'Of Love and Forge' by Carly Spade - Book Tour, Review, & Giveaway!!!

3/3/2023

Of Love and Forge by Carly Spade - Turn the Page Tours

Continue below to read my review of the book and be sure to follow this link - [TURN THE PAGE TOURS] to check out the rest of the stops on the 'OF LOVE AND FORGE' book tour brought to you by TURN THE PAGE TOURS and CARLY SPADE!

Of Love and Forge (Beyond a Contemporary Mythos) by Carly Spade

Of Love and Forge
Carly Spade

Publisher: Self-Published

Pub Date: Feb. 28th, 2023

Genre: NA/Adult Fantasy, Steampunk, Romance

Synopsis:

*The god of the forge…*

Life was good in the Neosphere District. I’d made a name for myself as a renowned supernatural bounty hunter, holding the record for most harpies slayed. But the best part about living in the future? Avoiding the other Olympian gods. Banishing a guy from Olympus because he was “imperfect” tends to make one hold a grudge. Go figure. And no other god possessed the means to time travel. But I did. Thanks to the portal hopping device I forged.

Yup. Life. Was. Grand.

Until a bounty popped up on a certain love goddess. Aphrodite and I had been friends since we were wee gods. I’d be lying to myself if I never thought our “innocent” flirting banter were real on occasion—kidding myself if I said I never wanted things to go beyond platonic. Hence, why I recently kept my distance. For my own sanity. So, of course, I made the grave mistake of taking the godsdamned bounty.

*The goddess of love…*

Since reconciling with my son Eros, after centuries of bad mojo, I’d decided it was time to clean up my act. Ride the straight and narrow. My companion service, Sans Solo, became just the ticket I needed. And it allowed me to use my powers in disguise in modern California under the name Vena Milo.

With the aid of my best friends, and fellow goddesses, the Graces, we ran a legitimate business. All was right in the world.

Until the volcano god showed up. Hephaistos. Heph—a lifelong friend who never failed to confuse me mind, body, and soul. Especially when he showed up with a magical pair of handcuffs. His audacity pissed me off, but the mere sight of him, the smell of him, made my stomach flutter. That…I couldn’t deny. And when Heph's plan goes to Tartarus things got even dicier and we became...the hunted.

r e v i e w
rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ (4 / 5 stars)

It's probably been a year since one of my coven sisters (Rachel or Willow, I know it was one of you, forgive me lol) first brought Carly Spade's books to my attention. At the time it was Hades, which is a character I love in just about any retelling and I still haven't gotten to that book. So, I jumped at the chance to read 'Of Love and Forge,' when it came up in the tour email and I'm so glad I did!

This book is a lot of fun. Just a great romp through a city with cyberpunk vibes where people are enhanced to the nines and barely bat an eye at whatever wild thing is going down nearby.

From a writing standpoint, it's very light, simple, and straightforward. The story moves quickly, the plot isn't overly complex, but there are layers to the lead characters. There's lots of great banter between them, interspersed with action sequences, and some smoldering interactions as well.

I love, love Heph. He's hot as would be expected, a bit grumbly, but with a definite vulnerable side. He's got this wall built from the image as the world has made him see himself, other gods included.. but there's so much more to him than meets the eye.

Ro, as he likes to call her, should be an out of touch personality probably, but despite her spoiled goddess behavior here and there, she's extremely likable and surprisingly relatable at times. She really tries to complicate things for him in the beginning and you come to see that's just the kind of relationship they have had over the centuries.

If you're looking for a break from heavier reads, want to sit down and have a good time, this would be a great book to pick up. It's pretty fast-paced and enjoyable.

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About the Author:

An adult romance writer who has been writing since she could pick up a pencil. After the insanity of obtaining a bachelor’s and master’s degree in cybersecurity, creating worlds to escape to still ate at her very soul. She started writing FanFiction (which can still be found if you scour the internet ? ), and soon felt the need to get her original ideas on paper. And so the adventure began.

She lives in Colorado with her husband and two fur babies, and revels in an enemies to lovers trope with a slow burn.