This poetry anthology is one that I have multiple times read cover to cover like a novel, and I cannot stop absorbing every single poem she writes. This anthology delves deep into the Greek myths but also imagines the deities living in our times – Eros lost without Psyche as her immortality wanes, Aphrodite finally able to reach out to other women, Hera able to divorce Zeus, Zeus being held in court for his crimes. Every time I read one of these I think WOW then I read it again and I am speechless. Each poem (sometimes mixed with some prose) breathes life into the myths and reimagines the motivations and minds of the great goddesses of Greek Myth.
She is releasing Hekate soon and I absolutely cannot wait because I love her work so much!
Thanks to Net Galley, Celeste Baxendell and Victory Editing for this ARC, as always every opinion expressed is my own. Pub Date: 1st of April, 2025 Genre: Fantasy Romance Age Category: 13+ but with cross appeal.
13+
This was a quick heartwarming fantasy romance that I enjoyed! I just finished Ties of Starlight this morning and started this straight after (yes I read it in under 12 hours) and I loved the little cameo of the main couple from that book!
This Rotting Heart is a Persephone and Hades reimagining – and you know that sometimes these can go very wrong for me on the toxicity of the relationship but this one didn’t! The main element of a Persephone x Hades retelling is that the fmc is kidnapped and made to marry the mmc which can be a lot for me to get over – but I did for this one!
That the personality traits of the two were switched, the fmc was the death obsessed one and the mmc was the Sun king was such a gorgeous little touch which is why I love reading this myth and fairytale reimagining’s.
World – 3.5/5 – the world isn’t the focus, this is a fantasy romance so I don’t really mind that much. We had what we needed for the story, the world was believable and I didn’t mind not having a lot of worldbuilding because this is more romance than fantasy.
Romance – 4/5 – I struggled with the kidnapping thing, to be honest she was stealing something sacred to his land and from his perspective she had agreed to marry him so I do get that!
Plot – 4/5 – it resolved pleasingly with potential for another book – perhaps with Callahan as the lead?? – and I have no complaints!
Characters – 4/5 – they felt solid and fleshed out and true to themselves. I enjoyed Hellsbore – what a name! I love it that the name ties in with the Greek myth itself! – she was very interesting as a character because she didn’t react to anything. As someone who has read a lot of annoying FMCS who react to the wrong things, blow up over tiny things and ignore big things it was refreshing to read a FMC who was actually the calculating alchemist she was portrayed to be! It may not be healthy to be so restrained but it was certainly fun to read for a change!
Romance Rating: Soft – a few kisses, closed mouth, no detail.
Violence Rating: Level 2 – minor injuries with small non graphic descriptions. Short combat scenes and limited threat.
Damsel in Delight 