Scan barcode
lifeinthebooklane's review
5.0
I am an absolute fan of this series - and Orpheus is just enough a good 'bad boy' to be my type of hero. As with all the books in the series I struggled to put this down - and read it over the course of one day (and quite late night) whilst on holiday.
This will not only stay on my kindle but I will be purchasing the whole series - and probably other books by this author as well.
Well written, fast paced story with lots of twists and turns. The series of books seem to be written to a similar formula (don't want to get together, do get together, split up etc) but it doesn't spoil my enjoyment one little bit - there is enough other story, and ongoing background story, to make these books well worth the money.
This will not only stay on my kindle but I will be purchasing the whole series - and probably other books by this author as well.
Well written, fast paced story with lots of twists and turns. The series of books seem to be written to a similar formula (don't want to get together, do get together, split up etc) but it doesn't spoil my enjoyment one little bit - there is enough other story, and ongoing background story, to make these books well worth the money.
mamabears_fabulous_book_finds's review against another edition
4.0
Let me just say....wow. I knee from the previous books that I would love Orpheus' story. I just didn't know how much. Absolutely amazing
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review
5.0
Orpheus, now bearing the mark of the Eternal Guardian since the "death" of his brother, lives with a secret he is trying to hide from the rest of the guards...his daemon half. But if he is going to go into Tartarus to save Gryphon's soul, he's going to need that evil part of him. It's that dark half that leads him to Maelea, the outcast daughter of Persephone and Zeus, at an outdoor metal concert. He believes her to be the key to getting into Tartarus and getting the Orb of Kronos to release his brother's trapped soul (the orb, when joined with the four elements of life can release the Titans from their prison in Tartarus...which is a bad thing). But while at that concert, Orpheus also discovers Skyla.
Skyla, part of Zeus' elite Siren execution team, is sent on a mission by Athena and Zeus to find Orpheus and get the Orb from him once he finds he. But once Skyla meets Orpheus, she knows there is more to what is going on than what she was told. Skyla agrees to follow Orpheus on his quest, saying she is going to protect Maelea, but she knows it's because of who Orpheus is that she's going to help him. Despite what Zeus and Athena have said about Orpheus, Skyla can sense the good in him and once she knows what he is attempting to do with the Orb is not about himself but saving is brother, it proves to her that he truly is a warrior and a protector.
Orpheus is one of those men that likes to walk around with an IDGAF attitude when the truth is, they do. In the previous Eternal Guardian books, he would help his brother, the other guardians and the princess...but at a price. But in Enraptured, we find out there is so much more to Orpheus. Despite what he might think about himself (thanks to his father) or what he portrays to everyone else, Orpheus is a great warrior and deserves to be a guardian. He proves that over and over in this book. The lengths he goes to in order to save the only family member to ever love him says it all.
Enraptured is my favorite of the Eternal Guardians series, although I think Orpheus will be bumped by his little brother's story this fall.
Skyla, part of Zeus' elite Siren execution team, is sent on a mission by Athena and Zeus to find Orpheus and get the Orb from him once he finds he. But once Skyla meets Orpheus, she knows there is more to what is going on than what she was told. Skyla agrees to follow Orpheus on his quest, saying she is going to protect Maelea, but she knows it's because of who Orpheus is that she's going to help him. Despite what Zeus and Athena have said about Orpheus, Skyla can sense the good in him and once she knows what he is attempting to do with the Orb is not about himself but saving is brother, it proves to her that he truly is a warrior and a protector.
Orpheus is one of those men that likes to walk around with an IDGAF attitude when the truth is, they do. In the previous Eternal Guardian books, he would help his brother, the other guardians and the princess...but at a price. But in Enraptured, we find out there is so much more to Orpheus. Despite what he might think about himself (thanks to his father) or what he portrays to everyone else, Orpheus is a great warrior and deserves to be a guardian. He proves that over and over in this book. The lengths he goes to in order to save the only family member to ever love him says it all.
Enraptured is my favorite of the Eternal Guardians series, although I think Orpheus will be bumped by his little brother's story this fall.
jscarpa14's review
3.0
RECEIVED FROM: Net Galley For Review
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Skyla is a siren, one of Zeus’s assassins, trained by Athena to eliminate mortals the king of the gods sees as a threat. Her latest assignment is a Argolean –daemon hybrid – Orpheus. What she doesn’t expect is to be wildly attracted to her target and when she decides to pursue a little pleasure with her work she reveals a truth that rocks her to her core. Orpheus isn’t a stranger; he’s the reincarnation of the only man she ever loved and the one whose betrayal has shaped her entire life. Orpheus needs to find Maelea, the daughter of Zeus and Persephone and the only god who can locate the Orb of Kronos. The Orb that currently resides with Apophos the wizard who’s stolen his brother’s body. Without it he has no chance of saving Gryphon and he won’t rest until he can right the wrong that was done to his brother. It doesn’t matter that he’s never felt attraction like he’s had with the Siren sent to eliminate him, he won’t let her stand between him and his goal. With dangers and secrets surrounding them will they ever see eye to eye or will their conflicting goals end up killing them both?
This story starts up three months after the previous novel and while it does become a fairly excellent novel in later chapters the beginning took me a lot longer to get into than any of the other titles. I did debate a little on my rating, but I just didn’t feel it was as good as the first three novels and therefore couldn’t give it as high of a rating as I did those. In her previous works Naughton has given us a lot more than just a love story and while she does so here, it’s not as much as she did in the first three. Before we had almost as many scenes with other characters as we did with the romantic leads, here we get some scenes with other characters but we spend more time with the romantic leads than anything else. She also has a lot more sex scenes in this book than she did in previous works and it’s not that I’m a prude but I don’t need a sex scene within the first few chapters. And I have issues when writers start to fall back on sex to sell their work, especially when Naughton has shown a talent for so much more in her other novels. The sex scenes in this novel were both longer and more frequent than they’ve been in other works. The thing is I’m an escapist reader, and while a racy sex scene in a romance can be great, anyone can have sex, however not just anyone can face down a Greek God or fight off a daemon. I’d rather have read more about the other goings on in Argolea or the colony or any number of places than sat there reading some of the longer sex scenes. I can escape more into a novel when I’m not reading about something I could just as easily be doing. The book isn’t solely sex or romance by any means it just relies on those scenes a lot more than her previous works did and therefore left me a little disappointed in that. While Naughton does spend some time building other mythologies and players for this world in the beginning, it’s not until about a hundred pages in that we start seeing characters we’ve grown to care about over the course of the series and that’s another thing that bothered me about this book. Even when we do see them Isadora is the only Horae who isn’t just a background character in this novel and even her scenes are few and far between. The new mythologies Naughton’s building with this book are really interesting, but I would have liked it more if she’d continued with the ones she had been building as well, meaning that in other novels from the very beginning we switched between the love story of the characters and the different political things in Argolea. We always saw a lot of the other characters even though they weren’t the focus of the story. Demetrius gets a lot of play in later scenes like Isadora does, and we do see a lot of Gryphon from the very beginning leading me to believe he’s probably going to be the focus of the next story. My guess it Gryphon and Maelea are destined, but then again that’s just a guess because both of these characters have had so much development in this story that it would be a waste for them not become a focus romantic lead in a later novel. The story is fairly fast paced even without it’s normal charm, but I guess what made it harder for me to get into it was I expecting to have more time with the characters we know like we did in the other novels and this one just didn’t have it because it spent more time on the romance, the sex and developing new mythologies to fit in with the story line. About half way in the story finally really hooked me and I couldn’t stop turning pages, but then again that was also about the time they brought in the familiar characters again. However it wasn’t just the familiar characters that gripped me. The sirens, the reincarnated souls and the underworld were all exciting and gripping storylines. Overall the plot was really good, it was just a little different from previous series works which might make fans have a little more trouble getting into it, should they continue reading despite this they will be rewarded with a highly entertaining close third person story.
Naughton has repeatedly been excellent with character development. Like in other novels she does rely on previous works for some characterization, this one more so than others. The only reoccurring characters that really showed new development in this novel were Orpheus, Lachesis, Hades, and Gryphon. The others did behave in the manners we’ve come to recognize, but time wasn’t spend really shaping their characters in this story and it mostly relied on previous works for you to know how they should behave and why they did so. Orpheus has been a major character in the series since the first novel and he’s always been interesting because you never know what he’s going to do. He’s got such a dark side and while he claims to be only out for himself there’s so much more to him than that. Getting inside this character, understanding his motives and watching him grow as a character was definitely a treat for readers of the series, or at least this one. Skyla as the female lead was of course extremely well developed and as Orpheus’s match had to be just as interesting and multifaceted as her male counterpart. She also brings a whole new mythology to the table which adds to the interest of this battered yet strong female lead. While Atalanta did have a few scenes, Hades kind of took over her villain role in this novel. Normally we’d get a lot of insight into her cruelty and depravity. This time we saw Hades’ depravity instead and I gotta say I think Atalanta might be the nicer of the two. Naughton also splits with the normal mythologies of the Underworld when she delves further into Hades and Lachesis. Normally Hades is portrayed as having control over the whole of the Underworld, but in Naughton’s works the Titan’s have their own little city that Hades can’t touch and the Fates oversee the Isle of the Blessed so that was kind of interesting as well. Gryphon’s development was a little disturbing but understandable. Instead of the easy going hero we’ve seen in previous works we watched a hero be broken by depravity, torture and pain. We watched him lose himself and I can’t help but hope that in future novels we’ll also see him heal and redeem himself. Maelea, one of the newly introduced characters was extremely well developed as well and she’s proving to a very intriguing character that I can’t wait to learn more about. Other introductions such as Athena, Zeus, Atropos, Kronos, and the other Sirens weren’t as well developed but they were distinguishable, meaning they didn’t all blend into stereotypical background characters, but at the same time we didn’t really get to know them yet. Overall while I’d have liked to have seen more with the reoccurring characters, the characterization of this novel was still very good.
I would definitely recommend the novel to readers of paranormal romance and I feel fans of the series will definitely enjoy this installment. I really did like the novel, I just didn’t feel it was as good as its predecessors. However with the new mythologies Naughton has weaved in to the storyline with this tale the series definitely promises some very interesting twists in works to come.
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Skyla is a siren, one of Zeus’s assassins, trained by Athena to eliminate mortals the king of the gods sees as a threat. Her latest assignment is a Argolean –daemon hybrid – Orpheus. What she doesn’t expect is to be wildly attracted to her target and when she decides to pursue a little pleasure with her work she reveals a truth that rocks her to her core. Orpheus isn’t a stranger; he’s the reincarnation of the only man she ever loved and the one whose betrayal has shaped her entire life. Orpheus needs to find Maelea, the daughter of Zeus and Persephone and the only god who can locate the Orb of Kronos. The Orb that currently resides with Apophos the wizard who’s stolen his brother’s body. Without it he has no chance of saving Gryphon and he won’t rest until he can right the wrong that was done to his brother. It doesn’t matter that he’s never felt attraction like he’s had with the Siren sent to eliminate him, he won’t let her stand between him and his goal. With dangers and secrets surrounding them will they ever see eye to eye or will their conflicting goals end up killing them both?
This story starts up three months after the previous novel and while it does become a fairly excellent novel in later chapters the beginning took me a lot longer to get into than any of the other titles. I did debate a little on my rating, but I just didn’t feel it was as good as the first three novels and therefore couldn’t give it as high of a rating as I did those. In her previous works Naughton has given us a lot more than just a love story and while she does so here, it’s not as much as she did in the first three. Before we had almost as many scenes with other characters as we did with the romantic leads, here we get some scenes with other characters but we spend more time with the romantic leads than anything else. She also has a lot more sex scenes in this book than she did in previous works and it’s not that I’m a prude but I don’t need a sex scene within the first few chapters. And I have issues when writers start to fall back on sex to sell their work, especially when Naughton has shown a talent for so much more in her other novels. The sex scenes in this novel were both longer and more frequent than they’ve been in other works. The thing is I’m an escapist reader, and while a racy sex scene in a romance can be great, anyone can have sex, however not just anyone can face down a Greek God or fight off a daemon. I’d rather have read more about the other goings on in Argolea or the colony or any number of places than sat there reading some of the longer sex scenes. I can escape more into a novel when I’m not reading about something I could just as easily be doing. The book isn’t solely sex or romance by any means it just relies on those scenes a lot more than her previous works did and therefore left me a little disappointed in that. While Naughton does spend some time building other mythologies and players for this world in the beginning, it’s not until about a hundred pages in that we start seeing characters we’ve grown to care about over the course of the series and that’s another thing that bothered me about this book. Even when we do see them Isadora is the only Horae who isn’t just a background character in this novel and even her scenes are few and far between. The new mythologies Naughton’s building with this book are really interesting, but I would have liked it more if she’d continued with the ones she had been building as well, meaning that in other novels from the very beginning we switched between the love story of the characters and the different political things in Argolea. We always saw a lot of the other characters even though they weren’t the focus of the story. Demetrius gets a lot of play in later scenes like Isadora does, and we do see a lot of Gryphon from the very beginning leading me to believe he’s probably going to be the focus of the next story. My guess it Gryphon and Maelea are destined, but then again that’s just a guess because both of these characters have had so much development in this story that it would be a waste for them not become a focus romantic lead in a later novel. The story is fairly fast paced even without it’s normal charm, but I guess what made it harder for me to get into it was I expecting to have more time with the characters we know like we did in the other novels and this one just didn’t have it because it spent more time on the romance, the sex and developing new mythologies to fit in with the story line. About half way in the story finally really hooked me and I couldn’t stop turning pages, but then again that was also about the time they brought in the familiar characters again. However it wasn’t just the familiar characters that gripped me. The sirens, the reincarnated souls and the underworld were all exciting and gripping storylines. Overall the plot was really good, it was just a little different from previous series works which might make fans have a little more trouble getting into it, should they continue reading despite this they will be rewarded with a highly entertaining close third person story.
Naughton has repeatedly been excellent with character development. Like in other novels she does rely on previous works for some characterization, this one more so than others. The only reoccurring characters that really showed new development in this novel were Orpheus, Lachesis, Hades, and Gryphon. The others did behave in the manners we’ve come to recognize, but time wasn’t spend really shaping their characters in this story and it mostly relied on previous works for you to know how they should behave and why they did so. Orpheus has been a major character in the series since the first novel and he’s always been interesting because you never know what he’s going to do. He’s got such a dark side and while he claims to be only out for himself there’s so much more to him than that. Getting inside this character, understanding his motives and watching him grow as a character was definitely a treat for readers of the series, or at least this one. Skyla as the female lead was of course extremely well developed and as Orpheus’s match had to be just as interesting and multifaceted as her male counterpart. She also brings a whole new mythology to the table which adds to the interest of this battered yet strong female lead. While Atalanta did have a few scenes, Hades kind of took over her villain role in this novel. Normally we’d get a lot of insight into her cruelty and depravity. This time we saw Hades’ depravity instead and I gotta say I think Atalanta might be the nicer of the two. Naughton also splits with the normal mythologies of the Underworld when she delves further into Hades and Lachesis. Normally Hades is portrayed as having control over the whole of the Underworld, but in Naughton’s works the Titan’s have their own little city that Hades can’t touch and the Fates oversee the Isle of the Blessed so that was kind of interesting as well. Gryphon’s development was a little disturbing but understandable. Instead of the easy going hero we’ve seen in previous works we watched a hero be broken by depravity, torture and pain. We watched him lose himself and I can’t help but hope that in future novels we’ll also see him heal and redeem himself. Maelea, one of the newly introduced characters was extremely well developed as well and she’s proving to a very intriguing character that I can’t wait to learn more about. Other introductions such as Athena, Zeus, Atropos, Kronos, and the other Sirens weren’t as well developed but they were distinguishable, meaning they didn’t all blend into stereotypical background characters, but at the same time we didn’t really get to know them yet. Overall while I’d have liked to have seen more with the reoccurring characters, the characterization of this novel was still very good.
I would definitely recommend the novel to readers of paranormal romance and I feel fans of the series will definitely enjoy this installment. I really did like the novel, I just didn’t feel it was as good as its predecessors. However with the new mythologies Naughton has weaved in to the storyline with this tale the series definitely promises some very interesting twists in works to come.
thebodybuildingbookworm's review
4.0
This review an others can be found at www.wholelatteromance.blogspot.com
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Imprint: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN:9781402262128
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book 4 of the Eternal Guardians Series
The Blurb:
Orpheus may have joined the elite protectors known as Eternal Guardians, but they’ve never trusted whose side he’s really on. And the half-daemon couldn’t care less. Orpheus has only one goal: rescue his brother from the Underworld. He’s not expecting a woman to get in the way, especially not one sent by Zeus to seduce, entrap, and then ultimately destroy him. A woman who will dredge up a past he doesn’t remember, a love that once condemned him, and a dark and deadly secret as old as the Eternal Guardians themselves.
My Take:
I'll admit that while this story intrigued me, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it when it came time to read it. What I mean by this is, I'm a big fan of Gena Showalters Lords of the Underworld series and being that this series of Ms. Naughton's also deals with Greek Gods, etc. I thought perhaps it would pale in comparison. I was wrong.
This is the fourth book in the series and I found that for the most part it stood alone very well since I personally haven't read the first three in the series. The storyline, though it deals with Greek Mythology, is nothing like the LOTU series by Gena Showalter.
Orpheus is trying to find an orb that will allow him to save his brothers life since Orpheus feels its his fault that his younger sibling lost his life to begin with. On this journey to find the orb, he is followed by Skyla, a siren, who was meant to find the orb and deliver it to her boss Zeus and not let it get into Orpheus' hands. However, in a twist she didn't expect, Orpheus happens to be the reincarnated version of the man she once loved and who's death she feels responsible for. She keeps this from him however. Orpheus isn't sure what's going on, only that he has an intense and unexplainable attraction to Skyla that irritates the hell out of him especially since he knows that she's only with him to take the orb from him once it's found.
There is not one but three Gods after them now trying to get the orb from them as possession of it will make the holder all-powerful so they team up together and Skyla realizes that she can't complete her mission because of her love for Orpheus.
There wasn't really ever a slow moment in this story, it was fast paced and fun and exciting. A tortured hero, a strong as hell heroine and a whole lotta evil ass to kick with extra spicy love scenes. I very much enjoyed the read. Except for a few things...
The use of the word déjà vu due to the hero and heroines past became annoying. I don't mind the whole reincarnated thing and I don't mind the sense of deja vu other that the fact that the term itself was used so often it became annoying to be.
Also, while I enjoyed he glimpses into their last life together, at times it pulled me from the story and what was happening right that moment for them.
Finally, SPOILER ALERT I love that they end up together but I've personally never been a fan of second chance at life type endings of this sort. The heroine died and got to choose between going to "heaven" or returning back to her life. Guess what she chose? Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that it wasn't executed wells much as its me not liking that particular type of ending... I feel it's an easy way to rescue things. Let's kill the heroine, but it's okay because I'll just bring her back from the dead so they can have their happily ever after... That's just me though.
Overall I really enjoyed it and I look forward to more of Ms. Naughton's work.
My rating: 3.5/5 Lattes
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Imprint: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN:9781402262128
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book 4 of the Eternal Guardians Series
The Blurb:
Orpheus may have joined the elite protectors known as Eternal Guardians, but they’ve never trusted whose side he’s really on. And the half-daemon couldn’t care less. Orpheus has only one goal: rescue his brother from the Underworld. He’s not expecting a woman to get in the way, especially not one sent by Zeus to seduce, entrap, and then ultimately destroy him. A woman who will dredge up a past he doesn’t remember, a love that once condemned him, and a dark and deadly secret as old as the Eternal Guardians themselves.
My Take:
I'll admit that while this story intrigued me, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it when it came time to read it. What I mean by this is, I'm a big fan of Gena Showalters Lords of the Underworld series and being that this series of Ms. Naughton's also deals with Greek Gods, etc. I thought perhaps it would pale in comparison. I was wrong.
This is the fourth book in the series and I found that for the most part it stood alone very well since I personally haven't read the first three in the series. The storyline, though it deals with Greek Mythology, is nothing like the LOTU series by Gena Showalter.
Orpheus is trying to find an orb that will allow him to save his brothers life since Orpheus feels its his fault that his younger sibling lost his life to begin with. On this journey to find the orb, he is followed by Skyla, a siren, who was meant to find the orb and deliver it to her boss Zeus and not let it get into Orpheus' hands. However, in a twist she didn't expect, Orpheus happens to be the reincarnated version of the man she once loved and who's death she feels responsible for. She keeps this from him however. Orpheus isn't sure what's going on, only that he has an intense and unexplainable attraction to Skyla that irritates the hell out of him especially since he knows that she's only with him to take the orb from him once it's found.
There is not one but three Gods after them now trying to get the orb from them as possession of it will make the holder all-powerful so they team up together and Skyla realizes that she can't complete her mission because of her love for Orpheus.
There wasn't really ever a slow moment in this story, it was fast paced and fun and exciting. A tortured hero, a strong as hell heroine and a whole lotta evil ass to kick with extra spicy love scenes. I very much enjoyed the read. Except for a few things...
The use of the word déjà vu due to the hero and heroines past became annoying. I don't mind the whole reincarnated thing and I don't mind the sense of deja vu other that the fact that the term itself was used so often it became annoying to be.
Also, while I enjoyed he glimpses into their last life together, at times it pulled me from the story and what was happening right that moment for them.
Finally, SPOILER ALERT I love that they end up together but I've personally never been a fan of second chance at life type endings of this sort. The heroine died and got to choose between going to "heaven" or returning back to her life. Guess what she chose? Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that it wasn't executed wells much as its me not liking that particular type of ending... I feel it's an easy way to rescue things. Let's kill the heroine, but it's okay because I'll just bring her back from the dead so they can have their happily ever after... That's just me though.
Overall I really enjoyed it and I look forward to more of Ms. Naughton's work.
My rating: 3.5/5 Lattes
laurenjodi's review
3.0
Enraptured
3.5 Stars
The son of an Argonaut father and a Medean mother with a Daemon alter-ego to boot, Orpheus has always been the black sheep of the family. This all changes when his brother, Gryphon’s, soul is sent to Tartarus and Orpheus swears to rescue his sibling from the underworld with the aid of the Orb of Kronos. Unfortunately, other forces are determined to locate the Orb for themselves and Orpheus will have to deal with powerful Gods, vengeful enemies and a beautiful Siren with a mysterious link to his past.
Once again, Naughton’s research is fantastic and the incorporation of elements from Greek mythology adds a gripping layer to the overall story arc. Sadly, Orpheus and Skyla’s romance is rather dull and disappointing.
Orpheus has been a fascinatingly ambiguous character throughout the series. His scheming machinations combined with an obvious affection for his brother and hints at an underlying current of goodness have made him particularly appealing as a hero. While he mostly lives up to this characterization and the insights into his personality are compelling, Orpheus internal struggle with his daemon lacks detail and is resolved too easily.
Skyla, the Siren assassin sent to kill Orpheus and retrieve the Orb, is simply uninteresting as a heroine. She fails to really stand out in any way and it is even difficult to picture exactly what she looks like despite the necessary descriptions. While she and Orpheus have tremendous potential as a couple, their chemistry falls flat and the resolution to their relationship, which is supposed to be intense and emotional, fails to completely resonate.
In contrast, Maelea with her conflicting forces of light and dark is a far more intriguing character and I’m looking forward to seeing how these are related to Gryphon’s tortured soul in the next book.
3.5 Stars
The son of an Argonaut father and a Medean mother with a Daemon alter-ego to boot, Orpheus has always been the black sheep of the family. This all changes when his brother, Gryphon’s, soul is sent to Tartarus and Orpheus swears to rescue his sibling from the underworld with the aid of the Orb of Kronos. Unfortunately, other forces are determined to locate the Orb for themselves and Orpheus will have to deal with powerful Gods, vengeful enemies and a beautiful Siren with a mysterious link to his past.
Once again, Naughton’s research is fantastic and the incorporation of elements from Greek mythology adds a gripping layer to the overall story arc. Sadly, Orpheus and Skyla’s romance is rather dull and disappointing.
Orpheus has been a fascinatingly ambiguous character throughout the series. His scheming machinations combined with an obvious affection for his brother and hints at an underlying current of goodness have made him particularly appealing as a hero. While he mostly lives up to this characterization and the insights into his personality are compelling, Orpheus internal struggle with his daemon lacks detail and is resolved too easily.
Skyla, the Siren assassin sent to kill Orpheus and retrieve the Orb, is simply uninteresting as a heroine. She fails to really stand out in any way and it is even difficult to picture exactly what she looks like despite the necessary descriptions. While she and Orpheus have tremendous potential as a couple, their chemistry falls flat and the resolution to their relationship, which is supposed to be intense and emotional, fails to completely resonate.
In contrast, Maelea with her conflicting forces of light and dark is a far more intriguing character and I’m looking forward to seeing how these are related to Gryphon’s tortured soul in the next book.
raven168's review
4.0
This book picks up three months after the last. So that's three months that Gryphon has been in the underworld being tortured to death each day only to die each night and start again the next morning for another round. The pain and suffering is too much for him to bare and despite a voice telling him 'NO' he makes a deal with Atalanta to end his suffering. He had already been losing himself little by little, but once Atalanta takes him as her slave, he loses it all. Though what is forced upon him now tares away any pride and leaves nothing but shame in him, he takes it because it is still better than the hell he had been in.
For those three months, Orpheus has been tracking Maelea. Maelea is the offspring of Persephone and Zeus and hated by Hades. Banished to a lonely, empty life in the human realm she really has nothing going for her. But she can sense the orb and Orpheus is determined to get her to find the sorcerer who stole it and his brother's body. He comes so close to getting her at a concert one night but loses her when demon hybrids show up. During that fight is when he witnesses what Skyla can do. But he's hurt and instead of drawing unneeded attention, he agrees to let Skyla take him to her motel room to patch him up. Skyla is siren, trained by Athena herself to do Zeus's bidding and destroy demons and such. Her mission should be simple. Prevent Orpheus from getting the orb and take it back to Zeus. But their attraction is undeniable and that's when she finds out who Orpheus really is. She freaks out and runs away back to Olympus for answers. Answers she only gets part truths of. But she strengthens her resolve and catches up with Orpheus again when he has finally found Maelea's house. Before any information is gotten, hellhounds appear. Hade's is determined to get the earth element that Isadora had lent Orpheus and he repeatedly tries various attacks to get it as well as get rid of Maelea. That is until he finally realizes that Apophes has the orb. Time for a new plan. Orpheus takes the girls to Nick's colony for safety only to find out that Isadora is already there after receiving a visit from some sirens back home. After Isadora spills the beans about why he's actually after the orb, Maelea tells him where to find it. With the help of Demetrius and Skyla they get what they set off to do and now it's off to hell to save Gryphon. It takes long days to finally find him and when they do it nearly destroys Orpheus to see what has become of his once proud and strong brother. Their escape from the underworld and Hades seemed a little to easy, but it works. Even though he succeeded, Orpheus still has the Argonaut markings and still hates it. But he thinks he has found something he never thought he would with Skyla. Love. Until all his memories come rushing back and secrets she had been keeping along with them. Feeling betrayed he storms out and just about makes a bad decision when Lachesis shows up. Turns out she had been meddling with his fate for a very long time. But her appearance grants enough time for Skyla to show up. And other sirens. And the other Argonauts. But as they say "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and that's what happens when Hades shows up again. This time with worse creatures than just the hellhounds. Victory against him is short lived with the loss of one of their own though. Orpheus now tries to live up to what he's been told he can be while trying to be there for Gryphon who is but a shell of himself. And while he's accepted his lot in life now for what it is (for the most part) he is granted a surprise that makes his life more whole than he ever thought he deserved.
I really liked Orpheus and Skyla as a couple. Both being warriors and with both of their personalities, they simply worked. Though I do wonder about one thing. Finding out about Orpheus's past life was also quite interesting and I'm curious as to if it really matters in this one. Just because his soul is descended directly from them, does it affect him now that his body is from others?
And ah Lachesis, how you amuse me.
I was quite surprised how much I ended up enjoying this book. Especially considering I didn't get into much right away. But it leaves me hopeful for the rest to come.
For those three months, Orpheus has been tracking Maelea. Maelea is the offspring of Persephone and Zeus and hated by Hades. Banished to a lonely, empty life in the human realm she really has nothing going for her. But she can sense the orb and Orpheus is determined to get her to find the sorcerer who stole it and his brother's body. He comes so close to getting her at a concert one night but loses her when demon hybrids show up. During that fight is when he witnesses what Skyla can do. But he's hurt and instead of drawing unneeded attention, he agrees to let Skyla take him to her motel room to patch him up. Skyla is siren, trained by Athena herself to do Zeus's bidding and destroy demons and such. Her mission should be simple. Prevent Orpheus from getting the orb and take it back to Zeus. But their attraction is undeniable and that's when she finds out who Orpheus really is. She freaks out and runs away back to Olympus for answers. Answers she only gets part truths of. But she strengthens her resolve and catches up with Orpheus again when he has finally found Maelea's house. Before any information is gotten, hellhounds appear. Hade's is determined to get the earth element that Isadora had lent Orpheus and he repeatedly tries various attacks to get it as well as get rid of Maelea. That is until he finally realizes that Apophes has the orb. Time for a new plan. Orpheus takes the girls to Nick's colony for safety only to find out that Isadora is already there after receiving a visit from some sirens back home. After Isadora spills the beans about why he's actually after the orb, Maelea tells him where to find it. With the help of Demetrius and Skyla they get what they set off to do and now it's off to hell to save Gryphon. It takes long days to finally find him and when they do it nearly destroys Orpheus to see what has become of his once proud and strong brother. Their escape from the underworld and Hades seemed a little to easy, but it works. Even though he succeeded, Orpheus still has the Argonaut markings and still hates it. But he thinks he has found something he never thought he would with Skyla. Love. Until all his memories come rushing back and secrets she had been keeping along with them. Feeling betrayed he storms out and just about makes a bad decision when Lachesis shows up. Turns out she had been meddling with his fate for a very long time. But her appearance grants enough time for Skyla to show up. And other sirens. And the other Argonauts. But as they say "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and that's what happens when Hades shows up again. This time with worse creatures than just the hellhounds. Victory against him is short lived with the loss of one of their own though. Orpheus now tries to live up to what he's been told he can be while trying to be there for Gryphon who is but a shell of himself. And while he's accepted his lot in life now for what it is (for the most part) he is granted a surprise that makes his life more whole than he ever thought he deserved.
I really liked Orpheus and Skyla as a couple. Both being warriors and with both of their personalities, they simply worked. Though I do wonder about one thing
Spoiler
With Skyla coming back without her siren 'powers' does that mean she can't fight anymore? Is she just going to be a normal girl now, or is she still going to be a fighter?And ah Lachesis, how you amuse me.
I was quite surprised how much I ended up enjoying this book. Especially considering I didn't get into much right away. But it leaves me hopeful for the rest to come.
willowisp79's review against another edition
4.0
we've come to think of Orpheus as someone a little on the dodgy side - with his little shop, deals with the queen and his knowledge of things he really shouldn't have - being next in line to be on the council and half brother to Argonaut, Gryphon.
But in this book we see him trying to save his brothers soul by reaching the underworld where gryphon soul is being at first eternally tortured, and then enslaved by the goddess Atalanta.
The book is great at kicking into action straight away and bringing the siren Skye into the story, sent to kill Orpheus.....
but she can't do it.
the attraction is instant. both are bewildered by it but its Skye who realises who is and who he was......
Orpheus changes from this tough guy with a demon curse and into a protector as hades sends hellhounds and demons after him and the witch he needs to get to Gryphon, maelea - the daughter of Zeus and Persephone.
trying not to give too much away!! but needless to say, there's a lot of heat between Orpheus and Skye but its not an easy straightforward realisation.... and this time it includes a couple of the gods and facing their wrath....
And then there's Gryphon..... he's spent months in the underworld and is now tied to Atalanta- even now in the human realm... .
But in this book we see him trying to save his brothers soul by reaching the underworld where gryphon soul is being at first eternally tortured, and then enslaved by the goddess Atalanta.
The book is great at kicking into action straight away and bringing the siren Skye into the story, sent to kill Orpheus.....
but she can't do it.
the attraction is instant. both are bewildered by it but its Skye who realises who is and who he was......
Orpheus changes from this tough guy with a demon curse and into a protector as hades sends hellhounds and demons after him and the witch he needs to get to Gryphon, maelea - the daughter of Zeus and Persephone.
trying not to give too much away!! but needless to say, there's a lot of heat between Orpheus and Skye but its not an easy straightforward realisation.... and this time it includes a couple of the gods and facing their wrath....
And then there's Gryphon..... he's spent months in the underworld and is now tied to Atalanta- even now in the human realm... .