Friday, April 15, 2011

Book review - Goddess of Spring, PC Cast

Reviving some old stuff I wrote for a local newsletter.


Goddess of Spring by PC Cast

Penguin, 2006. Paperback. Pagan/Romance

What would happen if a middle-aged, jaded Tulsa business woman and Persephone traded places for 6 months? 

This book gives us a new look at an old story. In this bodice-ripping tale, Lina strikes a deal with Demeter – trade places with Persephone, visit Hades in the Underworld and Persephone will save Lina’s struggling bakery.

Of course, things are never so easy. Lina (in Persephone’s body) and Hades fall in love. But, Lina’s time in the Underworld is running short, and she will have to return to the World of the Living. More importantly, she must tell Hades she is not really Persephone and find out if he really loves her for who she is, or for the body she temporarily inhabits. At the same time, Persephone in Lina's body in modern Tulsa, has found that she is enjoying the mortal world too much to give it up easily.

The descriptions of the Underworld are ethereal and creative. Cast gives us a detailed view of the Elysian Fields and Tartarus. She even includes a touching scene where soul mates choose to ride the River Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. Hades is in some ways the typical, well-muscled romantic hero. He is also jaded and, unlike the other gods and goddesses, is looking for eternal love. The main character, Lina, is intelligent and resourceful while feeling out her new environment. The love scenes are deliciously erotic, standard fair romance-genre stuff. But, the context definitely gives it a new twist. 

OCLC Newsletter
June 2008, Volume 10, Issue 5

No comments:

Post a Comment