Sweet Hell (Greek God Series #2)
by Rosanna Leo
Published: July 16, 2012
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Length: 140 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Mythology
Heat: Erotic
Available: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
About Sweet Hell:
Dionysus, Greek god of wine and theater, is the world’s original playboy. But lately, he has been restless, moody, and he knows something is wrong. His carefree and bacchanal lifestyle is starting to feel like one long string of meaningless, sexual escapades. Even worse, he is suddenly aroused by the idea of marriage. And to top it all off, Josie Marino, the mouthy, disheveled, and eternally annoying woman who serves him coffee at the local bakery, sets him on fire.
Josie, a Toronto baker of Italian heritage, is not looking for love or lust. Especially not with Dionysus Iros, the most aggravating, demanding customer she’d ever had to serve. With his rippling muscles and sexy, knowing eyes, he’s obviously trouble with a capital T. Unfortunately, he’s also the star of her every X-rated dream. She’s known players like Dionysus before, and one of them almost got the better of her. Josie determines she will not fall for his considerable physical charms, come hell or high water.
But Dionysus turns strangely protective when a sinister character arrives at Josie’s bakery, and they can no longer deny their unwanted feelings for one another. They are forced to embark on a bizarre, sexually-charged journey to hell itself, which threatens to either change them for the better, or destroy them.
Excerpt:
She felt so good in his arms. Her body felt voluptuous under his hands. Just the right amount of womanly squishiness. Sexy as all Hades.
And the way she was staring at him. Vulnerable. Shy, but curious. He gazed back down at her, noticing for the first time the gentle slope of her cheekbones. The little cleft in her chin. The perfect, cat-like shape of her eyes. She was beautiful. How had he never noticed? Perhaps because she was usually smothered in coffee grounds.
Or perhaps because he couldn’t see past the fake boobs on his normal companions.
Eryx had said he liked her. Maia had said he loved her.
Utter crap. Josie would undoubtedly agree.
Besides, he’d only loved once in his life. And didn’t care to revisit the bothersome sensation.
Yet he couldn’t ignore the desire clearly etched in her eyes. Making the gold in her hazel orbs flash. He had a sudden fantasy of Josie, dressed in a sheer gown. In his head, he was laying her out on a sumptuous, rococo chaise lounge, offering her a drink of his best wine. After all, he was the god of wine; he could boast some very special vintages, a sip of which would make one want to do all sorts of lurid things. She was parting her pretty lips, leaning in for a sip. The tip of her tongue was caressing the wineglass, and her eyes were trained on him.
“Um,” she began, her voice already cracking with strangled emotion, destroying the sensual image in his overwrought mind. “You can let go now.”
He grinned down at her, enjoying the effect he was having on her. And he hadn’t even turned on the charm. Yet. “Maybe I don’t want to let go.”
As he held his mouthy coffee girl, he felt his pulse race and realized that had never happened with his bimbos, as she called them. He was, Zeus help him, excited. And surely she could tell because his cock was basically beating down a door in his pants to get to her.
My Review:
I have always enjoyed Greek Mythology. Having just finished another Paranormal Romance of the same sub-genre, I was pretty sure that I would enjoy Sweet Hell as well. The one drawback? Dionysus. As a rule he is portrayed as the son of Zeus, the God of fertility and wine, a patron of the arts… and a real jerk. So did Rosanna overcome the very thing I dislike about him so much or was this going to be a long and painful story with a hero who was way too full of himself?
The Good: One look at the cover and I knew we were off to an excellent start. If that was Dionysus, he was y-u-m-m-y! Secondly, while my initial impression of him was more traditional, we quickly worked through that and onto some of the funniest and most clever dialogue I have read in a while. I mean, who would think to write, “You immortal man whore!” or “Okay, Alex Trebek, so what makes Betty and Marianne the right answers?” or best of all, “By Hera’s rectum!”?? The humor throughout the book was choice. The dynamics between Josie and Dionysus was superb and their feelings, no matter what they were at any given moment, seemed so perfectly genuine, I had no trouble believing them and suspending my disbelief while reading the story.
The Bad: Writing wise, there was nothing out of line that I noticed or that bothered me. To some folks, the level of dirty language and vulgarity might be a problem but it was all used as part of the ongoing humor and had me in stitches.
The Snuggly: Oh. Wow. I believe it was in The Princess Bride where they say something about in the history of all the best kisses that ever were, theirs was The Best. Well in all of the best first kisses I have ever read or seen, Dionysus and Josie’s was THE BEST. And the foreplay and build up to the sex? Oh! Out of this World! Seriously! Sex on the altar of a Greek God? In mid air? With no desire but to please? The descriptions were divine! I could not take enough cold showers! This is SO and 18 and over book…lol.
Sweet Hell was the perfect Paranormal book for escapism. My mind was 100% there with Dionysus and Josie the entire time. I could go on and on as there were multitudinous things I loved about it but you just need to read it for yourself. This is the second in Rosanna’s Greek God Series….May there be many more to come!
5/5 Stars and 5/5 Flames!!
About Author Rosanna Leo:
Rosanna Leo has her degree in history and literature, as well as in classical singing. She currently resides in Toronto, Canada. Her favorite things are her family, dusty libraries, and Nutella. Rosanna loves it when the geeky, awkward girl gets the hot guy, and has made it her mission to see this happen in her books as much as possible. She is a multi-published author with Liquid Silver Books. Her books include For the Love of a God, Up in Flames, Sweet Hell and The Selkie.
You can find all her books at www.lsbooks.com.
Rosanna’s blog is www.rosannaleo.blogspot.com.