I received this book for free as an arc, but all opinions are my own.

This books is spicy, like VERY spicy! I have to say I wasn’t exactly expecting THIS much spice. There is definitely still a plot, but the majority of the chapters either have spice or mention spice.

I’m not opposed to spicy books, but I do think it’s a bit much for me personally, however, since it is a personal preference I’m not going to take any stars off for that.

I have to say, despite it being a bit much for me, It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger that does have me wanting to reach for the next book. So I do plan on continuing the series.

Features:
Mythology retelling taking place in the modern day
Divine beings behaving badly
All the spice

If you like your myths spicy, then this erotic retelling of Hades and Persephone might just be the book you are looking for. Their story unfolds in present day New York and things get steamy fast. Honestly, this wasn’t really the right book for me, but readers who like mostly spice with just enough plot to keep things moving will still probably have a great time with it.

Knows its audience and delivers

This book is marketed as erotica and boy does it deliver in this category. There’s a bit of pining and angst at the beginning, but it quickly evolves into a steamy, physical romance. I don’t generally read erotica, but I felt the author did a good job describing the MANY loving encounters really well and they kept things fresh and interesting. That being said, this book does not have a lot of substance in between these encounters. There are definitely some interesting ideas, but most are underdeveloped and more to add narrative flavoring to the romance. The story definitely has its merits, but I think that those looking to be truly immersed in a mythological retelling with some spice on the side will be disappointed in this read. All this is to say: it’s a fun time as long as you know what you are getting into.

Not the book for me?

I have many criticisms, but it’s hard to say how much of it is just a response to my inexperience with this type of book and how much of it more avid erotica readers would pick up on as well. Did I have a good time reading it? Sure, for the most part. Is it a stand out read for me? Not at all. I liked a lot of the ideas that the author puts forward for this retelling, but few are ever really developed. I think there is quite a bit of missed potential in small moments that could really make the characters feel more dynamic and ultimately bring greater chemistry to Hades and Persephone. It tries to add some stakes to the relationship, but that also falls a bit flat and I found I didn’t really care. There is definitely enough there if you are more into the physical relationship than the story itself. However, I tend to like a little more narrative.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Boss romance, enemies to lovers, sunshine x grumpy, Hades x Persephone

I absolutely loved this book. It hit all my favorite tropes, was a fun read and the absolute perfect length for a quick weekend read. While it’s a mythological retelling, the characters were all so enjoyable and the plot moved along smoothly. I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking another Hades x Persephone retelling!

If your a fan of touch of darkness then you need to read this! This is the first book of the series. This has tons of spice that it's considered erotica if that's what you're into also. I could really picture what was going on. The love between the characters is immersing and I love it. The ending had me going though and I needed the next book instantly. If your into the hades and persephone stories then this is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

This book has great promise. There were moments I really loved Hades character was really great and I enjoyed his inner monologue.

The main issue I had with it is that I’d have preferred it to be a bit more plot driven. There was a lot of spice which I don’t mind when it’s there for a reason but there were times this felt like spice for spice sake.

Overall an easy read and probably a good intro to HadesxPersephone retellings.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.

I was originally drawn in to the story because I enjoy a retelling. I also like the story of Hades and Persephone. The book had a decent mix of plot and spice!

4/5 Stars

Thank you to Rose & Star Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this when it first released on a whim because it was a spicy Hades and Persephone Retelling which almost always is a hit for me. This became one of my favorite Hades & Persephone retellings and I absolutely adore it still. The romance between the two main characters was hot and cute, and I loved this take on a common retelling.

Hades isn't only in charge of his kingdom of the Underworld but also has to deal with all Gods and Goddesses that come down from Olympus to the mortal realm, making sure they keep their identities hidden. He provides them money and also he has to spend 6 months in the underworld unable to keep an eye on them. Persephone has a very strict mother but she finally convinces Demeter to let her live among the mortals. For the last two years she hasn't had any issues and mostly follows her rules until her money disappears. She confronts the person holding her money captive and realizes her money never belonged to her but instead belongs to Hades. When Hades takes a liking to Persephone, he forces her to come work for him to earn her money back. Will she be able to fight her attraction to hades and follow her mother's rules or will she decide to throw her mother's rules away?

If you want a fun Hades and Persephone retelling with a crap ton of spice and an interesting world give this one a shot. The books only get better from here.

I think this is probably one of my favorite Hades/Persephone retellings I've read. The erotica scenes were 🔥 🔥 🔥. I've just started book 2. I hope it's as good as this one.
I got this from Netgalley, but these opinions are my own.

This is a Super Spicy fun Retelling of Hades and Persephone! I definitely went into it thinking it would have a lot more plot. If you are a specially romance with a hint of fantasy reader you'll love this book!

I wish I could put into words how much I enjoyed this story! From the very first sentence until the very last I was captivated!

This had me alternating between laughing my ass off and clenching my thighs! Oh, and groaning at how BAD they are at communicating 🤣 They are literally the WORST at forming cohesive sentences that express what they're really feeling 😅 And they're both dragging so much trauma behind them they they second guess everything! But I mean, it just makes the story all the more agonizing for us 🖤

I've read a few Hades x Persephone retellings and so far this one is my favorite! Have I been using too many exclamation points?! I can't get over them. They're both loveable, both have unique insecurities and both *begin* to grow as a person... I'm sure books 2 and 3 will show even more personal growth.

Also love the secondary characters Hekate, Mellie and Helios. They deserve their own books.

Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy, and this review is my honest opinion.

The Maiden and the Unseen is a Persephone and Hades retelling with a few liberties taken. I am not totally familiar with the mythology behind Hades/Persephone so I wasn’t bothered in the least. The setting is in modern times, and the chemistry between the two main characters is fantastic. I also enjoyed getting to see inside the minds of both Hades and Persephone- their internal monologues are hilarious and probably a lot like your own. (No? Just me?) The ratio of story to spice is fantastic and well done.

Infidelity was addressed in the story, and it was a little off putting…..not enough to ruin the story by any stretch, but I didn’t care for it. I don’t want to say more because I feel like elaborating could be construed as a spoiler. The texting between characters was a little distracting the way it was presented, but I am not sure I have a good idea of how to do it better. The text bubbles were pretty large, and I kept skipping to reading them which was a problem when there was information written between the text bubbles. They were kind of distracting because of the font/bubble size.

All in all, a good read- interesting plot, plenty of spice, don’t read in public if folks can look over your shoulder. There are some illustrations (1 or 2) included that some folks might not be fans of if they are eavesdropping your book. Course, if they are being nosey…..they get what they get, LOL.

I look forward to reading book 2 and seeing where their story takes them. This is a great way to spend an afternoon, I wasn’t able to put it down until I finished it. Definitely worth a read, especially if you are a fan of Katee Robert or Scarlett St. Clair- this one ranks right up there with these authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for permitting this book to be a Read Now to help members develop their Feedback Ratio.

Review Summary:
I went into this book expecting a plot-driven romance based on Greek mythology with a twist. I was expecting a bit of smut, which I don't mind in a good story. I also appreciated the disclaimer the authors gave at the beginning, explaining that it's not intended to be a historically accurate re-telling and that certain changes were made to be inkeeping with the story. What I was NOT expecting was a full blown erotica. This book is essentially Fifty Shades of Grey fanfiction meets a Rom-Com / Sitcom.
Positives are that the writer(s) do undeniably have talent. There are flashes of excellent prose scattered throughout the story which, despite its heavy flaws, made the book a fairly easy read. The other is that I commend the authors unabashed confidence in writing some pretty outrageous stuff. There was no holding back and you can see that their imaginations were left to go free. The ending of the book actually made me want to read book two, despite finding this edition inherently flawed. I attest this to the writing having some potential that just needs to blossom once the overt focus on smut fades away and an actual story becomes the forefront.
Negatives are unfortunately more prominent. The inconsistent writing makes me think that certain scenes are writting predominantly by one author, and then the rest by the other. Which writer is attached to which, I'm not sure. This book tried too hard to cater to a Gen Z audience. The story is essentially non-existent, with the attempts at plot points being so thin, often frustrating/annoying and in many ways utterly ridiculous that it makes the book feel funny to read which I don't think was the intention. The characterisation is quite poor as well. The smut is repetitive and excessively unrealistic to the point that, again, it starts to read as a humorous fanfiction rather than serious erotica. Essentially all plot and character development has been left to book two, which makes this first book feel unnecessary in many ways. You could probably skip to book two and not have missed anything of importance.

1.5 stars for what could be an interesting premise if developed more, with some strong writing talent peering through now and again. Enough so that I have gone straight to the second book, which the authors disclose at the end of book one to be significantly different to book two. Colour me intrigued. However the book remains as essentially porn-with-plot - very thin plot - that becomes repetitive and pretty silly. The writing, while having potential, is masked too much with jarring/distracting colloquialisms that left me cringeing or rolling my eyes. It is very obvious that this is written by two different people which makes for inconsistent prose. The stronger writer needed to have more influence I feel.

FULL REVIEW BELOW. AVAILABLE WITH THE ADDITION OF HIDDEN SPOILERS ON GOODREADS.

World-building:
The story is loosely built around Greek mythology with the Gods of Olympus, the Underworld or various other realms choosing to live on modern-day Earth and live like mortals. There are extremely vague mentions of these realms and aside from the main characters the Gods or divine beings are mostly just name-dropped when they're needed. The focus is on Hades God of the Underworld, and Persephone Goddess of Spring. Other beings that physically appear are Helios God of the Sun, Poseidon God of the Seas, Zeus God of the Sky, Hekate Goddess of Witches and Melinoë the Chthonic Nymph. Vaguely mentioned are Demeter Goddess of Harvest - Persephone's mother, Eros God of Carnal Love and the Three Moirai (Fates). The setting is in the bank of 'Plutus', where Hades has full control of the finances of the earth-living Gods. The majority of the story is set in the office of this Bank, occasionally in Hades and Persephone's apartments. Because we were limited to these settings the world-building felt quite restricted and minimal. It may have been interesting to have an alternative point of view from a God or Goddess still in the divine realms such as Demeter, or flashbacks from Hades and Persephone in those realms instead of leaving all of this for book two. Instead in many ways the divine world feels like a minor, forgotten aspect of the story.

Characterisation:
Hades is initally shown as blunt, moody and lacking empathy. He simultaneously loves and loathes being in control of everybody. One of those archetypal tortured male characters who closes themselves off to everybody due to past trauma or being unhappy. He is openly misogynistic too and comes across as a sex addict. Then once he meets Persephone he magically loses all of this and becomes irritatingly insecure and quite clingy/needy. Almost juvenile. It would have been more interesting to see him having to unlearn some of his flaws in an organic way. I suppose he is fairly consistent by becoming one form of loser to another form of loser. Persephone just feels like such an empty character. She is supposed to be somewhat of a rebel, particularly when it comes to her mother Demeter, but it just falls flat and she just feels like she is reduced to a character made for the male gaze as if she's straight out of a porn. Thinly veiled 'hard-to-get' while also unapologetically and aggressively sexual. I also hate how they both have such non-jobs, a 'social media manager' who always seems to be working but we have no idea what that job even entails. She is so commited to it, proud if it even, but what does she actually do? No idea. The other side characters are also frustratingly bare. 'Mellie' in particular is the most annoying aspect of the story for me, being written as a personification of Gen Z. 'Spill the tea sis' is something she genuinely, unironically says. It is mentioned an irritating amount of times that she wears her hair in 'space buns'. Wears Doc Martens too, of course. Helios is again lacking in personality, I think he is supposed to be a bit of a comic relief but it falls flat.

Story:
So the way Hades and Persephone meets is actually quite interesting, starting with a sense of mystery and whodunit. Then it becomes an enemies-to-lovers, full of sexual tension and some pretty erotic solo scenes. Then we are introduced to a doomed prophecy of sorts by the Fates, who Hades speaks to on the phone through their job as... phone sex workers. This is where the unescapable feeling of siliness started. Hades is desperately trying to avoid 'activating' this curse throughout the entire book, and the way it is 'activated' is so unbelievably funny and a ridiculously thin attempt at a sense of perilous plot that I can't take it seriously at all. And what's even more funny is that the 'curse' isn't even that bad once we see how obsessed Persephone is with Hades. She probably wouldn't have even minded. Then it is just porn. For chapter upon chapter. Repetitive, unrealistic porn. The lack of realism of it is poorly justified by 'divine resilience', which is mentioned multiple times out loud and in an internal monologue. There is a 'bet' as an attempt to create more sexual tension but the beginning of the book is the only place where this is effective, by this point the porn has made me completely desensitised and the 'bet' just feels like dragging things out. There are more attempts at evoking a sense of doom or peril through Jackson, Persephone's mortal boyfriend, but again it falls flat and Jackson's character and their 'relationship' is such a dud that the whole sideplot feels non-sensical. There are also multiple 'arguments' between Hades and Persephone that then set off their anxious inner monologues, but the 'arguments' are over quite literally nothing, happen after every interaction, and remind me of fanfiction where the writers feel tension has to be forced in there somehow. It felt like a sitcom/rom-com where situations could easily be resolved with... words. But instead manifest into petty problems. Then when we get to a genuine sense of peril and story progression... the book ends. I feel like in a world of Greek divinity so much could have been done to create a more interesting main plot or sideplots, but it ultimately was just porn set in a workplace.

Prose:
So as mentioned, when the writing is focused on the Gods and their divinity and becomes more descriptive and focused on world-building, the writing is very good. Descriptions of the characters powers are well written too, such as certain scenes with Hades' shadows and Persephone's vines. But this book is PLAGUED with cringe-worthy quotes, catchphrases and tropes that are typical of male smut writers as opposed to female. I nearly gave up on the very first page when Persephone says 'bitch, please'. She also says 'Mood.', 'living {in my head} rent-free', 'zero chill' and refers to her pairing with Jackson as 'Jacsephone' completely unironically. Then her 'breasts heave with anger' and 'push together slightly' when she leans over. It's usually men who practically anthropomorphise boobs. There are times when unneccessary details are mentioned, such as Helios grabbing a 'protein shake' from the fridge or pancakes described as a 'beige stack' and excessive mentions of Persephone's hair being in a 'messy bun' or wearing 'pencil skirts'. It felt like the writing had become more insecure at this point and was just trying to fluff out things without needing to. Hades and Persephone also 'growl' words so many times in this book I'm surprised they talk normally at all. I didn't like the mentions of real-life things, such as Wednesday Addams or Charmed. It's a personal preference of mine as it takes me out of a storys immersion. I am reading to delve into a fictional world, I don't enjoy reminders of the real world. Other irritating occurences were the nicknames. 'P' is not a nickname anybody would ever use for a name such as Persephone, same applies to Persephone calling Helios 'H'. Helios also calls her 'petal' which just made me cringe. Hades calls her 'my little spring' while she calls him 'demon'. Again, did not enjoy those nicknames at all. Attempts at humour sometimes worked, but not always. A couple of times Hades cringes at certain flowerly phrases in his internal monologues which were amusingly meta. But then we have Hekate arriving with nails that are printed with 'WITCH BITCH', and Hades refers to Persephone's bum as 'life changing' which takes us back to the unfunny Gen Z attempts at humour.

Greek mythology meets forbidden workplace romance.
After being kept hidden away from other gods and mortals alike by her mother Demeter, Persephone is allowed to go live in the mortal realm on the conditions she will not fornicate with men or any gods. Rules she quickly breaks as she unwittingly becomes employed by Hades. Upon meeting they are desperately fighting their immediate (and fated) attraction for each other. But Hades holds secrets that may ultimately keep them apart, and Persephone will not be imprisoned by secrets again.
A delicious story of with characters dealing with attraction, longing, fate, and doubt. A well done read that leaves you wanting to know if these two will ever get it right. Excited for book 2!

The art was amazing, reason for a star.

The fact that Hekate was team Persephone before team Persephone was even a thing was so amazing to me. Reason for star 2.

Hades inner monologue of him calling himself names eg ‘Hades, God of babysitting other gods’ was so freaking funny.

However the plot felt flat. I hated the insecurity between them. If miscommunication was a book. It was just to much.

Will I be reading book 2? Yes this ends on a cliffhanger and I’m nosey 🫠

Love a good hades/persephone retelling. This one hooks you and is very steamy! The constant doubting of each other was a bit frustrating and at some points annoying. The cliffhanger leaves you wanting to immediately read the next book

"Unlike any other Hades and Persephone retelling I've came across."

Thank you NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love exploring retellings of all kinds. But I've an especially weak spot for those retelling Hades and Persephone. So to say I was very excited to see where this go is an understatement. The spicy side worried me - I don't typically read spice. But I'm always up for a palate cleanser. So I still gave it a read as well as book two and book three of the trilogy.

It started well. Hades and Persephone feel fleshed out and meet in a unique way. As the story progresses, they start to feel one dimensional. It definitely captures the obsession Hade's has for Persephone, but the story doesn't really progress. They're just sex driven. Which, unfortunately, lead to there being ALOT of spice. When putting it in, they took the cap off and just let it fall onto the pages. The story didn't need it. But it still remains to be unlike any other Hades and Persephone retelling I've came across in my reader lifetime.

This isn't the best written book. It isn't complex and the plot isn't the best and definitely doesn't provoke any thoughts or sparks any discussions about issues in the world. However, as a read that is quick and easy, this hits the spot (just like Hades and Persephone, apparently) and I did actually enjoy it.

I am a big fan of Hades/Persephone retellings, they're what actually reinstated my passion for reading. So whenever a new retelling pops up I am always down for a read. This was okay, I feel like it was missing what makes this coupling so special though. It felt more lusty than intimate and if even a teeny tiny amount of time was more focused on developing the relationship, then I feel like it would have been more impactful of a book for me. I don't mind a spice-heavy book, I don't mind if the plot is just sprinkled on top sparingly either. But for this particular genre/couple I feel like it wasn't done quite right.

This is a non-standard love story told in a first-person manner. It could be the classic tale of girl meets new boss, falls for him, and what happens after… but the girl is Persephone. And her boss just so happens to be Hades. The boyfriend is not likeable, but that’s because we’re not supposed to like him, and the love scenes are explicit as well as plot driven. I’ll probably want to read the rest of the series too

I can never turn down a Hades & Persephone retelling, I don't believe you can have too many. The Maiden & The Unseen was an enjoyable new take on the well known story and I was happy that it wasn't a copy and paste of what we already know of the dynamic.

There were many points that were comedic and light and enjoyable for the reader. The main issue between the two is miscommunication which is something that does get frustrating after a while, because if the two characters just talked to one another openly, there wouldn't be any issues, but then again, then there wouldn't be any book. This was also a very spicy book, which I am never opposed to either and I don't think took too much away from the storyline.

This was a quick read and leaves you wanting to read the next installment to know where the story goes!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!