Thank you to NetGalley, Jeanette Rose, and Alexis Rune for the eARC of The Mistress and the Renowned by Jeanette Rose and Alexis Rune.

After really enjoying the first book of Love and Fate, I was really thrilled to find that NetGalley was offering not just the second book for review, but the third as well. Jumping right in, this book is just as spicy as the first. There isn't as many spicy scenes in the second book as there was in the first, but the spice was just as S P I C Y.

I really loved how we ventured into the Underworld in book two. Book one gave us a really modern take on Hades and Persephone, and we got to dive into more Greek Mythology during The Mistress and the Renowned, which I really enjoyed.

I'm diving straight into book three!!

What a fun read! It was fast paced and entertaining, I had no idea how quickly I was consuming the book. It was captivating, emotional, and funny when it needed to be.

The Mistress and The Renowned is the sequel to a riveting modern take on the Hades and Persephone myth, author Julia Smith plunges readers back into the tumultuous world of gods and mortals. Hades, the God of the Dead, finds himself imprisoned in a carnivorous tree, his powers waning, and his only hope for escape lies in Persephone, his fated queen. However, it is another god who first hears his call, leading Hades on a journey through his own memories as he struggles to break free.

Meanwhile, Persephone grapples with her unexpected role as Queen of the Underworld, feeling abandoned and unsupported by the very god who placed her on the throne. With time ticking away and nightmares haunting their every move, Hades and Persephone must confront the undeniable pull of destiny that binds them together.

Smith delivers another spellbinding installment filled with twists, turns, and the timeless battle against Fate itself. Readers are once again swept up in the whirlwind romance and high-stakes drama of Hades and Persephone's tale, rooting for the couple as they navigate the challenges of their newfound roles.

I like the intense emotional depth of this book as Hades and Persephone face trials that test their love and resilience. The exploration of their individual struggles and the unyielding grip of destiny creates a compelling narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

The Maiden & the Unseen by Jeanette Rose and Alexis Rune

Pages: 431

Love and Fate series
🌀The Maiden & the Unseen
🌀The Mistress & the Renowned
🌀The Queen & the King
🌀The Nightmare & the Daydream

⚠️Content Warning⚠️
Please check content warnings BEFORE reading.

Format: 📱

What to Expect:
🖤Age Gap
💙Contemporary Romance
🖤Dark Romance
💙Dirty Talk
🖤Enemies-to-Lovers
💙Erotic Romance
🖤Fantasy
💙Fated Mates
🖤Forced Proximity
💙MF
🖤Mythology
💙Piercings
🖤Retelling
💙Shadow Daddy
🖤Urban Fantasy
💙Workplace Romance

Ratings:
FMC: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
MMC: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review:
I have read several Hades and Persephone retellings over the past few years, but this has to be one of my favorites. Jeanette Rose and Alexis Rune do an excellent job of telling the story in dual POV without the points of view feeling unconnected.

When the gods first descended from Olympus to live among humans, Hades was charged with financing their endeavors. Persephone works hard as a social media manager. She’s under the impression her salary funds her lavish lifestyle. But what happens when her bank account unexpectedly hits zero?

The Maiden & the Unseen is perfect for readers who enjoy Greek mythology, off-the-charts chemistry, and Hades with a dirty mouth.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alexis Rune, and Jeanette Rose for letting me read this in return for an honest review.

This book picks up straight after the last one finished.
I liked the world building in this, and I feel the authors described the underworld really well. However, I liked this book less than the first one... Persephone is just sorta annoying, I found her whingy in book 1 and was hoping for development but tbh I just feel she's gotten worse, and her being able to fight that way just seems like she's a bit too protected by plot convenience, which I really hate in books. She's just determined to make things difficult, she's so selfish and hypocritical and stroppy, and just feels she's constantly looking for a fight.

Hades on the otherhand... I still love him. I like his growth and seeing more of his background. He's just more interesting on his own than he is with Persephone, and I hate that this story has made me feel like that when they are one of my favourite mythological pairings.
I like Mellie a little less after reading this, it just felt very forced compared to their first book.

Even the cliff hanger didn't seem that interesting to me...

The Mistress and The Renowned picks up right were The Maiden and The Unseen leaves off. As Hades has taken Persephone as his queen, they are separated in the underworld and Persephone must go on a journey to find Hades-- her King in the underworld. They are devoted to each other and make sacrifices to be united. This book is a steamy fantasy for those who enjoy a bit of spice.

This was MUCH better.
Less erotica & more character & plot development.
I loved the bond.
I enjoyed the descriptions of their surroundings.
I liked the turmoil with P's mom she's a treacherous wench if Ive ever read of one.
Much better read

The Mistress and The Renowned offers a captivating retelling of the classic Hades and Persephone myth, weaving a dark and enchanting tale of love, power, and self-discovery. As a fan of retellings, I was immediately drawn to this book, and it did not disappoint.

One of the highlights of this story is the depth of character development, particularly for Persephone. She blooms in this book. Watching her journey as she learns more about her powers and embraces her own strength is nothing short of phenomenal. The author skillfully navigates the complexities of her character, making her transformation both compelling and authentic.

As a dark romance, this book delivers on its promise of steamy scenes, adding depth and intensity to the relationship between the protagonists. However, it's not just the romance that shines; the intricate world-building and carefully crafted fantasy elements add layers of intrigue and magic to the narrative.

I'm grateful to NetGalley for providing the opportunity to delve into this enthralling world. The Mistress and the Renowned left me eagerly anticipating what's next, as I eagerly await the continuation of this captivating series. If you're a fan of fantasy, romance, and compelling character development, this book is a must-read.

I generally enjoy retelling of stories, however this one fell a bit short. I feel like had I picked up this series from the beginning I would have a different opinion but we're here instead. I started off very confused by what was happening since I didn't read the first one. (This is completely my fault!) but throughout I felt like the relationship between Persephone and Hades was too nitpicky and got a bit tedious to read.

i had such a great time reading this book!! it was so fun. the characters were amazing and sweet and wonderful. it was just such a pure joy and i'm so very thankful to netgalley for letting me read this one early!!!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.

I was originally drawn in to the story because I enjoy a retelling. I also like the story of Hades and Persephone. Second books in series usually fall flat for me and unfortunately this one did. It was a lot of relationship back and forth and felt unbelievable.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to Rose & Star Publishing for providing me with an arc.

I absolutely love this series, I really enjoyed book 1 so when this came out I picked it up and loved it. This series is my favorite Hades and Persephone retelling as it as all of the elements of Hades and Persephone while still feeling unique. This book picks up right where book 2 left off so there will be spoilers for book 1.

Persephone ends up in the underworld unexpectedly after she and Hades were having spicy times and then he disappeared right before she was dropped into the Underworld. She starts trying to settle into the Underworld but she is alone and starts to feel that Hades isn't already especially as there was no way he would have sent her to the underworld alone if he had a choice. Persephone now has to become Queen of her new Realm but save the man she is in love with before she is out of time.

In this book we start to see Persephone really start to grow into her Magic which I love. This really fits with her also developing into her new role as Queen of the Underworld. I loved how Hades and Persephone navigate a large change in their relationship especially as Persephone comes to terms with the curse, it was realistic and made their relationship stronger.

I still fully recommend this series if you want a modern retelling of Hades and Persephone with spice, magic, and a unique storyline.

This is a good second book to the trilogy. It was alot of back and forth with their relationship, and that got tedious. But all in all, it was a good book. Does end in a cliffhanger, so you definitely need to read book one first.
Thank you to Netgalley for the copy. These opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

To be honest I didn't expect much going in and because of that I wasn't disappointed. For the sake of being nosey i read this but I'm now debating whether i should read the last book.

I found myself not believing the love between Hades and Persephone, as a Hades and Persephone lover that is very hard to say. Their relationship still feels unmature because really what do they actually know about each other except how to get each other off. Which brings me to the smut, it was written so lazily and basically the same things kept happening. I found myself skipping over those parts entirely.

I hated the nicknames. Nothing much to say there.

I did however find the underworld really interesting and the way it was written. Especially when Demeter and Kronos 'enter the chat' so to speak.

ok so i'm gonna kick this off by saying that i didn't really enjoy this book as much as i did the first one and had to basically force myself to finish it because i had the hope that it would be worth it in the end, and all of the hardships they were going through would be worth it in the end (shocker, they weren't) Saying that i'm gonna do a sparks note kind of review of the things that i picked up on that i HATED and also the bits that i kind of enjoyed/appreciated.

- This sequel is extremely different to the first book (in the best way possible)
- There is a lot more focus on the mythology and the underworld which i really enjoyed. It was something that wasn't mentioned other than in passing in book 1.
- There was a lot of really engaging twists and turns, and i found myself looking forward to these more than when Hades and Persephone were on screen (they annoyed me to no end if you couldn't tell)
- Persephone FINALLY becoming a girl boss and going to save her man from his imprisonment was a lovely reversal of the maiden usually being the one in danger/needing rescuing.
- Its vastly different to the first book with the tone being a lot darker
- I HATED THE MISCOMMUNICATION and by default hated how emotionally unavailable/unwilling she was with Hades after she rescued him, quite literally, from HELL. Would have thought him being in life threatening danger would have had an impact on her, but not really.
- The majority of the book was them fighting (again, unnecessarily) mostly just to set up book 3 which was a shame.
- Some of the side characters like Mellie and Hekate were actually more interesting than the main characters, and i genuinely think i would have liked their story more as they were less annoying.

Overall, a good enough book, just seemed like a lot of miscommunication for no reason, and in all honesty i'm sure this could have been included at the end of book 1 or the beginning of book 3, making for a more compelling duology that extremely spread out trilogy

Hades made Persephone his queen and they've been thrown into the underworld. Somehow, they are separated and Persephone must go on a journey to find her king.

If you enjoy light, spicy, fantasies, this one is for you. These fated mates are still working through their insecurities, but they are willing to sacrifice to save each other.

I personally prefer complex, emotional fantasies and he plot in this one felt rushed to me. Without giving anything away, I didn't quite understand why the main characters felt so traumatized by their experiences at the beginning of the book. I think additional background on the new characters would've made it more clear.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for permitting this book to be a Read Now to help members develop their Feedback Ratio in exchange for an honest review.

Review Summary:
An immediate continuation of book one in the series, the story of Hades and Persephone and their fated yet doomed relationship continues. I was really looking forward to seeing the flickers of stronger writing that appeared in the first book, just not often enough, to come to full fruition in the sequel and in some ways this did happen... but not to the level I was hoping for. We are led through Persephone and Hades' frought beginnings in their new life in the Underworld and the consequences of their pairing. We get to explore the Underworld a bit more, introducing or further developing additional characters and settings.
Positives are that the writer(s) continue to be very good at descriptive writing. The visualisation of the Underworld, particularly the castle and the various dreamscapes we're taken to are immersive and enjoyable to read. The first fifth/quarter of the book that sees Persephone searching for Hades while Hades is trapped, being forced through various dreams while he cannot escape, is interesting and has some genuine moments of anguish. An action scene later on, involving the Titans and Hades' brothers also had potential for the type of action sequences and sense of peril the writers are capable of. There is a real effort from the authors to delve into Hades' past to develop his character.
The negatives are unfortunately still more prominent. The stronger scenes are cut far too short and rushed, to make way for more irritating scenes between Persephone and Hades and smut that is more poorly written and less varied than in book one. This made for inconsistent pacing, flicking between rushed and sluggish/repetitive.

2 stars for an improvement from book one in regards to world-building and story, but still bogged down with an excessively YA writing stye which clashes with the erotica themes. Inconsistent pacing with focuses on the wrong areas of the story, in my opinion, making the romance and erotica in the story feel increasingly stale.

FULL REVIEW BELOW. AVAILABLE WITH THE ADDITION OF HIDDEN SPOILERS ON GOODREADS.

World-building:
I actually really enjoyed the depiction of the Underworld in this book. We explore the castle, which acts as a living entity, as well as the river Styx and lands patrolled by Hekate and Morpheus. I particularly liked the gradual description of the changes to Persephone's powers, such as the colour symbolism and the trance-like communication that develops between her and Hades. The dreamscapes that Morpheus keeps Hades in while he is trapped gives us an insight into the history of his youth and the realms he lives in. We are introduced to some further Gods through the coronation, such as Aphrodite and Hephaestus and Poseidon and Zeus' wives. The writers try and develop the 'political' atmosphere across the realms through the relationships between Gods, such as adultery, 'marriages only in name' and other tensions that have grown between certain deities.

Characterisation:
Persephone is absolutely insufferable and as a result makes Hades pretty insufferable as well. She is constantly looking for a fight, with a good two-thirds of the book being the pair of them acting like stubborn children around each other because she refuses to discuss the huge elephant in the room regarding the curse. She does this just so she can feel somewhat in control, fair enough. But then she will start other petty arguments with him after pretty much every interaction, then seemingly contradict herself a few sentences later. At one point, she gets angry with him because he does not wish to be intimate while she harbours this animosity towards him. The emotional manipulation that follows just feels so coersive and borderline abusive. She also has the vocabulary of a child. I am sick and tired of her internal monologues with childish nicknames and possessives, like 'my stubborn demon' or 'my marshmallow'. Speaking of marshmallow, the three-headed dog Cerberus who is a fearsome loyal guardian in the myths is reduced to a domesticated dog who sits and waits for his kibble. No exaggeration, Persephone discusses his 'sensitive stomach' and refers to him as her son. Hades is reduced to a pathetic, pining wet flannel who seemingly can't say anything right from wrong to Persephone. Mellie remains a very try-hard character with how she is written, with the 'space buns' I loathe the incessant references to being back in full force. She mentions 'vajazzling' for crying out loud. She is an attempt at a female friendship for Persephone but they are both so immature it is hard to read. Zeus and Poseidon are introduced a bit more in this story but still feel quite bare. The memories/dreamscapes Hades experiences aim to develop his relationship with his brothers and the consequent feelings of inadequacy that he battles, which of course translate into his relationship with Persephone. Zeus is volatile/short-tempered, incapable of staying loyal to women and has a deep harboured hatred towards their father Kronos. Poseidon still feels like an unknown, even though attempts were made to create some sort of deeper level of understanding between him and Hades. Weirdly, the most interesting characters in the whole book were Aphrodite and Hephaestus, who had far more palpable tension than even Hades and Persephone did throughout. Their tension felt organic and genuine.

Story:
The first part of the book while in search for Hades is somewhat interesting, if it wasn't for Persephone and her unbearable interactions with Cerburus. The whole situation is solved too fast, not giving a chance for any real sense of peril or oppurtunities for further world building. Persephone faces Tartarus for what feels like five minutes. Then, once that little detour is over, we're back to Persephone and Hades' anxious inner monologues and frustratingly ignorant interactions with each other. While I commend Hades for beginning to face his past his development is constantly impeded by his sucking up to Persephone and being apparently socially inept towards her, even though he is as depicted as the 'boring' mediator and voice of reason by his brothers. There is then an extremely confusing scene with Persephone and Jackson, the character that Persephone was consitently nonchalant towards in book one. That was weird. Anyway we're then dragged through the usual smut, except the writing of it has become far lazier than in book one. The exact same things happen every time and the scenes become utterly pointless. The story then gets interesting when signs of damage to the Underworld appear, which then seem to damage Hades and Persephone's powers too. Plans start to form in finding the culprit, and a coronation is arranged. The coronation then leads to events regarding the Titans and the story begins to unfold, before the book ends and we're left having to read the next installment to see any progression of the story. Just like in book one.

Prose:
The smut in this edition is so poor. Every scene is practically identical. They will 'tunnel' their fingers through each others hair, he will 'slam' himself or 'plunge' himself into her. She will feel a bit of pain but like it. He will always bite her neck, she will always drag her nails down his wings and back releasing his 'golden ichor'. Then within a couple of sentences Hades 'roars' his orgasm and of course they finish together. The sequence and words are always the same, it is so incredibly boring. There is one scene involving Hades' shadows which echoes an erotic scene in book one, but other than that no tension-building touching or foreplay is here anymore. There are fewer frustrating Gen Z quips in this book than book one but they are still there now and again, or references to real life that I dislike as a personal preference. The characters all still have irritating nicknames or terms of endearment which feel clunky and unnatural. But essentially the prose is fine until we reach any scene that involves Persephone because I just find her so awful.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Buckle up every body because this was a RIDE. I'm in love with this series. Sooo different from the first book, much more focused on the mythology and takes place soley in the Underworld. Pers, being "cursed" by Hades at the end of book 1 is escorted to the underworld by Hekate. But where is our shadow daddy?? Why isn't he here with Pers to introduce her to her queendom?? All the twists and turns, the mythology and character development, and the spicey spicey spice just were delicious and i ate.it.up. Neeeeeed to start book 3 immediately.

I'm nothing if not afraid of FOMO and also a very nosy gal so despite my own complaints and statements denying I'd do as much, I read this. I went in with a much lower bar of expectation and had a better time due to it. What I found interesting was that the spice levels and quality of it had gone down, but the story itself I found interesting as we get to start off where that cliffhanger ended. I think persephone as a character is interesting. I may read the next book.

I personally prefer a little more complex storyline for fantasies, and it felt a hit rushed to me. It was a good premise but not one of my favourites.

You should read this series if you like:

♡ Hades & Persephone retelling
♡ Fated mates
♡ Cliffhanger ending