Title: Crazy in the Blood
Author: Lucienne Diver
Series: The Latter-Day Olympians #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Mythology, Paranormal fantasy, Strong women
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: At least one person’s already been killed.

Hell on Earth. It’s not just an expression anymore.

It’s an ill wind that carries bad news, and Tori’s just had a double load of it blow through her door.

Just a few weeks after she prevented some rogue gods from blowing L.A. into the ocean, more dead bodies are turning up near the leftover crater. Bodies that have been shredded by something too big to be…shall we say, of this world? Worse, Uncle Christos has disappeared after stumbling onto a deadly cult masquerading as the Back to Earth movement.

The connection: Dionysus. Yes, that Dionysus. He’s resurrected his bloody fertility rite, complete with frenzied female groupies who tear men limb from limb. And he’s lured Demeter, goddess of the harvest, over to his side by finding a way to get her daughter away from Hades for good.

Predictably, Hades isn’t about to let her go without a fight. Unless Tori finds a way to bring her back, he’ll abandon the gates of Tartarus. At which time all hell will, literally, break loose.

Between saving the world, the woman, and cultists and her crazy uncle? So much for getting to the beach before all the good spots are taken…

Product Warnings
The wine country is going through a heat wave of epic proportions, and it’s not all about the weather. Beware steamy gods with seduction on their minds or brimstone in their blood.

Tori’s sass and inability to stay out of trouble continue in Crazy in the Blood. Her drive to find the illusive Uncle Christos is a great catalyst to the rest of the ensuing chaos. It is also a great reminder that although Tori is estranged from her apparently vast family, she has a strong connection to them and is unwilling to simply let her eccentric uncle disappear into the sunset. She risks everything (including her own life) to rescue him and bring him home for a wedding.

I thoroughly enjoyed Armani and Tori’s courtship in Bad Blood, so finding out how their relationship is progressing was a welcome revisit. The increasing tension between Tori and Apollo just helped to add drama to the situation. Apollo’s pure magnetism and the possible, serious consequences Tori faces in their courtship act as a fantastic counterpoint to Nick’s steadfast loyalty and ability to see behind her bravado.

The war between the Gods also gains traction throughout Crazy in the Blood. It also gives more meaning to the idea of The Latter-Day Olympians and future conflicts between such powerful characters, in more than one sense of the word. Hades, Persephone and Demeter’s personal war is a good window through which the greater disagreements between the Gods is explored. Not only is this a great new window through which to view a modern-spin on the battles of the Greek Gods, but it is also a incredible new twist on tales that have been around for a very, very, very, very, very long time.

Image source: Pinterest

Title: Bad Blood
Author: Lucienne Diver
Series: The Latter-Day Olympians #1
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Mythology, Paranormal fantasy, Strong women
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: It seemed the hardest thing I’d ever done to make myself move.

The gods play…and mortals pay.

Tori Karacis’s family line may trace back to a drunken liaison between the god Pan and one of the immortal gorgons. Or…maybe it’s just coincidence that her glance can, literally, stop men in their tracks. While her fear of heights kept her out of the family aerobatic troupe, her extreme nosiness fits right in with her uncle’s P.I. business.

Except he’s disappeared on an Odyssean journey to find himself. Muddling through on her own, she’s reduced to hunting (not stalking, because that would just be weird) brass-bra’d Hollywood agent Circe Holland to deliver a message…only to witness her murder by what looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Suddenly, all of her family’s tall tales seem believable, especially when Apollo—the Apollo, who’s now hiding out among humans as an adult film star—appears in her office, looking to hire her. She knows the drill: canoodling with gods never works out well for humans, but she’s irresistibly drawn to him. Maybe it’s her genes. Maybe not.

Given her conflicted feelings for one hot and hardened cop, it’s a toss-up which will kill her quickest. The danger at her door…or her love life.

Warning: Contains pot-boiling passion between a heroine who may—or may not—be a descendant of Medusa, and a hot god and a hunky cop with the…equipment…to handle her, even on her worst bad-hair day. Beware of killer kisses, trickster gods and bearded grandmothers Who Know Everything.

This was a great, easy read and I can’t wait to crack the spine of Crazy in the Blood. Diver takes the Greek myths and twists them to fit the life of a modern-day woman. Although Riordan has done this beautifully in his writing, Diver’s adaptation was much more subtle. I also loved how, where Riordan’s heroes are the descendants of Gods, Tori, Diver’s heroine, is the descendant of a Gorgon.

The combination of a steamy love triangle and a fast-paced mystery drew me in from the first page. The battle between what is good and bad extended not only from the murder and consequent occurrences within the story, but also in Tori’s battle to choose a partner. On one hand, there is the button-down, safe cop who makes her feel safe, on the other – a God. Undeniable attraction is one thing, undeniable attraction that has the potential to lead to a very uncomfortable end if the myths are anything to go by.

I loved Diver’s ability to take modern day issues and give them a mythically Greek spin. This is a fantastic start to a new series, and I can’t wait until I have the chance to read the next story in this saga.

Image source: Goodreads

Title: Trickster Blood
Author: Lucienne Diver
Series: The Latter-Day Olympians #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Mythology, Paranormal fantasy, Strong women
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella eBook
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: Hard to make light of death and taxes, but he was always willing to try.

Hermes, the god of tricksters, walk away from mischief and mayhem? As if.

Hermes (yes, that Hermes of Greek myth) has an unerring nose for mischief and mayhem, which comes in handy as a syndicated columnist for the Miami Sentinel.

When a colleague offers to forgive a lost bet in exchange for checking on his father in Ft. Lauderdale, Hermes’s Spidey senses go on high alert. The father, it seems, has taken up with his much younger housekeeper. The suspected foul play has trickster written all over it.

The young woman who answers the door almost knocks Hermes back a step with her shining golden hair and laughing, kaleidoscope eyes. Oh yeah, there’s a trickster here. But which one? For once in his eternal life, Hermes isn’t sure whether he should stage an intervention, or leave the “happy couple” to their mutually assured destruction.

Especially since Farrah is much more than she seems, and Hermes is all about fun…and frolic.

Warning: Full of tricksters, trouble, and an intriguing temptress who may be more than our hero can handle. Not that he won’t give it his best shot!

After reading the first two books in The Latter-Day Olympians series, I thought that I knew what to expect from this short prequel. I was wrong. Taking the tale of one of Hermes’ exploits and tying it into Tori Karcasis’ life worked beautifully, albeit unexpectedly. The clever use of Hermes’ different guises as the Trickster also helped to further expand this world of mythology, something that I hope to see echoed in the next few of The Latter-Day Olympians stories.

The premise of a man keeping a woman he feels as his property because he loves him is not a new one. But, making that woman a djinn, or genie, was a great twist on this. Her entrapment is not only of the emotional and physical kind that is often displayed in life and literature, but also a magical one that ensures her continuing devotion to the man. In this, Hermes is not only willing to go against a fellow man, but he also makes his thoughts on this type of entrapment immensely obvious. The fact that Farrah is obviously a fellow trickster at heart and good looking to boot only helps this matter.

Overall, I thought that this story was almost too short. Where the main series focuses on Apollo and his interactions with Tori, there is something about the tale of a Trickster that really pulls me in. That’s not to say that I don’t look forward to reading the rest of The Latter-Day Olympians tales.

Image source: Lucienne Diver