I’m a sucker for mythological retellings and I gotta say, this take on Hades and Persephone might just be my favorite yet.

The way that the gods have appeared to seamlessly place themselves into the “real world” is fascinating to me. Since this book takes place in our world rather than the mythological ones we usually get with retellings, I find this to be different and fascinating.

Of course there’s a cliffhanger and that just kills me. I need to know what happens next - the journey to the cliffhanger was fantastic though.

Huge thank you NetGalley for the ebook!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I received this ARC through NetGalley. Thank you for the early read.

I loved the cover which is what originally pulled me in to read this book. Let me just tell you that his book was super hot and heavy. I loved it! It is another retelling of Hades and Pherpshone but it was written very well. I must say I am waiting for the next because just wow. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a modern retelling of Greek myths and SMUT.

I absolutely adore Hades and Persephone retellings and I love erotica, so the two put together was sure to be a winner!!!! This was set in present day and I really enjoyed the gods being a part or the human world today. And let me tell you, this was steamy… like a lot. I’m not going to say that’s all there was, because I happened to enjoy the plot of them getting together, but my did they have a lot of… lovin.

The only two things that kind of irked me was the constant doubt the two had. It got annoying after a while. But no worries, I just focused more on the spicy parts. Lol!! And I wasn’t too thrilled that this leaves you with a cliffhanger. I just didn’t realize it wasn’t a standalone novel. Oh well!! I’ll read the next one when it comes out and probably be just as entertained with that one.

So back to the physical aspect… boy was it hot. There were lots of good descriptions and I could really picture what was going on. The two were seriously great together. I mean they meshed together personality wise, but let’s face it, this book is mostly about their passion and great bedroom activity. Even when it wasn’t in the bedroom. It wasn’t repetitive with the wording, which can happen when you have so many encounters to describe. And it remained hot throughout. Phew, like I said, I really enjoyed myself reading this one.

So I recommend this to those who like erotica and lots of spicy action. And of course those who like Hades and Persephone retellings.

Thanks to NetGalley, Rose & Star Publishing, and Jeanette Rose for the opportunity to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I was all in when I heard that this book was a modern retelling of Hades and Persephone. The story gave us a new spin on an old myth (office romance) with a lot of spice. If you are looking for a book that has a miscommunication trope, is heavy on spice and not too plot driven, I would definitely suggest picking up this book.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and writing. I didn’t expect the story to end on a cliffhanger, but can’t wait to see what the next book has in store!

I want to thank NetGalley, Jeanette Rose & Alexis Rune and Rose & Star Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

Title: The Maiden & The Unseen
by Jeanette Rose & Alexis Rune

Rating: 4/5 stars

Tropes: Enemies to lovers
Greek myth retelling
boss/employee romance
Dual Pov
Love triangle

Angst: 3/5 stars
Spicy: 4/5 stars

As a born Greek, I could not resist a Greek myth retelling. It was a fun and quick reading. I loved the passion and the chemistry between Persephone and Hades. Something that soured me was the constant miscommunication between the couple and the open ending.

I hope there will be a second book!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ebook in exchange my honest review!

I love a Hades/Persephone retelling as much as the next person - throw in some spice and I AM IN. While this book was fun, I felt that parts of the book were underdeveloped and rushed. More so, I can't stand the miscommunication trope and immediately switched it off when I saw it popping up. I think that there is a kind of balancing act that makes "spicy" books successful and that's when the plot can hold up without the spice. Where I sort of felt like this book lacked that - the spice was great, but the plot fell off, especially at the end. I am assuming we're setting up for a second book, but I am not entirely sure that I would read the next book based on this reading experience.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love a good Greek Myth retelling, especially in a contemporary setting, so this was a no brained for me.
The characters were great and the chemistry was on point, and the smut level was high, all the things I love. It’s just a pity it ended on such a cliff-hanger. If I’d known that from the outset I wouldn’t have requested it and I may not even bother with the sequel as a result of it not being disclosed. That’s how annoyed I am about it.

A spicy Hades and Persephone retelling. Decent storyline to go with the spice, ends on a cliffhanger. I wish there had been more fleshing out of the details but a good story nonetheless.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. I’ll start by saying I love a Hades/Persephone reimagining. I am totally here for it.

This book defiantly had that aspect down with some interesting world twists and power twists. Was fairly 🌶️🌶️, which I also enjoyed. But it felt like some of the plot was forced. The author referenced emotions they were feeling that seemed to come out of nowhere. And there were some great secondary characters that weren’t really developed and I wish were utilized more.

And in the long run it ended on a cliffhanger which is somewhat frustrating for me personally.

ARc generously provided by NetGalley and Rose & Star Publishing in exchange for fair and honest review.

A fun, spicy read for those of us who can't get enough of Hades and Persephone. The majority of this book unfolded as I expected for the characters and the genre, but there were a few twists I enjoyed. Some of the internal monologuing and dramatic angst could have been reduced or combined to make everything feel a bit less repetitive. Or, alternatively, I would have liked to see Hades & Persephone reach a more consistent level of stability before the disagreements between them caused issues.

The Maiden & The Unseen is a modern spicy retelling of Hades and Persephone. In this retelling, the gods are allowed to leave Olympus to live alongside humans anonymously while receiving financial support from Hades as long as they follow his rules. However, Persephone, in a desperate attempt to hide in the mortal realm from her overbearing mother, Demeter, accidentally breaks one of Hade's rules and when confronted by the God of the underworld, passion, fate, and love ensue.

This book started strong; I enjoyed the modern dynamic of how the Greek gods spend their time on earth and found it easy to keep reading. I enjoyed seeing Persephone portrayed as an independent woman who didn't take nonsense. I felt this interpretation of her character made the power between her and Hades equal. I loved the banter that it brought with it.

However, as the story unfolded, I found myself dragging my feet when it came to reading. My two main issues with this book were the constant use of the miscommunication trope and the abrupt ending. I don't mind miscommunication, mainly if it's done correctly, but it was overly used within this book, and I found it just got worse as the story progressed.

And the ending? I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the first book in a series, as my impression was it was standalone. Still, the ending was such a jarring cliffhanger that I thought for a second that I might not have gotten a fully downloaded version of the book. It was frustrating, to say the least.

However, the spice was good, and I thought using Hades and Persephone's magic in the spicier scenes was creative and fun to read. The authors did a great job with the magic and powers they gave to both Hades and Persephone; it was a fun twist to this story.

Overall, this was a decent read to start, but it ended up falling flat with the constant miscommunication and cliffhanger ending.

Hades and Persephone in a modern setting. This has a lot of "Lore of Olympus" vibes, or Neon Gods. There is a lot of spice and I enjoyed it. Shame on me for not reading the summary, because based on the cover I expected more of a fantasy setting than an urban one.

I didn’t realise this was an erotica novel based off the blurb so I was very surprised when I read further into the story. Unfortunately this is not what I was looking for and did not enjoy this very much. I do love how the story mixed in traditional Greek gods and how they are assimilated into the modern world. And that was all I enjoyed.

I do love a retelling of Greek mythology and this one focuses on Persephone and Hades so I was excited to read this but there is nothing to the plot but sex. The potential was that Hades couldn’t tell Persephone what their prophecy entails which hindered their relationship but there was zero development to that plot? I was waiting for more exciting things to unfold but I was quite disappointed.

Thank you Netgalley and Rose & Star Publishing for the arc.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and was very excited to read it. Who can resist a Hades and Persephone retelling?? Not me, that's for sure. I love a dual POV romance, so I was very excited about that, and I was interested in the modern setting for the story, and how the gods and goddesses were assimilating to the modern world and occupying themselves (Athena cracked me up). I was also very interested in the snippets we caught on the side of Melinoe and Helios and can see that being a fun story in the series down the line.

However, the dynamic between Hades and Persephone didn't seem to flow really well for me. The pace of the story threw me off and I think the extended mental barriers that Hades and Persephone put up to keep themselves apart took up too much time in the book and kind of slowed everything down. I would have been more interested in reading more at the beginning of the book about Hades learning the prophecy, Persephone's relationship with Demeter and her experience growing up, their true forms -- just more of that background and world-building to have a better understanding of where each character was coming from and what their motivations and reservations were. I think it would have strengthened the emotional tension while they were dancing around their chemistry and would have made the extended miscommunication trope a bit more understandable. As is, it just felt like a lot of different details thrown into the mix after 70% of the book, but without enough details and support to ground the reader and keep them invested.

4.5 ⭐️

I DEVOURED this book. I started reading it and when I’d have to put it down to fall asleep, I wouldn’t stop thinking about it!

The slow-ish burn was top tier, the spice - sooooo good, and when there was no spice, the plot was intriguing enough!

There were some parts I felt like were rushed (or could have been worded differently to provide more explanation), such as Jackson/Hermes threatening her with her mom - I want more explanation on that (maybe we’ll get more background on that in book 2) & Hades’ decision to solidify the bond, so to speak. I get it was the only thing he could do to keep her, but part of me felt a teensy unsatisfied with how quick he did that when he’s been fighting the urge the entire book.

Can’t wait for book 2 & I hope Melinoë makes an appearance again!

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me a digital copy of this book!

First, a thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Maiden & the Unseen is filled with endless drama, angst, and sexual tension, just like all modern Greek romance retellings tend to be. This is an intriguing Hades and Persephone retelling by co-authors, Alexis Rune and Jeanette Rose, and fans of the aforementioned gods and erotic romance are sure to enjoy.

However, this story felt a little too forced and the romance is filled with issues thanks to an overuse of the miscommunication trope leading to the characters dodging around attempts at honestly connecting in a way that felt natural. The erotic scenes were well written and the concept of gods secretly living among us in the modern world was a fun premise, but sadly the conflict to the romance via the miscommunication trope made this title fall a little flat.

Well well well!

Hades and Persephone are like my favourite characters of Olympus! I love their re tellings!

This one has me a little bit conflicted because most of the book it’s about both of them not fully accepting their bond, because Persephone is hiding behind the person who she’s casually dating so she doesn’t fully commit to Hades.

And Hades is hiding a lot of secrets that don’t let him fully open to Persephone so their relationship is like continuously on hold hence the plot feels kinda thin a times!

And then the book ends in a major cliffhanger that I will not name but come on! there’s no date or news about book 2 yet, so I’m kind of like all right then I need to know!

PS: this book has lots of sexy scenes so be sure you love smut because you’ll get it!

How many Hades and Persephone retellings will I read this year? The limit does not exist. This was a very fun one with a very interesting world and the spice level was extremely hot, like ghost pepper levels. I didn't love the ending as it cut off too fast but I'm sure this will end up being a trilogy which will resolve that.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

4 stars 1 spice

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I am a fan of Hades and Persephone and fated mates so i gave this a try!!! I enjoyed every single thing about this except the miscommunication. It was the most annoying thing ever.

However, I enjoyed them pining for each other. I thought this was a standalone because I went in blind but the last sentence. OMG. WTF. LIKE i had to visit author’s goodreads and IG just to check when the next book will be available but got disappointed because there is still no update about it. THIS BOOK LEFT ME HANGING!!! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED SO SO BAD

Perfect book if you're just looking for some spice.
I had hoped that the characters would have more authentic greek gods characteristic but mostly they're just contemporary characters with their names.