Book Review: Of Love and Forge
Greek mythology is in vogue and Carly Spade clearly understands how to deliver the modern mythological themes in Of Love and Forge. This novel follows the love story of Aphrodite and Hephaistos (Heph) as they time-jump and teleport while fighting typical Greek villains and their minions. Of Love and Forge begins a spin-off series “Beyond Contemporary Mythos” from her six-book series “Contemporary Mythos”, but the original series does not need to be read to understand this new spin-off.
Aphrodite is introduced as an immortal Greek god living in modern times, using her abilities as a love goddess to support an escort business, but her abilities are now waning and she doesn’t know why. Heph uses his ability as the god of the forge to become the best bounty hunter while living a few hundred years in the future. When a bounty is placed on Aphrodite, Heph takes the bounty and intends to turn Aphrodite over to her captors until he realizes that the client is going to sexually exploit her. Thus Aphrodite and Heph team up for the remainder of the novel to fight the client that now wants them dead as Aphrodite seeks answers for her waning immortal powers.
There are quite a few fight scenes but their variety and short durations keep the novel well-paced throughout. The placement of the story in a futuristic cyberpunk setting helps keep the scenes fresh and interesting while still feeling realistic. There seem to be quite a few cyborg/enhanced people in the future described, which reminded me of “The Mods” in recent Star Wars who voluntarily enhance certain body parts with tools and weapons to assist in fights. The human minions are balanced out by numerous harpies which helps to keep the story mostly based in Greek mythological tropes.
The emotional connection between Aphrodite and Heph carries the story. They are old friends who briefly flirted in the past but never acted on the connection, and now their coincidental meeting has reminded them of what they mean to each other. They try to remain polite at first but it doesn’t take long for them to admit their feelings and act on them… which they do in great quantity. There are numerous sex scenes which strike a good balance of compelling narrative without being drawn out enough to slow down the pace of the book. There is more sex than standard romance novels while not being quite as detailed as popular erotica on the market. Fortunately, all of the sexual encounters feel true to the characters and help to develop the plot. All aboard team #Hephrodite!
In addition to the romance, I also really enjoyed the friendships displayed in this book, such as between Heph and Orion, and Aphrodite and the Graces. Aphrodite and Heph are well supported by their friends and family, with an adorable sidekick of a small rabbit who naps in coat pockets while the main cast are engaged in battle. Aphrodite and Heph also grow as their own people in addition to developing their relationship, learning to be more honest about what they want in life and seeking healthier pursuits. This book would be well adapted to a movie or TV series with an interesting cast of characters, visually stimulating settings, and a killer wardrobe for Aphrodite.
Of Love and Forge will be appreciated by any Katee Robert fan, as well as those who enjoy the backdrop of futuristic sci-fi. It was published February 28 and can be found in paper, ebook, and audiobook form. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy for review purposes.