I thought this was a great story with fun tie-ins to Greek mythology. Set in a regency-era London and outskirts of London, it follows a young lady named Persephone. As she’s searching for a beloved book that belonged to her mother, she meets Aiden. To cover up what could have become a scandal, they quickly marry and what follows is the two of them growing as individuals and as a couple. I did feel the mystery surrounding “the lord of the dead” was a bit of a let down but overall I enjoyed this book a whole lot!

This was a delightful, light romance book with an arranged marriage, secrets and mythology references/metaphors.

After all the heavy fantasy and horror reads I've had lately, and my very emotional romance read, I really needed something sweet and light.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.

"The Temple of Persephone" is a captivating and enchanting novel that transports readers into a world of myth and romance. Aiden, also known as The Lord of the Dead, is the epitome of the dark, brooding hero with a heart of gold. His magnetic presence on the page is sure to leave readers blushing and swooning as they follow his journey.

Persephone, the spirited and independent heroine, is a refreshing portrayal of a real woman with her short, unruly hair and fierce determination. Her dynamic character adds depth and authenticity to the story, making her a protagonist readers can truly root for.

The legend of Persephone and Hades is beautifully mirrored in this novel, adding a layer of depth and intrigue to the romance. Fans of the Bridgerton Series will appreciate the similar feel and captivating storytelling that "The Temple of Persephone" offers.

As the pages turn, readers will find themselves immersed in a world of forbidden love, tantalizing secrets, and undeniable passion. And with the tantalizing mention of Venus and her potential adventures, this reader is eagerly hoping that the author will continue the series, allowing readers to delve deeper into the enchanting world they've created.

This was a fun Persephone and Hades retelling. I loved watching Persephone and Aidon find their HEA. Like the Persephone and Hades in the original myth there was more to Persephone and Aidon and their own story than they each thought of each other, than others thought of them, than they thought about themselves. I enjoyed it. I'll be sure to read Isabella Kamal's future books.

I would give the book a 3.5, rounding to a 4 for the purposes here. I thought it was a sweet story and enjoyed Persephone's relationship with Aidon. I did find the reveal of Aidon's deep, dark secret to be very anti-climactic, and I didn't find the characters to be very three-dimensional, while I enjoyed them at face value, they aren't characters that will hold a special place in my heart. I also found the narrator for the audiobook to be distracting. The cadence of speaking felt unnatural.

I enjoyed this one but am not sure that I would buy it now that I've read it. But I do have some ppl to recommend it to!

I'm a big historical romance fan. Huge. And I definitely have my favorite authors, and a list of more I want to try. But still I'm a sucker for checking out a debut author, especially if the premise is intriguing. Isabella Kamal's melding of HR and Greek mythology definitely intrigued me, and happily I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found both lead characters charming, and liked that they were attracted to each other from the beginning, even though they were very different in temperament. I enjoyed watching their relationship grow and evolve from being a marriage of convenience (initiated by "necessity" borne of having been caught in a compromising position). It has the usual communication breakdowns and bad relatives and other familiar tropes, but they're nicely done. And the narration Susan Duerden was excellent. I'll absolutely keep an eye out for more books from Isabella Kamal.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing a digital copy for an unbiased review.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to get with this historical romance, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results!

The use of Greek mythology, explicitly the story of Hades and Persephone is a fun starting point for these two laws find each other and quickly find themselves married!

Persephone Honeyfield doesn’t have a lot of hopes for finding a husband in her small town. She’s always played second fiddle to her bright and beautiful younger sister… so she is surprised to find herself in the arms of her mysterious and elusive neighbour Aidon Barrington.

Mr. Aidon Barrington Is known in the gossip rags as the Lord of the dead- with a reputation like that how is he ever going to find a wife? No wonder he grabs on to the first one that falls into his arms!

Quickly married, Aiden and Persephone Now need to find a way to become husband and wife, but Aiden’s secrets and infamy are threatening to tear them apart before they even come together!

I absolutely loved both these characters and how they developed after being able to flourish in the bounds of matrimony.

The narration provided by Susan Deurden turned out to be a perfect match for this story. Her sultry voice added an extra layer to the character’s pining through the narration. Her voice work for both leads was well done and fit. The characters and the side characters were nicely represented as well. Deurden’s voice is very recognizable, and I was worried it would take away from the story, but it ended up having the opposite resolved and made this book come to life!

The audiobook of The Temple of Persephone by Isabella Kamal and narrated by Susan Deurden is available now.

Content:

I love this story. This is the perfect example on how a historical setting can amp up the chemistry and romance. These are two lonely people who are thrown together in a bit of a meet cute but have so much mutual respect for each other it really develops into a friends to lovers situation. Their building intimacy and trust is just so beautiful. There are interesting side plots to this as well with some mystery surrounding the MMC which did add some angst.

Narration:

Full honesty at 1x I do not like the voice and intonation of this narrator. This is VERY 2x friendly though. At 1x there is something a bit too sassy about this narrator. I understand this isn't in first POV but it is just so different from the mostly sweet and cozy story and not the personality of the FMC. But again, sped up the pitch also gets higher and there's less perceived emphasis on those kinds of things.

I absolutely recommend this for the content. It is a story that has stuck with me. Thank you to Blackstone Audio for the ALC!

I’ve never seen a retelling of the Hades and Persephone set in a regency historical. It was really interesting to see how the two were combined. It also sets up possibilities for more books in a series with the supporting characters.

However, I found the secret it all built to very anticlimactic and could have been done differently. It also felt like many events that help further the plot were too coincidental and felt like they didn’t blend as well with the story over all as the others.

I also have mixed feelings about the fourth wall breaking with the characters talking about the Hades and Persephone myth.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

Ok soo I couldn’t finish this! Not be of the story but because of the narrator. I actually have a physical copy so I will be reading it that way.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

THE TEMPLE OF PERSEPHONE is a charming, light historical romance that combines some of the best elements of Classic Mythology and Regency-era Romances. It's passionate (read: spicy) while never delving too deeply into larger issues, meaning it was a quick little audiobook listen that didn't require too much thought.

Like other reviewers here, I was certainly confused about the character's reactions to Aidon's secret <spoiler>and I would have probably enjoyed it more if instead of "rebranding" his funeral services for illegitimate children, Persephone and Aidon had created their own little Elysium for the cast aside children</spoiler>, and felt like Kamal leaned too heavily on it to cause some final act strife.

Overall, PERSEPHONE was a solid, and enthusiastic, start as Kamal's historical debut.

Interesting premise for a historical romance, for me. Using some of the premises of Hades/Persephone.

I actually liked the pacing and romance in this book. I do think it was a bit long and some of the outside people that played into the conflict were too much, but I recommend this for a filler book.

I got an alc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was such a fun historical romance romp! With my favorite trope thats works so well in historical romance - marriage of convenience (to avoid scandal!). Persephone was an interesting character - I really felt for her and her lack of confidence based on societal norms and expectations. I did think her character arc was a little slow, but appreciated the growth that she showed throughout the story. Aiden was nuanced in a unique way - the Lord of the Dead storyline gave him an extra layer that contributed to his character arc.

There are also some really engaging side characters in this story. Persephone/Aiden's friends who ended up together became an integral part of the story and I thought tying their 'secrets' in to the MCs relationship was interesting and helped to tied the story together. I thought the characters were really compelling and I was drawn to the story overall. The MCs relationship development was well done. I appreciated that each MC had their own POV within the story. This is a very well crafted debut novel!

Overall the narration was well done. There were a few points where I felt that the narrator came across as a bit monotone in their style of delivery which was enough to make me take notice but didn't completely detract from the story as a whole. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ALC to read.

The Temple of Persephone by Isabella Kamal is a historical romance and the author's debut.

The audiobook is narrated by Susan Duerden, and she does a fabulous job with our dual points of view.

After a fast marriage due to getting caught in a slightly scandalous position, Persephone and Aidon begin the process of getting to know one another. Persephone inherited a love for mythology from her late mother, and Aidon works in the funerary field (his nickname is "the Lord of the Dead").

Aidon's older brother, who declined to take on the family business, is kind of a big creep but I was glad to see how much Persephone stands up for herself. I identified with her a lot.

Her chemistry with Aidon is great and the book gets pretty steamy at times (with several scenes focusing on Persephone and her pleasure). I was glad to see explicit and enthusiastic consent throughout.

I was glad to see this book ended with a hook for a book following Persephone's younger sister, Venus. I look forward to reading that in the future!

If you're a fan of Regency romance or Greek mythology you should give this one a try.

Tropes in this book include: regency, folklore, bluestocking, marriage of convenience, slow burn, open door

This is a review for the audiobook version. So first and foremost, I want to talk about what a fantastic job Susan Duerden did narrating this book. Her voice was a perfect fit and really brought the story to life. I loved every minute of listening to her wonderful narration.

The book itself was a quick and easy read. It's a Regency retelling of Hades and Persephone, and Isabella Kamal puts a wonderful spin on it. I loved Persephone! She was a strong character who knew her own mind. Aidon was reserved but lovable deep down. I thought their chemistry was great, and the book had a good amount of spice.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and definitely look forward to more to come from this author.

Thank you, Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley, for allowing me an ARC of this audiobook for review. Opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed the writing here and am excited to see what Isabella Kamal does next. Ultimately this is a pretty simple historical romance with very little external plot (that's not a criticism). I was pleasantly surprised by the spice in the book! There's not a ton but the scenes we get are really well thought out and included face sitting and a bath (two favorites of mine)!

I've had a streak lately of reading some historical romances that haven't lived up to my expectations - this was the best out of the bunch even though I didn't love it or was particularly compelled by it.

I enjoyed the narration by Susan Deurden, who I had not listened to previously. I think her voices for the characters were subtly distinct. I did find that I wasn't able to speed up to my typical 2.5x speed, but I was comfortable listening at 2x.

Thank you to Blackstone Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I did not like the narrator at all and found it very difficult to get through this audiobook. I was unable to finish the book because of it so cannot note on the book itself.

A different take on Hades and Persephones story.

Aiden runs a funeral business, but also has a secretive and lucrative side business that is eating at his soul. However, in his effort to prove his mettle to his father even after he isbdesd, he does not give up the business.

A chance meeting with Persephone at his country estate leads to a marriage.
Slowly the couple get to know each other and develop deep feelings.

A well written book. I listened to the audio version and it was well done.

This review is for the audiobook of The Temple of Persephone by Isabella Kamal, read by Susan Duerden. I was impressed by this debut. Persephone Honeyfield suddenly finds herself married to former rake Aiden Barrington after they are discovered in a compromising position. The marriage starts out slowly and they are very wary of each other initially. I'm glad they got to know each other first. Marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes and I love to see how the author can take two people who are complete strangers and bring them together happily. The Great Misunderstanding went on just a little too long and of course we find out that Aiden is really a great guy and doesn't deserve the malicious gossip spread about him. The narrator did an excellent job of male and female voices but there is something about her delivery. It's very monotone. I look forward to reading her sister Venus' story.
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.