Goddess Of Light [Mass Market Paperback]

I just finished today, and while I enjoyed it, I don't think it's Casts best work. It ties into Goddess of Spring very well, which is pleasant, but it doesn't have the same feeling.

Pamela has freed herself of her clingy, control freak husband, and for the past 2 years she's been a workaholic trying to clear out her own life. She takes an interior design job for a well known Science Fiction writer, only to be brought to Vegas to reproduce a tacky version of the Forum, in Caesar's Palace. At the same time Zeus open a portal from Mount Olympus to Las Vegas, to allow his fellow immortals and nymphs a chance to see what he modern world is like. This provides ample opportunity for Artemis to try and jump start her brother Apollo, who's been in a rotten mood ever since he was spurned by Persephone, who turned out to be a mortal woman.

Things go awry when nymphs provide an invocation in the Forum of Caesar's Palace, and Pamela compltetes it unknowingly. Finding herself involved Artemis encourages her brother to woo Pamela to rid Artemis of her burden. Apollo beings his romance thinking as a god, but as the novel progresses, he becomes more human, and more substantial.

This novel differs from the previous Goddess of series, Pamela never inherits the body of a goddess, and in a twist, Artemis and Apollo find themselves bound to the moral world, living as mortals. That's a refreshing change, but as the rest of the novel follows the standard pattern of Cast's books, I found myself longing for the standard body switch.

I did enjoy the rich storyline, author E D Faust, or Eddie, added a lot to the story. As did Artemis, although she often stole the story away from Apollo. Pamela is a little more fleshed out than some of the previous heroines, she seems more like a woman who's really been hurt in the past. Las Vegas provides a lot of interesting scenery to use, and is perfect for the 10 day period that this novel covers.

However, for the things I did like, there are equal things I didn't like. Bacchus irritated me to no end. He's whiny in the beginning, his meddling causes a lot of problems, and even though the ending fits, I hate the fact the God of Wine caused the tragedy. Zeus's punishment to him was fitting, but I just hated the whole thing. Apollo to me seemed odd. In Goddess of Spring, he's a self absorbed, shallow immortal, who was interested in tryst instead of something more tangible. Letting himself be consumed by rejection over a mortal woman shouldn't have bothered him. In this novel he becomes more of a normal person, with more flaws and personality, which is great, but it's still not enough. Artemis steals the show partway through, once she becomes mortal, and Apollo's personality isn't enough to stop her from taking over. I also disliked the ending, it's a great way to end it, but I wanted the happily ever after to come without quite so much angsty tragedy.

Overall, it's not a bad book, I liked it morethan Goddess by Mistake, and close to as much as Goddess of the Sea, but it's not as good as Goddess of Spring. I did like seeing Hades and Lina from the previous book though, and I like how the books are starting to intertwine. Not a bad book, and those who like her books will like this one as well.

Workaholic interior designer Pamela is on a business trip to Las Vegas. Reeling from an abusive marriage, she's hoping her heart isn't entirely dead yet. She accidentally weaves her desire for romance into a spell binding the goddess Artemis to her aid, and Artemis sends her brother Apollo to woo Pamela.

Apollo and Pamela fall in love, of course. I didn't think their relationship was developed as well as Lina and Hades' relationship in Goddess of Spring. It seemed more like Apollo and Pamela fell into bed a couple of times and then declared themselves soul mates. Besides, I can't see Apollo as a romantic hero. There is one point where Pamela muses about how Apollo isn't going to stifle her as her husband did. Hello? Burning Coronis to a crisp for cheating on him? Chasing Daphne till she had no choice but to turn into a tree? Punishing Cassandra for not wanting to sleep with him? He comes off as rather piggish in myth, and none of that is really dealt with except for a few offhand comments about how he's not the same guy anymore because his love for Pamela has changed him. In under a week? I doubt it. It's just, BANG! he's a nice guy now, without a single iota of his former personality resurfacing. At least Hades, for all his brooding darkness, always seemed in the stories to actually love his wife. And the angsty aspect of his personality was also a plot point in the novel, and an obstacle to his relationship with Lina. Here, Apollo is perfect beyond belief. I also can't really buy Artemis as a promiscuous blonde bombshell.

And the ending seemed wrong, too. Let's just say, for fear of spoilers, that the characters seemed a lot less interesting at the end, particularly Pamela.

I really liked this but....there is just something missing in this story that was there in "Goddess of Spring." I love Apollo, he's just so sweet and yummy. Artemis is delightfully bitchy, and I can even identify with Pamela's pain. But there is just something lacking and I can't put my finger on it. It seems that Cast herself realizes this near the end of the book and takes us on a roller coaster of emotions that would have been better paced throughout the book rather than right at the end. And I wound up with a ton of questions because the ending was so rushed. I feel like I've just eaten a chocolate-covered donught that appeared to be heaven on the outside, but was lacking in taste.

I'd give this a 3 & 1/2, but there isn't an option for that.

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