An ancient grudge. A forbidden love.

The only thing worse than being a demon is being a Valari. As an undergraduate at Los Angeles’s Alameda University, Kara Valari can sometimes succeed at forgetting she’s both. Lost between the pages of the classics and tucked into the shadows of lecture halls, she can dodge the paparazzi’s lenses as well as her family’s publicized dramas—not to mention their private expectations. She has one more year to feed her true passions. Then she’ll be expected to fulfill a much darker destiny.

Cursed with inexplicable strength and god-like stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Every day he’s reminded of the missteps of his childhood and the devastating consequences they’ve had on those dearest to him. To atone, Maximus spends his nights alone and his days submerged in the quiet life of academia. His existence has become a study in control, and he’s become a master at it—until Kara Valari walks into his toughest course.

Viscerally, Kara’s everything he craves. Logically, she’s everything he rejects. She’s a starlet of privilege. She’s also a student. And after one touch, he can’t deny that she’s awakened something in him that may never go dormant. Nothing about her makes sense, but everything about her feels right. Especially in the deepest strands of his DNA, which are still shadows of mystery to him—a mystery Kara seems determined to uncover.

She’s Hollywood royalty. She’s forbidden fruit. And he’s pretty sure she could be the answer to everything.

As much as i love Zeus and Greek mythology, this book was not for me. I had such high hopes but sadly it didn't deliver. The plot was painfully slow for me, and I didn't find either of the main characters to be at all interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

I couldn't get into this book for some reason. It's the first book in a series and ends on a cliffhanger but I don't feel the need to read on. Great cover and premise but fell flat for me.

For some reason, I thought this was first in a series of connected books, not first in a series following the same couple. I'll be honest - some of my disappointment comes from that misunderstanding. However, the book felt kind of disjointed. We have demons and the son of a god, what's the world-building here? Usually there aren't deals with the devil/demonic curses and greek gods at the same time and it's never really made clear to the reader or to the characters what's going on. Unfortunately, I wasn't hooked enough by the central romance to want to find out.
As the first in a series, Blood of Zeus should have had me on tenterhooks by the end, dying for the next installment. Instead, I'm marking it as read and moving on.

This book was definitely something unique. I don’t think I’ve ever stumbled upon a book that managed to combine the legend of Zeus, college demons, English lit, and smutty goodness.

Kara is a cursed woman who knows her days are numbered. She is delaying the inevitable by going about her lengthy college career. Said career ends up putting her in Max’s literature class. Max has his own demons (ironically) that stem back to his childhood. He’s got strength and powers he doesn’t understand, but his mother won’t give up any details on his dad. Even the details he has seem contradictory and incomplete. After Kara and Max connect in the sexiest of ways, even more powers seem to surface and confuse him.

Since Kara can’t readily share her family secrets, she tries to hide her romance but that obviously doesn’t last. This book ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, with some secrets revealed but no true follow-up on them. I’d be interested to see how they manage to navigate this new world where demons and gods are roaming about.

2.5 stars
The synopsis of this story was really intriguing, and I was excited to get started reading it. This is a modern-day supernatural romance with a forbidden lover's type trope. The story is dual perspective from the love interests. While reading it there were a number of plot holes and there was a lack of context and detail so certain developments did not make sense. I found the explanations and story needed more development and a number of points were not completely flushed out. The things that stand out the most was the lack of information on the main characters' history and how certain things came to be. I could not connect with the characters and had a hard time investing in wanting to know what happens. I think there is a potential for something good and fun here but as it is, this story was not for me.
Trigger warnings: Blood, Assault
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Kara is a demon who gets mixed up with Olympus. The plus side is that her professor Maximus is hot stuff and she can’t stay away from him. Maximus doesn’t know much about her world. As the tension burns Maximus is playing with fire. It’s hard too know is the rising flames will scorch Kara or Maximus.

This book was well written with good dialogue. I would recommend to anyone who likes an otherworld touch to this modern day romance. I would rate this a four out of five. This ebook was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Student/ professor romance
Paranormal romance
Kara is everything maximus shouldn't want. But it seems like everything in their blood is pulling them towards eachother.
Kara keeps a huge secret from him that will have a big storyline in second book when maximus dad gets involved.

Demons and curses, gods and deals. Absorbing characters and intriguing story and add in a good amount of heat and longing, this will keep you hooked until the end. No spoilers, but maybe Zeus will make an appearance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great start to a new series and was very interesting. I look forward to the next book.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

Student and older professor. Both with secrets and an undeniable pull towards each other. Add in mythology and other paranormal aspects and we have a doozy of a story. This is book one of the series, so all questions won't be answered here.

Demons, Angels and Gods, Blood of Zeus was an engaging read but be warned it ends on a cliffhanger.
I found the story intriguing and dynamic with the characters electric and engaging. I look forward to reading the remainder of story in this series

I have been wanting to read this story for quite some time as it has a good premise given from the description and well... cover - yes, this guy is HOT! I had high hopes for this one, but what I wanted was not exactly delivered, unfortunately.
Kara Valari, is a demon, but we don't know what kind or why she's one to be exact - and this is something that would provide a lot more insight into her. She's also a book girl, but with her surname paparazzi are always following her, waiting for any gossip they can gather. She seems more like your usual girl than a demon or being part of a very famous family. She does not expect to feel anything or any man, especially her professor Maximus Kane... but when you feel such a pull you have to follow right?
Maximus is a person that always knew he was different from others, but he did not know why. He wants to be let alone, but then Kara comes to his lecture... and sparks begin to fall with the accidental touch. He's an adult here, but as in Kara's case, we don't know a lot about him, besides his looks, which is saddening.
This book was not bad, but it got dragged, as it was made for slow-burn, but it was not executed like it should keep my attention all the time while reading. It has quite a few tropes that I love, especially involving mythology, in this red, but it did not work like planned.

Decent but predictable. Run of the mill teacher/student but make them have powers/gifts. Some parts were better than others but overall just meh

What I enjoyed about this book: A MC who has a history with females and the premise of the book.
What I didn't enjoy about this book: the execution.
I could appreciate the tension. I enjoyed the idea of the hell underworld but it was just not well fleshed out. Maybe they'll tell us in later books but I feel if you're developing a Fantasy Romance you need to have at least explained some of the laws of the fantasy world. Instead information being kept from the characters as a main plot device and issue... NOPE... honestly in my opinion it's just lazy writing from the authors. I enjoyed some of these elements enough to give it 2 stars but other then that this story was just not it for me. I think if you're JUST looking for a tension filled romance (which was more just they wanted to bang but felt awkward cause teacher/student relationship). If you're looking for anything with good development, then maybe give it a miss.

This book was provided to me as an ARC by Netgalley.

Maximus is the handsome professor with some exceptional gifts. Kara is a student that is drawn to him, but her secret forbids her to do anything but admire him, but can they settle for that!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am honestly so sad that I didn't enjoy this one! It seemed very predictable, and I couldn't develop a relationship with any of the characters. It overall fell very flat to me.

I went into this book blind like I usually do when I start something new. The cover cought my attention and I thought I was in for some hot badass man doing cool things. Boy was I deceived by that cover. I was shocked when I read that he was a professor and this was a strange student/teacher romance with some paranormal things thrown in. I guess that's my fault for not reading the synopsis again (after requesting it) before starting the book.
I did not connect to the characters at all. I did not see any character development throughout the story. I thought maybe this was a fated mates type of thing (which I love) but that wasn't revealed. I was left with so many unanswered questions. Nothing made sense. His mom couldn't tell him why he was different, her grandpa was mysteriously exiled because he somehow got out of hell, apparently being a demon meant an arranged marriage? I was so lost. I think if I would have gone in with different expectations I may have been more open to the story but this book just wasn't for me. I did not like the "insta love" thing. They felt a strong connection, then days later they were willing to give up everything for each other. It was just odd. The author also hinted that the mmc was controlling the storms and thunder but it was never actually brought up.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a couple of tries to really get into Blood of Zeus, but once I did, I really enjoyed the story.

I did find myself getting annoyed with Kara a few times with holding onto the secrets when it was more than obvious to let go and tell Maximus the truth. I also think the pacing was off…stretched out, slow start, too quick of an ending.

Blood Of Zeus ( Book1)
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read this book if you like:
Age Gap
Forbidden love
Fairy tales
Paranormal romance
Strangers to lovers

Kara Valari is a student of Literature and a celebrity famous for her family's name eyes are always on her and people whisper behind her back whenever they see her. She is trying to graduate quietly and pass her last year however other plans are stored for her especially when she meets her professor Maximus Kane a sexy god-like man who has a voice of an angel and a posture of men in fairytales. From the first moment, they lay eyes on each other a spark ignites between them threatening to diminish any wall or secrets between them.
Kara's family and identity are full of secrets and she can't be with any human being.
Maximum has strength that is hard to control and he has been away from any intimate interactions with people since a tragic accident that changed his life. Kara and Maximum world clash rescuing any power or control they have over their lives. However, they are consequences of their actions will their love survive or will it be eaten by the flames?

“Blood of Zeus” is the first book in this series by the author duo Meredith Wild and Angel Payne. I read a few books by Meredith Wild, who I really liked.
I really like the taboo professor/ student aspect. What I didn’t like is how information was used in this book. We, the readers, get much information. The characters withhold the information from each other and naturally it creates conflicts. That took a lot from the suspense. Sometimes they acted just so dumb. And Kara didn’t tell Maximus important things, things that could cost his life.
Overall this was a nice, quick read and I am definitely going to read the other books in this series.