Orpheus.