Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert (Dark Olympus #3)

Summary from Goodreads: She was the face that launched a thousand ships,
The fierce beauty at the heart of Olympus,
And she was never ours to claim.

In Olympus, you either have the power to rule… or you are ruled. Achilles Kallis may have been born with nothing, but as a child he vowed he would claw his way into the poisonous city’s inner circle. Now that a coveted role has opened to anyone with the strength to claim it, he and his partner, Patroclus Fotos, plan to compete and double their odds of winning. Neither expect infamous beauty Helen Kasios to be part of the prize… or for the complicated fire that burns the moment she looks their way.

Zeus may have decided Helen is his to give to away, but she has her own plans. She enters into the competition as a middle finger to the meddling Thirteen rulers, effectively vying for her own hand in marriage. Unfortunately, there are those who would rather see her dead than lead the city. The only people she can trust are the ones she can’t keep her hands off—Achilles and Patroclus. But can she really believe they have her best interests at heart when every stolen kiss is a battlefield? A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Helen of Troy, Achilles, and Patroclus that’s as sinful as it is sweet.

God I fucking love Mess. And this is messy as hell.

(Maybe could have used a weeeeee bit more air in this relationship to make it workable – the timeline is very compacted – but that’s really just personal preference)

Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma (If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1)

Summary from Goodreads: Dating Dr. Dil features a love-phobic TV doctor who must convince a love-obsessed homebody they are destined to be together. 

Kareena Mann dreams of having a love story like her parents, but she prefers restoring her classic car to swiping right on dating apps. When her father announces he’s selling her mother’s home, Kareena makes a deal with him: he’ll gift her the house if she can get engaged in four months. Her search for her soulmate becomes impossible when her argument with Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show, goes viral. Now the only man in her life is the one she doesn’t want.

Dr. Prem Verma is dedicated to building a local community health center, but he needs to get donors with deep pockets. The Dr. Dil Show was doing just that, until his argument with Kareena went viral, and he’s left short changed. That’s when Kareena’s meddling aunties presented him with a solution: convince Kareena he’s her soulmate and they’ll fund his clinic.  

Even though they have conflicting views on love-matches and arranged-matches, the more time Prem spends with Kareena, the more he begins to believe she’s the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. But for Prem and Kareena to find their happily ever after, they must admit that hate has turned into fate.

In the years since her mother died, Kareena Mann has been very slowly restoring both her mother’s beloved car and the house she grew up in. However, on Kareena’s birthday her father announces that he’s selling the house and moving to a retirement community. Now that her younger sister Bindu is getting married, there’s really no reason to keep the house. This was NOT the plan they agreed on. Kareena manages to talk her father into making a deal: if she gets engaged in four months – when her sister’s wedding celebration gets rolling – he will give her the house. (This whole morning conversation felt very Sixteen Candles when the movie opens and everyone has forgotten Samantha’s birthday.) So Kareena meets up with a friend later to have a few drinks and fume about the situation. And she sees a super-hot guy. And they start flirting, which turns to making out in an office…and then the guy PEACES OUT when his phone rings leaving Kareena stuck with her sweater vest caught on her earring and over her face. The next morning, when she’s good and hung over, she has to accompany her social media influencer (and math professor, I mean, get it Bindu, even if you are seriously the brattiest younger sister) to the taping of a local desi talk show, The Dr. Dil Show. As the show gets rolling and the topic of love comes up – during which the host who is a cardiologist says that love is bad for your heart and he doesn’t believe in it – Kareena realizes that this “host” Dr. Prem Verma is the same jerkwad who left her stranded the night before. So Kareena reads him the riot act about being a dog and they proceed to have one hell of a verbal smackdown. This wouldn’t be so bad – the show records to tape – except that Bindu has been streaming the recording live to her YouTube because Social Media Influencer.

Everyone loses control of the narrative. Prem loses financial backing for his dream project, a South Asian-centered community health center. Kareena looks like a shrew and has a snowball’s chance in hell of finding an actual nice guy to fall in love and marry her in four months now (for real – many chapters open with her messages with various shitty dudes on Shaadi.com and other dating sites). But Aunties to the Rescue: Kareena’s four aunties decide that Prem would be Kareena’s ideal match. If he can win Kareena – who is firmly in the “will marry for love or nothing” camp vs Prem’s “love causes cardiac damage” camp – the aunties will help get his funding back.

Kareena wants none of this. Even Prem’s suggestion that they fake date for four months until she gets the house isn’t a plan she can stomach. But Prem keeps showing up, trying to convince Kareena that he might make a great plan B. Despite all their verbal fireworks, he starts to admire and like this woman who wears sweater vests, stores peppermint coffee creamer in the freezer so she can have it year round, does her own DIY and restoration work on her car, and takes none of his bullshit. As verbal fireworks turn to a tentative friendship then to steamy sexytimes (A+, no notes), Kareena starts to think Prem might be capable of love after all. Prem has some secrets, though. And then it all falls apart.

LOVED IT! A great adaptation of a Shakespeare play (Taming of the Shrew) that could go sideways if too much of the original plot is kept sacred – I loved how you could see a little bit of Kate’s final monologue in there at the end but flipped and shared by both Prem and Kareena. (If you haven’t read Taming, or have but aren’t that familiar with it, don’t worry, you’ll be fine.) I loved their competitiveness, the pani puri eating contest, the TSwift love, and their wonderful circle of friends (lol, when his buddies show up for their weekly beer and dinner night and Prem has to keep them in the hall because Kareena is over). [Side note: you may have read in various reviews that Prem calls his dick “Charlie.” However, he calls it Charlie to himself only, he doesn’t tell Kareena his dick has a name nor does he ask her to call it Charlie. We are given a reason in the text for why he thinks this way. So this is fine to me. I mean, considering that I am not a person in possession of a penis I have no direct knowledge of this practice. Maybe some people do name their junk. *shrug* But it seems a number of reviewers are extremely weirded out by this. Don’t listen to the haters.]

The aunties are great, with the added bonus that they’re all named for other desi romance authors. I’m pretty sure one of the other books in the series will be a Much Ado About Nothing adaptation ❤

Dating Dr. Dil came out on Tuesday! (Copies are going fast, thanks to the power of the clock app)

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley from the publisher via Edelweiss.

Stone Heart by Katee Robert (Dark Olympus #0.5)

Summary from Goodreads: In the city of Olympus, people only speak about Medusa in whispers. She’s Athena’s knife hand, the one sent when Athena wants someone to disappear. No one asks Medusa what she wants, but she owes Athena her life, and if staining her hands with blood is the only way to repay the debt, it’s a small price to pay.

Until Athena sends her after Calypso, the mistress of the rich politician Odysseus. As far as Medusa can tell, Calypso hasn’t done anything remotely worthy of a death sentence, and her conflicted feelings only get compounded when she finally sees the woman. Calypso is beautiful and cunning and she’ll do anything to keep her life—including seducing her would-be assassin. What starts as a ploy to escape quickly spirals into genuine interest. Medusa is hardly the cold killer that rumors suggest, and Calypso is far more complicated than her reputation as a ruthless gold-digger. But it doesn’t matter that they’ve finally found something special together. Athena will have her blood, and this time not even crossing the River Styx will save them…

Woooo, Medusa + Calypso! Katee provided a wee prequel story set in Dark Olympus for her Patreon, and then newsletter, subscribers. This one’s very short and steamy, very much “I was sent to unalive you but I’ve caught feelings and oh no” but also “man, fuck these assholes for being patriarchal dickweasels, that Odysseus dude especially” because Dark Olympus politics. I also liked how Katee changed the “snake-haired lady who’ll turn you into stone” into a scarred assassin who’s really started to not like her job…. Bonus, we get a little pre-Persephone Hades.

I wish it was a little longer, like I do with pretty much all novellas.

Dear FTC: I got this novella for free because I subscribe to Katee’s newsletter.

Electric Idol by Katee Roberts (Dark Olympus #2)

Summary from Goodreads: He was the most beautiful man alive. And if I wasn’t careful, he was going to be my death.

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Psyche and Eros that’s as sinful as it is sweet.*

In the ultra-modern city of Olympus, there’s always a price to pay. Psyche knew she’d have to face Aphrodite’s ire eventually, but she never expected her literal heart to be at stake…or for Aphrodite’s gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow.

Eros has no problem shedding blood. But when it comes time to take out his latest target, he can’t do it. Confused by his reaction to Psyche, he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe: he marries her. Psyche vows to make Eros’s life a living hell until they find a way out of this mess. But as lines blur and loyalties shift, she realizes he might take her heart after all…and she’s not sure she can survive the loss.

When Psyche (or really, her mother, Demeter) accidentally gets in the way of Aphrodite’s marital plans for the new Zeus, Aphrodite decides she’d like a little revenge: she orders her son Eros – who acts as her fixer – to bring her Psyche’s heart. Not in the metaphorical sense. In the “Evil Queen-asks-the-Huntsman-to-bring-Snow-White’s-heart-in-a-box” sense. Now, Eros is no stranger to doing something like murder. He’s done it for his mother before. But Psyche has been one of the only people in this cursed city to see him as a person, not as a tool or weapon. When it comes down to the actual act of murdering her, he can’t do it. On the spur of the moment he proposes a new plan: to neutralize Aphrodite’s anger and keep Psyche safe, he and Psyche should get married.

It’s…a solution? Of sorts? Luckily, Aphrodite’s incommunicado at a rejuvenation spa that weekend, so they have about 72 hours to make this happen. Also lucky: Psyche is a social media/influencer genius. Between the two of them – and a little cover from Psyche’s sister and brother-in-law, Persephone and Hades – they manage to pull off the surprise wedding of the century. But can they survive to make it a marriage?

Katee Robert is correct – Electric Idol is definitely “What if Eros is like a feral cat who follows Psyche home because she was nice to him once. And then they bang. A lot.” (Like, “Eros sets a timer before going down on Psyche so they don’t accidentally have too much fun and forget the ring designer is coming” level of banging.) The relationship edges very close to Dark Romance, it tiptoes right around that edge, but lands more firmly in Morality Chain territory at the end. Electric Idol is a very different book than Neon Gods. There’s a much more propulsive, compressed plot and it opens up the world of Dark Olympus into many different avenues and kinds of books that Robert can play around with (I think the series contracted through something like book 7 right now, holy bananas). And it’s 5-alarm spicy in a different way, too. Hades and Persephone had a bit of Daddy/brat and exhibitionism kink going on, while Eros and Psyche’s sex scenes are very insular, using those moments to find connection with each other behind the emotional shields necessary to live in their world. Cannot wait for Helen’s book (which is coming in JUNE)

Content warning for fatphobia (Psyche is a gorgeous plus-sized lady), discussion of Eros’s previous actions as a “fixer”

Electric Idol is out now!

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley from the publisher via Edelweiss (twice) and I’ll be buying a copy ASAP.

Punderworld, Volume 1 by Linda Šejić

Summary from Goodreads: Hades and Persephone’s love-struck misadventures.

The classic tale of Greek mythology, but 100% more awkwardly relatable. Hades is the officious, antisocial ruler of the Underworld; Persephone, daughter of Demeter, is an earth goddess of growth and renewal – they’ve been crushing on each other for the past two centuries. But when a festival (and a little liquid courage) present an opportunity to put an end to their Olympian will-they-won’t-they, a meddlesome pantheon and several titanic misassumptions threaten to give every god in the sky the wrong impression… and leave their romance dead before it can bloom.

I picked up Punderworld because Hades cameos in Fine Print, Volume 1.

One million stars for the art style. I love how she’s drawn Hades as the quiet, nerdy, slightly-emo, bean-counter version of this God of the Underworld (who is having a little problem with the dead showing up in the Underworld not knowing how they died). Hades meets Persephone in passing while picking up supplies from Demeter. Then they have another small run-in where they talk and perhaps start up a mutual crush (they apparently don’t know who the other is). However, when someone tries to play matchmaker, Persephone ends up kidnapped in a runaway chariot that crash-lands in the Underworld, setting off a chain-reaction of problems.

I felt the story in this volume was a little slow, like the set-up with Demeter and Persephone arguing versus Hades and Zeus not-arguing took away from our seeing Hades and Persephone together. Definitely looking forward to volume 2!

Dear FTC: I bought my copy of this book.

Lore Olympus, Volume One by Rachel Smythe

Summary from Goodreads: This B&N exclusive edition features original artwork depicting Hades and Persephone on the hardcover jacket by author and illustrator Rachel Smythe.

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of mythology’s best-known stories from creator Rachel Smythe.

“What Scott Pilgrim did for Canadian slackers, Lore Olympus does for the Greek pantheon, while being so beautiful that you know Aphrodite is just staring daggers in its direction.”—Kieron Gillen, co-creator of The Wicked + The Divine

Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she’s allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place—and her own power.

This edition of Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story, and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel. This volume collects episodes 1–25 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.

What a lovely book. Lore Olympus, Volume 1 is a gorgeous, colorful graphic novel adaptation of the Lore Olympus webcartoon (full disclosure: I haven’t really watched much of the series, so I read the book basically cold). I really like the funny quips (“but I have apology donuts!”) and adaptation of the Greek pantheon to a modern-seeming world of mobile phones, social media, and how bad behavior is bad behavior no matter the setting (content warning for toxic relationships, abuse, coercion, etc).

I did feel like there were a few rough transitions, where I had to go back and forth a bit to figure out why/how we were making the jump we did. And this volume is also very much set-up for Hades and Persephone, we don’t get a lot of their relationship beyond their first meeting (I am here for this deeply goofy, introverted, and insecure Hades).

Lore Olympus, Volume 1 is out now!

Dear FTC: There weren’t any galleys, so I had to buy my BN special edition from my store.

Blog Tour Spotlight: John Eyre by Mimi Matthews

Yorkshire, 1843. When disgraced former schoolmaster John Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall to take up a position as tutor to two peculiar young boys, he enters a world unlike any he’s ever known. Darkness abounds, punctuated by odd bumps in the night, strange creatures on the moor, and a sinister silver mist that never seems to dissipate. And at the center of it all, John’s new employer—a widow as alluring as she is mysterious.

Sixteen months earlier, heiress Bertha Mason embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Marriage wasn’t on her itinerary, but on meeting the enigmatic Edward Rochester, she’s powerless to resist his preternatural charm. In letters and journal entries, she records the story of their rapidly disintegrating life together, and of her gradual realization that Mr. Rochester isn’t quite the man he appears to be. In fact, he may not be a man at all.

From a cliff-top fortress on the Black Sea coast to an isolated estate in rural England, John and Bertha contend with secrets, danger, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness. Can they help each other vanquish the demons of the past? Or are some evils simply too powerful to conquer?

ADVANCE PRAISE

“Bertha Mason Rochester shines, dominating her scenes with vitality and strength. The style, too, is spot-on, reprising the spirit of 19th-century Gothic prose without descending into mimicry.”— Publishers Weekly

“An entertaining spin on a classic with thrilling twists and turns…Matthews skillfully transforms a well-known story into a truly original tale.”— Kirkus

“[Matthews] retells Charlotte Bronte’s classic story in a way that will keep fans of the original novel totally gripped from cover to cover… Fresh and dynamic… Fast-paced and spellbinding…a book you will have a hard time putting down.”— Readers Favorite

“One of the most moving, suspenseful, innovative and remarkable retellings of a classic in the history of, well, ever… Every page is sheer rapture as [Matthews] moulds popular source material into a spell-binding creation so wholly her own.”— Rachel McMillan, bestselling author of The London Restoration

“[A] captivating and ingenious retelling of Jane Eyre with a supernatural twist. Smart, suspenseful, and deliciously spooky, JOHN EYRE is a must-read; I loved everything about it!”— Ashley Weaver, author of the Amory Ames Mysteries and the Electra McDonnell series

AUTHOR BIO

USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning proper Regency and Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats.

SO. Do you like Jane Eyre? Do you like Jane but really dislike Mr. Rochester because, you know, the wife in the attic thing? Would you be into a gender-flipped-sort-of retelling of Jane Eyre where JOHN Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall to work for a mysterious Mrs. Bertha Mason Rochester? And maybe something supernaturally hinky is going on? Well, John Eyre by Mimi Matthews is probably for you!

Full disclosure: I haven’t had a chance to read this yet – my reading brain is having some issues so I didn’t want to promise anything which is why this is a spotlight post not a review. However, you can stop by the review at Austenprose to find links to all the blogs on the tour for excerpts and reviews. Join the virtual book tour of JOHN EYRE: A TALE OF DARKNESS AND SHADOW, Mimi Matthews’ highly acclaimed Bronte-inspired Gothic romance, July 12-25, 2021. Thirty-five popular on-line influencers specializing in historical fiction, Gothic romance, and paranormal fiction will join in the celebration of its release with an interview, spotlights, exclusive excerpt, and reviews of this new Victorian-era novel set in Yorkshire, England.

TOUR SCHEDULE

July 12 The Caffeinated Bibliophile (review)
July 12 Syrie James (review)
July 12 Austenprose—A Jane Austen Blog (review)
July 13 Bronte Blog (interview)
July 13 Laura’s Reviews (review)
July 13 All-of-a-Kind Mom (spotlight)
July 14 Gwendalyn’s Books (review)
July 14 Austenesque Reviews (review)
July 15 Bookworm Lisa (review)
July 15 Nurse Bookie (review)
July 16 Savvy Verse and Wit (excerpt)
July 16 The Lit Bitch (review)
July 17 My Bookish Bliss (review)
July 17 From the TBR Pile (review)
July 18 Rosanne E. Lortz (review)
July 18 Books, Teacups, & Reviews (review)
July 19 The Secret Victorianist (review)
July 19 Christian Chick’s Thoughts (review)
July 19 The Gothic Library (review)
July 20 Getting Your Read On (review)
July 20 The Silver Petticoat Review (review)
July 20 Lu Reviews Books (review)
July 21 Scuffed Slippers and Wormy Books (spotlight)
July 21 The Green Mockingbird (review)
July 22 Unabridged Chick (review)
July 22 A Darn Good Read (review)
July 23 Kathleen Flynn (review)
July 23 So Little Time… (review)
July 23 The Calico Critic (review)
July 24 The Bronte Babe (review)
July 24 Probably at the Library (review)
July 24 Impressions in Ink (review)
July 25 From Pemberley to Milton (review)
July 25 Vesper’s Place (review)
July 25 Cup of Tea with that Book Please (review)

Neon Gods by Katee Robert (Dark Olympus #1)

Summary from Goodreads:

He was supposed to be a myth.
But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell…
…he was, quite simply, mine.

Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that’s ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade. With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed a myth…a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.

Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he’s spent years craving, it’s all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he’ll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close… A modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that’s as sinful as it is sweet.

UGH TRASH FOR IT *deceased, writing this review from the afterlife*

So, here’s the set-up: Zeus (that garbagefire) is in the market for a third wife, the first two having died rather mysteriously (read: everyone is pretty sure he killed them but no one will take on the ruler of Olympus). Persephone gets blind-sided when her engagement to Zeus – arranged without her input – is announced at a cocktail party (surprise!). She wants no part of it. Persephone runs, intending only to get away from the party to think. But two shadowy figures (probably Zeus’s heavies) herd her toward the River Styx so she has no choice – she forces herself across the bridge of the river, through the barrier, and toward a dark figure on the other shore.

Hades is waiting. He can’t cross the bridge to rescue this clearly-addled woman (she’s out in the cold without a coat, only wearing an evening gown, and NO SHOES, seriously, what the fuck) but once Persephone reaches him he claims her as his. Only because it’s clear that Zeus wants her back; Hades has old scores to settle. Once Hades (who apparently is supposed to be the boogeyman?) and Persephone stop sniping at each other and lay their cards on the table, they find that they have a lot in common. Namely: fucking up Zeus’s grand plan because he’s a murderous dick. Hades and Persephone hatch a plan: Hades will publicly “ruin” Persephone so she’s no longer a shining, virginal prize (conveniently, Hades owns a sex club) then Persephone will be free to pursue her own life outside of Olympus. Only they manage to get under each others‘ skin in the best and worst ways.

If you like the “politicking” that goes on in Greek Mythology, but wanted maybe a modern update – with some bonus D/s play and exhibitionism – this is your book. Hades and Persephone have a great relationship that starts with grouchiness and (consensual) vengeance banging and progresses to something rather sweet. One of the best grumpy/sunshine stories. The secondary characters – particularly Hermes, ugh, love her – are spectacular.

PS: I’m fully on the Katee Robert train for this Dark Olympus world. I think the next one is about Helen. In the meantime, off to check out Katee’s backlist.

Neon Gods is out today!

Dear FTC: I read the shit of a digital galley from the publisher via Edelweiss (and I’ve got a copy preordered at the store).