Dark Olympus things have been heating up for a while now, mostly in bedrooms, playrooms, and other public areas. While the bedrooms (doesn't have to have a bed or be in an actual private room per-say) are still "unspeakably hot" we cannot ignore the politics and threat of war are even hotter...and is mutiny afoot?

Dark Restraint gives us a deeper insight to the plans of the outsider Minos' family and the former unknown brains of the Olympus take down plot (Circe). This is also a reimagining of Ariadne, the Minotaur, and Dionysus Greek Myth.

Quick Greek Myth recap - Ariadne's father King Minos of Crete has a Minotaur trapped in a labyrinth and the people of Athens send 14 people to be sacrificed as meals to the Minotaur as penance for killer Minos' son. The Minotaur is Ariane's half-brother technically in the myth - her mother was forced to fall in love with a bull by Poseidon since Minos did not keep up his end of a bargain with the sea god, and gods are petty. Prince Thesus from Athen is one of the "sacrifices" for the Minotaur, Ariadne foolishly falls in love with him, helps him slay the Minotaur and is supposed to run away with and marry Thesus. Unfortunately, Thesus is a dick and leaves Ariadne alone on an island to perish, then marries her sister to put a truce between Crete and Athens. While on this "deserted" island, turns out it is actually an Island belonging to the god Dionysus and he falls in love with Ariadne and marries her.

Katee Robert Version -
The Minotaur, Asterion street orphan kid gets "adopted" by Minos to become a weapon for him. Ariadne was kind to him as a street kid giving him money and the handmade glove her dead mother made her to help keep him warm. This act of kindness made Asterion fall in love with Ariadne, so when he had to opportunity to join her household, he took it. He continued to carry a torch for her but had to hide it because Minos is awful. Ariadne was none the wiser to his feelings, though she started to develop her own for him, but denied them for years.

Well, they are both adults now and Minos coupe to have 2 members of the 13 killed was only semi successful with his other "adopted" son Thesus killed Hephaestus, but the Minotaur let his target get away. Asterion knows that Ariadne gave intel on Minos' plans to the Olympians and is planning on turning sides to try and save as many lives as possible and Asterion goes where Ariadne goes, so time for him to betray Minos too, just a little more secretly and strategically. Ariadne still cannot see the romantic gesture for what it is, slightly understandable for a girl who has never been good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc in her father's eyes. When girlie is actually a computer hacking genius, but her overthinking, self-doubts, and inner saboteur gets in her own way to unlocking her full potential of being a badass.

Through a series of unfortunate events Ariadne finds herself at the mercy of the Olympians, thankfully they plan to marry off to Olympus's most eligible bachelor Dionysus. Dionysus has no sexual interest in Ariadne and can tell she is a good girl in way over her head. While this is the best of a fucked scenario the Minotaur ain't having it! Ariadne is his dream girl and his alone, he just has to get her to realize it too! Oh, and try to go against killing people, which is what Minos raised him to do, get him Ariadne and her annoying also self-sabotaging brother Icarus out of Olympus before the war arrives when the wall comes down. No problem, right?!?! There are so many problems, as one plan after another fails. At least Ariadne has finally given her body over to Asterion, but he is truly after her heart.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced digital copy of Dark Restraint!

I LOVE the Dark Olympus series. I devour every single installment. So to say I was excited when I was given an ARC of Dark Restraint from Netgalley was an understatement. I started it almost immediately.
To say I was disappointed is kind of an understatement. I wanted to DNF this book like four times while reading. Every previous installment of this series were devoured within a week... This one took me over a month to finish cuz I kept pushing it to the side. I was honestly so bored and I hated this couple. Ariadne and Asterion felt like they were a forced coupling. Ariadne felt almost one-dimensional, not fully flushed out. I wanted to see more of her hacker side, but it was more of a side note just to make her slightly more interesting. The Minotaur was such a boring MMC... literally rolled my eyes so many times at his overprotectiveness.
All in all, I just didin't care about the main characters at ALL, and the story didn't get truly interesting until the last 10%.
Just glad to finally be finished. Ugh.

I loved this next book in the Olympus series!! We are on the precipice of all out war, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!! The Minotaur and Ariadne were EXCELLENT and I love the obsessive love the Minotaur has with Ariadne. They fit so well together and their love story was intoxicating and beautiful in its own way. LOVE LOVE!!

So if I'm being honest the blurb is a little misleading about the story you'll be delving into. First off unfortunately for my fellow MFM fans, this is strictly a MF read. While Ariadne does become engaged to someone else it's only because she's running from loving someone she believes will never love her back. In fact much of the book occurs because Ariadne runs away from her problems and this time it just so happens her dire circumstances play perfectly into those of the scheming Olympians. If you've read other books in this series than you should know better than to trust anything out of a God or Goddess's mouth but when you're in a bind like Ariadne it's easier to work with the enemy of your enemy. The sexual chemistry between Ariadne and her Minotaur Asterion is off the charts. Honestly even with all her running away Ariadne is putty in Asterion's hands and they can barely keep their hands off each other. There is a lot of drama given his role as her father's right hand man but nothing will keep him from his woman. May take him a while to prove his love but they have eternity and he is one determined guy. The history between these two is adorable and I love that they have known each other for so long as it makes their coming together that much sweeter and looooong overdue. The writing is easy to get sucked in to and the end will leave you wanting more.

I loved seeing all the plot development for this book and how it sets up the remaining books. I really can't wait to see what happens in book 9 with Hera or in the last book with Hermes, I'm obsessed with learning more about each of them.

The couple this book wasn't my favorite. They had a darker dynamic than other couples in this series, and I just didn't love it. I also just didn't enjoy their chemistry the way I have previous couples in this series. Solid book and I can't wait for the last three!

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

❣️🖤 Dark Restraint ARC Review 🖤❣️

Thank you so much to Katee Robert and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read and review this book!!

Dark Restraint is a standalone dark romance and book 7 in the Dark Olympus series. Ariadne is her father’s pawn - to be used for a marriage of political gain. She feels trapped by life and to make things worse, she’s attracted to her father’s weapon, the infamous Minotaur. Can she cross the line into betrayal of her family to get everything she wants?

I loved this book so much! I wasn’t sure what to expect from the mysterious Minotaur, but his story was wonderful. Ariadne was such a great match for him and I loved them both in this story. I enjoyed the continuation of the overarching storyline and can’t wait to see where this story goes next!

Overall this was a solid five star read! I love this world and these characters! This book does have some darker themes, so please check triggers if you’re sensitive. This book started off quickly with the spice and it continued throughout, so overall four flames for spice

If you’re a fan of strong characters, great spice and political intrigue, then absolutely pick up this series! Even though this can be read as a standalone, there is an overarching story and I recommend reading them in order.

Dark Restraint is the seventh installment in the Dark Olympus series.This book follows Ariadne and the Minotaur. To avoid spoilers I am not going to supply a summary with my review.

Katee Robert did it again with this one and I hate that I am going to have to wait for book eight! I loved Ariadne and her personality. I really felt like the plot started to unfold in this book and really set up the next book. The drama in this book was top notch and I can't wait to see what Hera and the rest of the Thirteen do next. I can't say enough how much I love this series, and this book went above and beyond my expectations.

I love the Neon Gods serious, and the story of Ariadne and Asterion/The Minotaur is a surprisingly strong and sweet entry in the series. Their love story is so emotionally satisfying and the spice is nicely spicy. Can't wait for the next entry.

I received an ARC of this book. This was definitely in my top favorites of the Dark Olympus series. I loved the couple. The plot was plotting for sure. The spice was the perfect amount, and I felt like we got some serious in sight into some characters we haven't had a book for yet. Cannot wait to read the next one. Review is cross posted on Goodreads.com

4.5/5 ⭐️
Another great book in the Dark Olympus series. The background story to these books are so interesting, and the political climate slowly changing through the books has me hooked.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

As this series has progressed, I have found myself more invested with the subplot of the political power struggle in the city of Olympus. While that part of this book continued to deliver, the romance fell flat for me. I struggled to connect with Ariadne as our FMC, often finding myself annoyed with her internal dialogue. The writing felt more abrupt and choppy in this book compared to Robert's other installments in the Dark Olympus story, leaning on the intended emotional impact of emotional one-liners rather than actually building emotional connection between Ariadne and the Minotaur.

And that first scene was jarring to say the least.. not my cup of tea but I don't want to yuck someone else's yum. It skewed my perspective for the rest of the book sadly but that was more of a me thing rather than an actual critique of the book.

I’ve been a huge fan of this series, but the last book or so, including this one, have left me wanting. I have been left feeling unsatisfied and that they are just filler books. Each time I tell myself that the next one is going to be amazing because the epilogues sound fantastic, but that hasn’t happened yet. That being said, will I keep reading them? Yeah, I will because I know how good they once were and I keep hoping we will get back there.

I loved the touch her and die dynamic that was going on but I did struggle with the couple as a whole. They felt off to me.

Thank you to netgalley and sourcebooks Casablanca for the e-arc. All thoughts are my own. 3.5 stars rounded down.

This was a really nice continuation of this series, with good spice, but also good progression of the story. Asterion and Ariadne are a good mix, and you can really read this without having read the last book or two and still not be super confused. (The last one I read was Radiant Sin and I still was able to follow everything). My only real complaint is that some bits felt a little rushed, but nothing too major.

** I received Dark Restraint as an ARC rhrough Net Galley**

I have been a huge fan of the Dark Olympus series since the beginning and I am still obsessed. Dar Restraint follows Ariadne and Asterion, The Minotaur. I liked how Katee used the myth of these two to create something entirely new. I enjoyed the love dynamic between Ariadne and Asterion, how they have been in each others lives for so long but their feelings towards each other were forbidden. Ariadne is the sweet heroine who wants to do good, while The Minotaur is a beefy, killing machine. Not only did I enjoy the love story of these two, I am still very much wrapped up in the plot. I never know what wildness Olympus is going to cause but I want to!! Dark Restraint also had some great side characters/reappearances, such as Hermes, Dionysus, Hera, and Psyche. Once again, this book was left with a cliffhanger leading into the next book... I love to hate it as I am not ready for this series to end but I NEED to know how it does! I would recommend this series to anyone who likes the Dark Olympus series, Greek Mythology retellings, or romance books in general.

Spice rating: 3.4/5
Overall rating: 8/10

I am alwavs excited to return to the Dark Olvmpus series! The blending of mythology with the spicy political drama always leaves me on the edge of my seat! It was hard to top some of the more recent dynamics from the previous novels but I enjoyed seeing this couple get their time to shine! As always I cannot wait for the next couple based on such a good teaser chapter! Thank you to Katee Robert (my monarch!!!) and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this ARC!

When I saw Katee Robert post that this was available as an ARC, I instantly stopped what I was doing and ran to NetGalley. Thank you to Katee Robert, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This series is fire! I am a sucker for Greek Mythology, but I have never read a book by an author that can do it the way Katee Robert can. The politics are always played out well, the stories overlap the perfect amount to make sense without making me feel like I keep reading the same thing over and over, and the spice is top shelf. I wasn't able to put this one down. The only bad thing about reading this - I have to wait that much longer before I get my next fix of this series.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve read a lot of Katee Robert’s books and sadly this was a bit of a miss for me. The continuation of the politics was fine and the spice was good but the story itself was a bit bland.

Ariadne and Asterion are a really fucked up couple (more so Asterion but Ariadne ignoring his massive red flags isn’t great). But their interactions outside of the politics were probably most enjoyable?

3 stars but mostly cause of the spice 😂

I was a super fan of the first couple books in this series, but for the last two... it has been hit or miss. For spice? You're never going to go wrong with Katee Robert. She gives the people what they want! However, this one was a little dark for me, and although I'll keep reading this series as it advances (I am a SUCKER for Greek mythology themed stories) I am going to temper my expectations from here on out.

“I don’t believe in the gods, no, but I believe in Ariadne.”
.
.
.
.
.
I was lucky enough to snag an early copy of Dark Restraint from @netgalley and the 7th book in the Dark Olympus series did NOT disappoint. Ariadne and the Minotaur are forced to deal with the fallout of both the personal events of Midnight Ruin and also the impending war that Minos has brought to Olympus. Each book in this series ups the ante a little more, and the suspense of this installment is unmatched.

In regards to Asterion and Ariadne, they are EVERYTHING. They only have eyes for each other, and their relationship is in my top 3 of the Dark Olympus series so far. They spent their whole lives dancing around each other, and seeing them finally come together and accept that they belong to each other was so sweet.

We also get to peak behind the curtain a bit more into the life of Hermes, and all I can say is I cannot wait to see how this story plays out. I’m almost regretful that I read this early, because it means the wait until Sweet Obsession is that much longer!

Thank you to @katee_robert and @netgalley for the early copy! I loved every second of it.

#KateeRobert #DarkRestraint #DarkOlympus #Ariadne #TheMinotaur #NetGalley

I just...I can't with this series anymore. I've been waiting for the Minotaur's story since he first appeared back in book 3. I always thought he was an interesting character and I was hoping there would be a deep, hidden depth to him in this series. Alas, so much disappointment. This series used to be smut with good plot. Now it's smut with boring, predictable, barely there plot. I'm over it. I keep saying I'm going to quit this series and I think this is the book that's finally killed it for me.