To Hell with Love; Sherri Erwin

Like her voice, like the premise. Like mythology based romances. Skimmed through a lot of it, unfortunately. The plot goes like this: lonely interior designer wants to have a baby, but she’s single; Hades (Owen Glendower) is lonely too and he’s stuck in the Underworld with the shades & various others unsuitable for friends with benefits type relationships. The minions find the designer, set the stage & voila.

Spoilers ahead





Problem number one: Hades comes off as selfish, cold, unfeeling & out of touch with how humans operate on an emotional level. A user. I know, I know- not all that unusual for heroes in Romanceland (or real life for that matter). The God of the Underworld spends millennia with human beings, this characterization is unbelievable to me. Owen is portrayed as caring about the children in the Underworld, yet his feelings for Kate aren’t fleshed out. Also- Kate's desperation to have a child is offputting. Very.

Problem number two: Owen gives her an ultimatum about their future in the middle of a huge family crisis. This circles back in with number one, but also shows that her love is unrequited & his motivation is lust alone. It’s about forcing her to choose him- power. Not love.

Problem three: the hospital scenes don’t ring true in terms of actual medical practice or in terms of emotional truth. My hubby’s a CCU nurse, so my reactions to the hospital scenes may not be those of an ordinary reader. I was already having serious issues with the book by now, but the hospital parts dropped me right out of the story.

Problem four: Owen and Kate don’t end up together. Literally. Hades is in the Underworld and Kate and their child are alive on earth. Problem four is the biggest one for me. As far as I’m concerned the entire premise of a romance is that the central couple will be together at the end. Maybe not married. Committed. Deeply in love. Able to work on their relationship because they're together. Owen reigning in the Underworld watching Kate and his child on earth while Kate raises the child without him? Doesn’t fit in any way fit my definition of an HEA. Actually, Owen bargains with Zeus without Kate’s knowledge, a huge deal breaker for me, then leaves her to raise the baby she so desperately wanted. See also problems one and two.

Wallbanger. DNF.

Goddess of the Rose; P.C. Cast

Written by P.C. Cast Goddess of the Rose was first published by Berkley in 2006. I have read two of the other books in the Goddess Summoning series and I like them all. Review of Goddess of Spring HERE. Ms.Cast's heroines are smart and capable without beating the reader or the hero with it- a trait I find lacking elsewhere.

Mikado Empousai is an ER doctor who lives and works in Tulsa Oklahoma. Her all consuming hobbies are raising roses and volunteering at the local municipal rose garden. One night after a blind date with a guy who makes snap judgements about people based on what they read (!!!), Mikki is transported to the Realm of the Rose under Hecate's domain. Let's just say she breathes new life into an all women all the time locale desperately in need of regular care.

The beast, meanwhile, has haunted Mikki's thoughts and dreams since she was in Tulsa. Exactly how she ended up in the Realm with him puzzles her at first. After Mikki gets her bearings, though, her attraction to him returns in full force. First she must save the roses, then find the love starved ladies a little companionship then maybe she'll have time for the beast.

The Beast actually has a name, and a cool one at that. Unfortunately for him he has a long history of mistreatment and neglect which affects how he reacts to Mikki. Apparently the sins of the father are visited upon the son even in the Realm of the Rose. Luckily for all- Mikki's there to save the day.

Looking beyond the superficial to the substance underneath is always insightful. Dropping a stone in a pond causes ripples- watching the ripples and how they effect changes in the pond and along the shore is fun too. Mikki is the stone dropped into the pond. Will the pond be positively or negatively effected?

Highly recommended. Keeper.


Corrected: Sept. 30, 2008 ~ As the anonymous poster below kindly pointed out, I was mistaken thinking Mikado Empousai is an ER doctor. On page twenty of the copy I used for research, Ms. Cast writes, "..executive assistant for the director of nursing services at St.John's Hospital .." (Goddess of the Rose, P.C. Cast, Berkley Publishing Group, NYC NY; ISBN 0425208915) I appreciate the chance to set the record straight.




Image found at Barnes and Noble