I have been a big fan of this series and I remember looking forward for Neon Gods to be released and the hype was undeniably worth it. Each book has added so much world building and her relationship development never ceases to impress me (especially with her condensed timelines). But I absolutely fell just a little in love with Eris, Theseus, Pandora, and Adonis.

And big oh boy does she know how to write (and make) tricky romance pairings work. Not everyone could write a successful polyamorous romance with an eventful plot but she managed to pull it off in a way that is perfectly suited to the rest of this series. We had excellent character development, plot advancement, deep and meaningful conversations, and of course SPICE. Honestly, my only real complaint is that we only received one group scene, but I’ll wait patiently for the next few books and hope we get a few more from her because as always, her work is delightful.

(Or maybe we will get lucky and she will write some short stories like she did for her Wicked Villain series!)

All in all this book is a good stepping stone for the rest of the series and yet it can stand on its own. I’m so excited to see where this goes and can’t wait for the next installment. It almost makes me sad that I finished this in less than a day knowing I have to wait for the next book, but at least I can go find my highlighted sections 😎.

I think the coolest part about this book is the fact it follows four people like I love that polyamory is being featured in a traditionally published book. And I think the setup for all four people works really well. For example, I understand what Aphrodite is receiving from the others and why these multiple relationships fulfill her.

I think this is Katee's most niche book I've read so far and I don't know how others will like, but I really liked the steam and the normalization of polyamory and the character development.

What was missing for me here was there wasn't enough time for any romantic build. Since we have four characters not just two, there's less page time to service everyone in the proper way. I think the only way this book could've been truly successful to me would've been if it was 600 pages and we saw more of a development of some of the couples in the poly knot. Because thinking about the lack of romance is actually upsetting me.

Out of all the combinations of pairings here, I'd say my favorite was Aphrodite's and Hephasteus's. They were so explosive and I loved them arguing and their arranged marriage trope in the beginning felt like a mafia romance I was loving.

The plot here was really interesting too, but toward the end I feel like it was anticlimactic. Wicked Beauty remains to have my favorite plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m obsessed with this series! I love the modern take on Greek gods and the ongoing power/political/love conflict that makes up Olympus. I love how the books pick up where the previous one left off.

This book follows Aphrodite (Eris) as she navigates self-sacrifice for the good of the city versus what she wants as Eris. She agreed to marry the new Hephaestus (Theseus) who has taken advantage of a little known clause - if you kill a member of the Thirteen, you can take their place. Theseus has done just that to become Hephaestus and is forced to marry Aphrodite. She goes through with it with the intention to learn Theseus’ plans and his string puller Minos’ plans for destroying the Thirteen and Olympus. Feelings are an unexpected side effect as their lives intertwine and further entangle with Adonis and Pandora. But with the public’s knowledge of the clause apparent, the lives of the Thirteen are at stake. Can Aphrodite and Hephaestus come together to keep each other alive? Can they put their wants and feelings ahead of Olympus?

I enjoyed the book and can’t wait for the next one in the series. I’m still hoping for a Hera/ Zeus book!

While Radiant Sin and Electric Idol are still my favorites of the series, I really enjoyed Cruel Seduction as well. There was so much tension between so many characters and I was living for it. The spice was spicing—it's Katee Robert, of course it is. The chemistry between each of the matches was soo good. I also liked the political intrigue and I'm very curious as to what's going to happen next. The ending closed this book off well, but there's definitely a lot of unanswered questions for the overall story. Katee knows how to pull readers in and leave us on our toes and this was a fun installment. I also really enjoyed how vulnerable Aphrodite and Hephaestus became after they were forced into this marriage. Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an e-ARC to read and review!

WHEW. Ok this might be my favorite Neon Gods series book yet. The politics, the romance, the realistic nature of the ways the central four characters fell together but still had to work through their individual challenges. SO DAMN GOOD. Also that ending - I won't spoil it here but I had never considered that was an option in this series, but making that decision was beautiful. GAH. GIVE ME MIDNIGHT RUIN NOW PLS. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

4⭐️ 4🌶️

“From the moment I saw her, I’ve hated her and wanted her in equal measures”

You know, when mother Katee said this one was going to be messy… I had no idea it would be THIS MESSY. But messy is fun… MESSY IS FILTHY AND DELICIOUS AND WILL HAVE YOU PANTING ON THE FLOOR LIKE A DOG 🥵 **clears throat…** let’s get to the review shall we?

First, here are some tropes in it that should be an instant compelling factor for you to drop everything and pick this up asap:

- [ ] Enemies to lovers
- [ ] Forced proximity
- [ ] Arranged marriage
- [ ] Hate fucking
- [ ] MESSY AF
- [ ] Best polyamorous rep so far in all her books

I have, at this point, read a solid 40-50% of Katee’s books I feel like and when I say this is the best polyam rep I’ve seen in her books… I MEAN IT. And she is she queen of representation and diversity in pretty much all her books. Even the monster series has excellent representation in it. It’s not just the sexual rep, but the way she makes sure to include different pronouns. It is so educative to read about things you have no knowledge of and then go on a 3 hour long research deep dive on said pronouns and pronunciations and how to properly use them and what to do if you mess up. Say what you will, but smutty books are so superior to so many “classics” and “deeper” books.

The storyline in this book had me so so hooked I had to force myself to stop reading and get some sleep. I had 25 mins left in the book and I still didn’t know how she was going to resolve the conflicts!! But I am actually very very happy about it. I hope we get to see more of these characters in the other books. I love Wicked Villains but this is the superior series for sure.

The Dina mic between all 4 main characters was so good. The tension and threats and love they all came to share in one way or another was very well done. Wasn’t a fan of the insta lovey feeling but it fits with the plot and the short timeline so I understand why it is the way it is. All the books in the series I feel will have this in one way or another but Katee navigates it so well.. and there is so freaking much that happens in such a short amount of time that it feels like the timeline is longer anyways.

And the smut???? The damn hate fucking between Aphrodite and Hephaestus OH MY LORD HAVE MERCY ON US THIRSTY PEOPLE 😮‍💨 I expected nothing else tbh… there’s very few people who can write smutt like Katee does.

I DESPERATELY NEED THW NEXT BOOK!!!

“She was sent to destroy me, but I’m going to destroy her first”

P.S: I see you Katee… I see your little hints here and there for Zeus and Hera 👀 don’t think for even one second I am not onto you. This… this o think may be the book that finally suspases Electric Idol for me.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Edelweiss for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: attempted murder, murder, violence, blood, child abuse (historical, non-graphic), attempted sexual assault (historical, off-page), orphan

The fifth book in the series it could be enjoyed as a standalone but I think it would be appreciated more reading the books prior

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-MMFF open poly knot
-marriage of convenience
-second chance
-revenge
-hurt/comfort
-plus size rep

I would trust very few authors to introduce four characters, an open poly knot, and add in all of the drama with the Olympus, and of course Katee Robert excelled at it. At this point we know this world so well. It was so lovely (and of course sexy) to go back to Hades club.

There were so many dynamic relationships in this book. Aphrodite and Hephaestus and their marriage of convenience, and their clear sexual attraction despite being enemies. Every time he called her wife had me screaming. Adonis hurt, and trying to fight his attraction to Hephaestus. And Pandora's adorable friendship with Hephaestus and amazing chemistry with Aphrodite. The revenge sex, the hurt/comfort, how soft Hephaestus and even Aphrodite got.

The stakes in this book just keep ramping up as Olympus is poised to to combust with all of the political tensions. I loved how this showed so many different glimpses of love, new love, past love and figuring things out, friendship, family.

I adore this series and just can't wait for the next book (and also to of course reread via audio!)

Steam: 4

This book is not seduction: this is all-out SPICE. The plot bored me many times, but I stayed with it for *ahem* the "plot." If you know you know.

Katee Robert really said, "You want mess? I'll give you mess!" and then delivered the messiest, sweetest book ever. 4.5/5 stars.

I would read the phone book if Katee Robert wrote it, thankfully everything they write is flawless! Cruel Seduction moved the plot of the series forward while giving us an absolutely fantastic arc for the characters it involved. The way this series is coming together is genius, and is why I do not recommend these be read as standalones. Read them all, and read them in order! With how well planned and well written these are, it's not hard to dive in and only come up for air when you're all caught up.

Further to that, I fucking LOVED the characters in Cruel Seduction and each of their overall characters arcs during the story were flawless. Theseus/Hephaestus and Eris/Aphrodite spent the whole book in this push-pull with each other, Pandora, and Adonis and then (oops!) realized they didn't hate each other after all! It was messy, it was funny, it was tender, and by the end it was satisfying in the way it wrapped up.

I can't wait for the next book in this series, and I'm so grateful to have received this one as an ARC. Now I just have to wait until Midnight Ruin comes out next year (*cries with impatience*)

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Cruel Seduction! The Dark Olympus series is one of my favorite romance series, so this was one of my most anticipated summer reads!

This book gives everything you could hope for in a Katee Robert book. There is spice, there is drama, there are strong characters with diversity...I read this book pretty quickly, and I really wanted to know how it would end. The story actually made me care about two pretty unlikable characters, so that was pretty impressive in my book!

That being said, this book also felt like a reiteration of the third book in the series with a little DP thrown in (IYKYK). I wasn't sold on the polyamorous relationship like I was in the previous book, the character development didn't stand up to the previous book, and the story kind of dragged in a lot of places. I was disappointed with how this one turned out unfortunately!

It's still a good romance, and a solid 3⭐️ rating. I just didn't connect with these characters as much as I did with the leading characters in the previous books!

You're definitely going to want to read this one if you're following the series, and you're really going to love the spice in this book! And, I'm still super excited about Book #6 releasing in 2024!

Rating: 3⭐️

Cruel Seduction is another *chef's kiss* of Katee Robert's work. I have always loved Greek Mythology, and the twist that this series has is amazing, different and fast paced.

This book takes on another couple, but also adds in a touch more polygamy.

Aphrodite would love to kill her new husband...as would most of the city. However he is also after the same goal; killing their spouse.

Which will end up successful?

Cruel Seduction is another fast paced and sexy times story from Katee Robert.

While not my favorite in the series I still thoroughly enjoyed.

Katee Robert is my go to author for dark romance and I can't wait to see what she publishes next!

🏳️‍🌈🌶️ ARC Review

Okay, it’s time for me to admit I’ve now read 3/5 Dark Olympus books. They appeal to the absolute trash reality TV show loving side of me so here we go.

13 ‘gods’ (CEOs) rule the city of Olympus while everyone else wants to be them or be with them and is willing to do whatever it takes. Aphrodite and Hephaestus are forced into a political marriage but hate each other and decide to get revenge… by Aphrodite going after Pandora (Hephaestus’s sister) and Hephaestus going after Adonis (Aphrodite’s ex). At the same time the thirteen have never been more unstable with attacks coming left, right and centre.

This is such a fun book, it’s like an action movie but also with poly rep and even a few non-binary SC (using both they/them and neoprouns). But be pre-warned this is quite spicy.

If you love Queer Ultimatium, If you are the One, Love is Blind, or general smut and/or poly rep you will enjoy this!

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for an ARC. ‘Cruel Seduction’ comes out on the 8th of August.

This was a fun read, but as a few others have noted I felt that it didn't quite come all the way together as far as balancing the development of the romance with the overall plot arc of the series. However, in all fairness, I think writing a fully realized four person relationship is more difficult than one between fewer people, especially when author hasn't already built out the characters and seeded things through more previous books first (for instance, the most successful example of this I've ever seen in the genre didn't happen before book seven of the series in question). Also if forced to choose, when it comes to this series I actually care more about the plot and worldbuilding and politics than any of the individual romances, with Wicked Beauty being the only exception where I was equally invested in both. So as a Dark Olympus fan I was happy with the way the plot moved forward in this one, and I always enjoy when we get a Kallios kid as a POV character so I loved that Eris/Aphrodite was one of the narrators here. Hoping we get a Perseus/Zeus and Callisto/Hera book soon!

I absolutely love the Dark Olympus series and have devoured every book! This one missed the mark for me a little bit. With all the back stories and motivations of so many different people in this book, it took me out of the groove. In some spots I skimmed pages just to get through the history and connections. I’d still recommend reading this one because the parts that were good were really good. Just be prepared for those more complex sections with back story and motivations.

This is one of my favorite series but unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. I expected for it to not be my favorite as I’m not always the biggest fan of messy romances. I still did enjoy this book and if you’re a fan of the series it’s still worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've been waiting for the continuation of this series. This one includes the new Hephaestus and Aphrodite. They are set to get married, but they both have connections.

Pandora and Adonis care deeply for their friends and ex; many changes happen within the 13 and Olympus. Since Hephaestus became a part of the 13, the dynamic has changed, and no one trusts anyone anymore.

Then there are attempts on people's lives, and Hephaestus finds he cares about what happens to his friends and his wife, surprisingly.
I enjoyed this one. I am looking forward to the next one.

BOY, I had super high hopes for this one. I'll be the first to admit, the Dark Olympus series is probably my favorite romance series to read. When I say I eat it up, I mean it!

Cruel Seduction delivers on its promise: it's MESSY. I think it's had the strongest potential yet to become a favorite (I'm still chasing the high of Neon Gods), but it did fall short in the second half for me.

The opening of the book with the arranged marriage of Hephaestus/Theseus and Aphrodite set the book's fast pace, and I really loved watching the development of understanding the connected relationships between the foursome. The steam was steamin' and doing exactly what Katee always delivers on!

Where this lost me was largely in the strategy and plot-line of the war in Olympus. At some point, all the motivations and moving pieces are a litttleeee too messy and difficult for the reader to keep up with. Remembering details from 3 books ago is becoming really hard, and I don't think I'm catching all the nuances. I'd also say that this one felt a bit rushed, especially toward the end. There's so much to trying to unfold 4 very complex relationships between main characters while also having other things happening in the book, and honestly, I felt like there could've been another 200 pages to help ... flesh things out... no pun intended.

Was I thrilled with this one? No, but I think it has it's purpose in my TBR and I will love watching what's unfolding next every single time! I will HAPPILY continue the rest of this series as soon as I possibly can!

I kind of knew going into this that Cruel Seduction was not going to be my favorite book in this series. I dislike messy and I'm not big into relationships with multiple partners (no judgement if that is your thing, it's just not mine). But if those had been the only two things going on that I didn't like I would have gotten over it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I just didn't think the writing in this one was up to Katee Robert's normal standards. It wasn't so bad that I gave up but it wasn't good either. I'll keep reading the series because at this point I'm too invested not to but I really hope the next book is better.

★ ★ ★ | 🌶🌶🌶

!! POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD PROCEED WITH CAUTION !!

*A special thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

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I am so incredibly invested in this series. I’ve always loved how Katee Robert combines Greek mythology and modern aspects to create such an entertaining and unique world. I was so excited to be able to read this one early.

Beginning with things that I enjoyed: The recap at the start of the book was a godsend. It really helped to orient myself back into the world and remember what happened in previous books. I also loved Theseus and Pandora as additions to the dynamic as the morally grey “not” villain and his sweet as pie best friend. I liked being able to see where the series is going, and using my existing knowledge of Greek mythology to make guesses on the larger plot.

Now, I do think that this book was the weakest of the books so far. Trust me, the smut was amazing. But, I felt like there was more of it than plot. I wanted more information about Minos and his motives, and tastes of potential conflict in future books.

I also felt like we didn’t get a lot of character development from Pandora and Adonis. I wanted more from them and wanted to see the four of them together more. We really only got to see all four of them at the 80%-90% mark. Which kind of made the book feel long.

Finally, I didn’t love the ending. I get the sentiment but I’m never really a fan of that particular device when it’s used as a conclusion. I think the ending would have more impactful if Eris learned how to balance both facets of her life and brought that to the Thirteen.

I can’t wait to read the rest of these books. I’m highly anticipating the Minotaur and Ariadne.