The Temple of Persephone by Isabella KamalRating: ✩✩✩✩✩
There was a lot to enjoy about this take on a classic regency novel with a slight nod to old myths.
The positives:
* Great tropes such as marriage convenience ( I love both a "forced to marry or be ruined" and a "marry as a business plot but fall in love"), wallflower protagonists and insta-love/lust.
* The subtle retelling of Hades and Persephone was a good premise and this was the first variant i had read that placed the myth in a regency historical.
* Mildly spicy with a relatively believable HEA.
* A decent cast of archetypal, but promising supporting characters with much room for further stories in the series.
The negatives:
* The deep dark secret is pretty anticlimactic and only matters as a foil for our hero to have to "outgrow" his tragic past.
* Some of the plot is furthered by events that are just a bit too coincidental.
* The subtle fourth wall breaking with the characters themselves talking about the Hades and Persephone myth is somewhat heavy handed at time.
Overall, a really enjoyable first novel that will hit all the high points that historical romance readers love.
Published on 20 February 2023 by Blackstone Publishing
Book #101 of 2023
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