"Cruel Seduction" delivers a scorching polyamorous romance that had me hooked from the first page. Katee Robert weaves a complex web of desire and political intrigue, making this installment in the Dark Olympus series my absolute favorite so far. Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Adonis, and Pandora's tangled relationships are a delicious mix of enemies-to-lovers, second chances, and forbidden desires, all set against the backdrop of a city on the brink of chaos. The chemistry is explosive, the angst is palpable, and the erotic scenes are pure fire. Katee's writing is utterly addictive; even the morally gray characters are utterly captivating. This series holds a special place in my heart – it's actually what reignited my wife's love for reading, and it's a series we started reading and discussing together when we first started dating. We devoured the audiobooks together, eagerly discussing every twist and turn. If you're looking for a steamy, politically charged romance with unforgettable characters, "Cruel Seduction" is a must-read. I can't wait to pick up "Midnight Ruin" next!

Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert gives lots of feels with this love triangle on steroids. It follows Aphrodite (a.k.a. Eris) and her marriage to the new Hephaestus who murdered his way into the role. What can go wrong? Aphrodite is cunning and clever with her manipulations of the public opinion all while struggling with her ex Adonis, budding feelings for Hephaestus' sister Pandora and oh my could that be something other than hatred for her husband? Murder, mayhem, and romance the perfect summary of Olympus.

Katee Roberts knocked it out of Olympus with this one. I adore this series and the poly relationship was wonderful to see (even if this foursome are all insane)!

I love Katee Robert, but this one was just not for me. The plot felt circular and I just didn't love the characters all that much.

Cruel Seduction by Katee Roberts is book 5 in the Lore Olympus series. This book tells the story of Aphrodite and Hephaestus. As a lover of greek mythology I love the way Roberts has navigated and protrayed the old greek tales in a new way... quite frankly a new spicy angle. This series is so much fun. I have loved all of the books so far.

4.5 stars

Okay, how does this series keep getting better? I swear, each book is better than the last, and this one was really good.

The political maneuvers of the Thirteen in Olympus continue, along with their enemies (okay, Minos). This book mostly focuses on Aphrodite and Theseus (now Hephaestus), who get married right at the start of the book for political reasons.

Things move pretty quickly, though I did enjoy that Aphrodite and Hephaestus try to outmaneuver each other by sleeping with their spouse’s friend/ex. Like, that just seems like a terrible idea. But, you know, these books are mostly about the sex, so it’s to be expected.

I don’t want to say too much, as I don’t want to spoil anything. I will say that this book has a poly relationship and I really like how that came to be. There were also some incredibly spicy scenes 🥵, and the last few chapters were so full of action and twists that I could not put the book down!

I can’t wait for the next books in this series!

Acts of revenge between the newly married Aphrodite and Hephaestus turn into an open poly knot with Adonis and Pandora in the fifth sizzling installment in the Dark Olympus series.

Katee Robert always does an impressive job of balancing her poly stories and giving each character room on the page to fall in love, share their backstory, and connect with the reader. There is a lot going on in this book (both plot wise and in the various relationships) which made it a little hard to keep track of at times, though it's still an enjoyable entry in the series.

As always the narrating duo of Alex Moorcock and Zara Hampton-Brown did a great job with the large cast of characters in the series and bringing their personalities across in the performance.

Looking forward to more books in this series!

I have been a consistent fan of Katee and this series. I enjoyed the slightly different vibe in this story as it pertained to most characters, but found the MMC to be very similar to the others in the previous books. That said, perhaps that was the goal? Either way will read whatever comes next in the series!

❤️❤️ out of 5
I have to admit this book definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone. This book’s love story revolved around a foursome, and while this was a first for me, I honestly just didn’t believe it for the most part. I could understand everyone’s physical attraction but I couldn’t understand their emotional connections or even how they really worked together- it came across to me as very forced?

The other thing with this book was that in amongst all the political intrigue, I wasn’t very intrigued? I don’t know, while I’ve liked all the other books so far in this series this one just didn’t land with me.

This book is amazing. You come for the spice but stay for the story. I have lived every book in this series

Amazing story and great addition to the series. The narrators did a great job by giving life to the characters. The title says it all. Go read it!

A good pick if you want some sexy time and not much plot. I feel like this one had more that than story and I want a good story more than I want just a book with sex scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape, and LibroFM for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Do I eagerly await my dose of Katee Robert, Alex Morcock and the Neon Gods world? You bet I do. I adore this series, I adore the narration, and I honestly just don't know what I am going to do with my life when it's over. Just the right mix of steam, intrigue, and did I mention steam?

I really like the narrators. They are a big part of my enjoyment in the series as a whole.

This book is a nice progression and addition to the overall storyline of Dark Olympus by Katee Robert. The alliances and relationships and spice explored in this book are the stand out points, but complicated with four main characters. The relationship could use a bit more attention, but perhaps we'll see more in future books.

I am a big fan of the overarching plot of Olympus and the political mystery/shenanigans and kept wanting more of that, but am always hopeful as the installments/couple stories come out.

Not my absolute top favorite in the series, but I will keep listening and reading, I'm in too deep to stop!

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and Author for an ARC Audio.

I love this spicy mythological romance series from Katee Robert.

This one features Aphrodite and Hephaestus. And Adonis. And Pandora. As usual on Olympus, there are schemes and machinations that need to be de-escalated for our players to begin to appreciate one another. This one goes full poly at the end, and the audio narration was delightful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the Audio ARC!

Wow! I've loved this whole series so far, the relationships and spicy romances, but this one took the over-arching plot to the next step!
The main couple, Eris (who has taken the title of Aphrodite of the 13 ruling Olympus) and Theseus (who has violently seized the title of Hephaestus by murdering the last one), are set up in an arranged marriage, and they immediately start plotting the other's downfall. This IS an enemies-to-lovers polycule romance, which I *love*. M/F, M/M/F, and F/F. Spicy, delicious, and very sexy.
All the while, random folks are trying to kill the other titled Olympians. As things start to get dangerous for the Thirteen, we get insight into what Minos is doing with his gang and some of their motivations. Personally, I can't wait for the next book, and will definitely be re-reading this one again as I wait. I have a guess on who's behind all this... but I guess we'll see.

Definitely recommend for folks who enjoy spicy romance - but I'd recommend at least Radiant Sin first, because of plot reasons.

The fifth book in the Olympus series moves the PoV to Aphrodite and the new Hephaestus. The arranged marriage between them has lots of sparks but no love between them. The new Hephaestus is still working with his father and brother to topple the power structure of the thirteen from the inside. As usual there are sparks between them and it ruins both their plans and everyone else’s plans for them. Lots of smolder between them and others in the book. The audio was great and read by the same narrators as before and alternates between the two main PoV characters.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Cruel Seduction is the newest addition to the Dark Olympus series by Katee Robert. Although I’m not typically a fan of retellings, fantasy, mythical stories, etc. but her Dark Olympus series has always been something I have read with every new release. I like that she has made this retelling modern and easier to follow for people that don’t read stories like this often.

Having read every book in this series, I can’t say this one is my newest favorite, but I did enjoy the plot. I think I expected more romance and relationship development between all the characters in this polyamorous relationship, rather than the instant attraction or hate to love that we mainly got. All the relationships felt like they progressed very fast with not much development and it threw me off. It just didn’t feel extremely realistic to me.

This story builds on past events of the previous book and it was interesting to see how those events played out. The action/suspense aspects of this book weren’t as exciting as some of the others and I was all around hoping for more. Even with reading all the books, I do still get confused on the many people/events/etc.

I like Katee’s writing style and her diverse characters/plots, so it always pains me when I don’t love a book from her like I wanted to. I do always like that her fantasy/mythical stories are easier to follow for a novice reader and she wants more people to get into these genres.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Big thanks to Katee Roberts and Netgalley for the audioARC in exchange for a review.

I love all that is written by Katee Roberts. She has my heart.
This one has a harder time keeping my attention though. It didn't throw anything new into this stereotypical story line.
Bad boy and angry, hold-her-own badass woman is 100% my jam, but it followed the flow a little too well and I don't think this would pull away from any other story in the same genre.

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