Friday 13 May 2016

REVIEW!! The Tenth Muse (Aphrodite Project #1) by Belinda McBride



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 Release Day May 17th, currently available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Pride Publishing

An ARC of this book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Anybody who remembers studying the Greek Gods and Goddesses in English class knows they got up to a lot of hijinks; even in the sanitized versions approved for the classroom. This is the story of Eros (definitely not in the ‘chubby kid with a bow’ mode) and Rees, the scholarly and beautiful tenth muse who resides in the Elysian Fields – and it is unlikely to ever appear in a classroom.

Eros is on Earth hunting the reincarnation of his beloved Psyche who has become an A-list fashion model. In pursuit of her he does something spectacularly attention-getting by appearing on the runway of a huge fashion show - in drag and wearing his own wings. He gets her attention all right, and that of various irate gods and goddesses including his mother, Aphrodite.

Aphrodite persuades Rees to go to Earth and masquerade as human and eventually lure Eros back to Olympus. Rees agrees and finds himself liking, and more than liking Eros. As time passes the lies feel more and more like a betrayal, the love feels more and more real…

Like many of us, Eros had a dream, a shining vision he had been pursuing – the dream of Psyche. But the current incarnation, Rosalinda, is drug-addicted, not particularly nice, and in love with another man. The reality is nothing like his vision. And then there’s Rees, warm, charming, beautiful and human. Destined to die just like Psyche. Can he bear another love and loss? Eros is conflicted, extremely conflicted.

The focus of this book is the love story and it is simply beautifully done. There are other plot elements of course, Rees is kidnapped, there are complex relationships playing out among the Olympians, and twists on the traditional myths that we thought we knew. Incidentally, you don’t have to remember any of this stuff from high school – the author does a great job of dropping the necessary information into the story flow. But if you’re curious? That’s why they invented Google…

This is listed as book one of the Aphrodite Project. I’m sure we’ll be seeing some of the wonderful supporting characters moving to the fore in later books. I look forward to them!

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