Blood of Zeus by Meredith Wild & Angel Payne

 

Book: Blood of Zeus

Authors: Meredith Wild & Angel Payne

Type: #1 in Blood of Zeus

Genre: Paranormal Romance

POV: First Person - Dual

Date Read: Dec 15, 2020

Page Count: 261 (Kindle Edition)

Publication Date: Aug 25, 2020

〷 RATING 〷

4 Stars!

〷 AGE 〷

Kara Valari : 22/23

Maximus Kane : 28

〷 TRIGGERS 〷

No triggers. 

No cheating. 

No OW or OM Drama (yet). 

〷 SYNOPSIS 〷

An ancient grudge. A forbidden love.

The only thing worse than being a demon is being a Valari. As an undergraduate at Los Angeles’s Alameda University, Kara Valari can sometimes succeed at forgetting she’s both. Lost between the pages of the classics and tucked into the shadows of lecture halls, she can dodge the paparazzi’s lenses as well as her family’s publicized dramas—not to mention their private expectations. She has one more year to feed her true passions. Then she’ll be expected to fulfill a much darker destiny.

Cursed with inexplicable strength and god-like stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Every day he’s reminded of the missteps of his childhood and the devastating consequences they’ve had on those dearest to him. To atone, Maximus spends his nights alone and his days submerged in the quiet life of academia. His existence has become a study in control, and he’s become a master at it—until Kara Valari walks into his toughest course.

Viscerally, Kara’s everything he craves. Logically, she’s everything he rejects. She’s a starlet of privilege. She’s also a student. And after one touch, he can’t deny that she’s awakened something in him that may never go dormant. Nothing about her makes sense, but everything about her feels right. Especially in the deepest strands of his DNA, which are still shadows of mystery to him—a mystery Kara seems determined to uncover.

She’s Hollywood royalty. She’s forbidden fruit. And he’s pretty sure she could be the answer to everything.

〷 REVIEW 〷

The enchantress with the firestorm gaze that I can't banish from my mind. The searing touches that I can't wash off my skin. The energy, connective and captivating, that I can't erase from my senses.

This is one of the best student- teacher romance I've ever read but with a twist of paranormal to it. Being a fan of forbidden love stories, I found myself in the mood for the thrill, the pulse pounding, and the anxiety that a good forbidden romance induces. Blood of Zeus delivered exactly that. The sexual tension was amazing. That's really the standout here: how it builds and builds and they haven't even been together until well into the end of the book. I liked the fact that this book has interesting subplots (Jesse, the underworld although we don't get to know much about it, Kara's Gramps and, Kell and Jesse's connection), not to mention the coming-of-age element to it. I love the slow building that completely sucks you in and connects you to the main characters and really invests you in the outcome of the story.

❝It felt a thousand kinds of wrong.

But a million kinds of right.❞

Meredith Wild & Angel Payne have an amazing ability to write in a way that it's not just that you know what the characters are going through, you find yourself going through the journey with them. The writing was exceptional, it was poetic. They made every word jump out from the pages until you can't help but be mesmerized by them. 

It's definitely not going to be the typical journey down the student/professor trope. It is so hot and so complex and so emotional and filled with so many ups and downs, twists and turns, some of them I did not see coming at all even though certain things gave them away. Maximus and Kara's journey was hard-fought, angsty, and just beautiful. Every step of the way, I cheered these two on. 

And that cover. It was LUST at first sight. I am a well known cover whore and let me tell you, when my eyes came upon this deliciousness, I. HAD. TO. HAVE. IT. 

❝How can I explain that Maximus is everything I never knew I wanted? How he doesn't look at me the way everyone else does? How I feel every time he does? How I might never, ever grow tired of it? Maybe I'm willing to sacrifice a life of lies to live a moment of truth.❞

〷 PLOT 〷

 Kara Valari belongs to Hollywood's most notorious dynasty, and she's promised to a full-blooded demon by an oath/punishment as a result of her grandfather's sins. The Valari family is doomed to serve Hell for an eternity. Maximus Kane is a literature professor at Alameda University but he also harbors a dangerous secret. He heals abnormally fast and has superhuman strength. He crippled his best friend, Jesse, at the age of 8 and has been living a life of secrecy and self-control ever since. He's been hiding the monster inside and the one person who could give him answers - his mother - has been vague about giving those up. Kara and Maximus form an instant connection from their very first interaction when they meet in Maximus's class on Dante's comedy (fitting, right?). They continue to meet each other but both are hiding secrets of their own. Will Kara doom her family for damnation by breaking her oath? And what exactly is Maximus? Will he find the answers he had been looking for?

〷 SAFETY 〷

Kara is promised to Arden Prieto, a demon who actively pursues her. There is one scene where he comes onto her but there's no kissing. Maximus has been celibate for a long time. Kara hasn't been with anyone in her life. 

❝She's graceful curves and sensual shadows. 

Sultry darkness and passionate light.

Blatant need and open desire.

But most of all, she's mine.❞

 

〷 CONCLUSION 〷

This book was everything that I wanted, craved and needed. The writing was flawless. The execution of the story line was on point as it had me on the edge of my seat. So if you are looking for a story that will have you consumed and begging for more, trust me when I tell you that YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.

〷 FAVORITE QUOTES 〷

• ❝There's something bizarre and forbidden and different about Kara Valari. But something warm and familiar and right too. So damn right...❞

•   ❝ How can I explain that Maximus is everything I never knew I wanted? How he doesn't look at me the way everyone else does? How I feel every time he does? How I might never, ever grow tired of it?❞

• ❝Maybe I'm willing to sacrifice a life of lies for a moment of truth.❞

• ❝She's graceful curves and sensual shadows. Sultry darkness and passionate light. Blatant need and open desire. But most of all, she's mine.❞

• ❝The biggest voices in the jungle have the least to prove.❞

• ❝You think hell is just for the pages of a book when you're near me?❞

• ❝It felt a thousand kinds of wrong. But a million kinds of right.❞

• ❝The enchantress with the firestorm gaze that I can't banish from my mind. The searing touches I can't wash off my skin. The energy, connective and captivating, that I can't erase from my senses.❞

• ❝I'm lost, yes, but no longer content to be that way.❞

〷 ABOUT MEREDITH WILD 〷

Meredith Wild is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. After publishing her debut novel Hardwired in September 2013, Wild used her ten years of experience as a tech entrepreneur to push the boundaries of her “self-published” status, becoming stocked in brick-and-mortar bookstore chains nationwide and forging relationships with the major retailers.

In 2014, Wild founded her own imprint, Waterhouse Press, under which she hit No. 1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. She has been featured on CBS This Morning, The Today Show, the New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Publishers Weekly, and The Examiner. Her foreign rights have been sold in over 23 languages.

〷 ABOUT ANGEL PAYNE 〷

Writerly sort, with angst + kissing + other stuff.
Pop Culture Geek.
Passionate Traveler.
Cosplay Mom.
SoCal Girl.
Guacamole makes everything better.

USA Today bestselling romance author Angel Payne loves to focus on high-heat romance starring memorable alpha men and the women who love them. She has numerous book series to her credit, including the action-packed Bolt Saga and Honor Bound series, Secrets of Stone series (with Victoria Blue), the intertwined Cimarron and Temptation Court series, the Suited for Sin series, and the Lords of Sin historicals, as well as several standalone titles. Angel is a native Southern Californian, leading to her love of being in the outdoors, where she often reads and writes. She still lives in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and beautiful daughter, to whom she is a proud cosplay/culture con mom. Her passions also include whisky tasting, shoe shopping, and travel.

〷 LINKS 〷

Follow me on GOODREADS: Catherine Russell

Follow me on BOOKBUB: BookBub

Follow me on TWITTER: Twitter

Follow me on FACEBOOK: Facebook

See MY REVIEW on GOODREADS:  My Review

See BLOOD OF ZEUS on GOODREADS: Blood of Zeus

See MEREDITH WILD on GOODREADS: Meredith Wild

See ANGEL PAYNE on GOODREADS: Angel Payne

See MY REVIEW on BOOKBUB: Review

See BLOOD OF ZEUS on BOOKBUB: Blood of Zeus

See MEREDITH WILD on BOOKBUB: Meredith Wild

See ANGEL PAYNE on BOOKBUB: Angel Payne