Title: For Love of War
Author: Kiernan Kelly
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Fantasy M/M
Length: Novella (120 PDF pages)
Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5
A guest review by Tj
Summary Review: A fun, funny and sexy modern take on Greek mythology that left me with a goofy smile on my face.
The Blurb: Ares, the Greek god of War, has fallen on hard times. Modern technology has left him a proverbial fish out of water, relegated to finding battle of a sort in rough biker bars. When Hermes shows up with an offer from Zeus, king of the gods, Ares thinks he’s finally found a way to regain his past glory.
A godling on Earth has come into his powers, and they’re strong enough to send a ripple through Olympus. Zeus needs the fledgling god dead. Dion, the godling in question, has no idea of his Olympian roots until he wakes up to find Ares there to kill him. But Dion isn’t totally defenseless, and Ares soon discovers he’s caught in a web of lies that only the Fates will be able to untangle.
The Review: For Love of War opens with Ares, the god of war in a dump of a bar hoping to find some biker ready for a fight. It seems that in modern times of wars fought by pushing buttons and pulling triggers, the god of war has become somewhat outdated. So imagine how Ares eyes must have lit up at the offer from Zeus to kill a bastard godling (the son of a god and human) in exchange for the throne to Olympus. Now Ares isn’t stupid. He knows that Zeus will try and reneg on Ares’ payment after the deed is done, but he also knows that this will result in all out war in Olympus. Woohoo! Just what Ares really wanted.
Of course it’s no surprise when Ares’ plans don’t go the way he wants. But boy is it ever fun. Dion, the godling, turns out to be far more than anyone expected and Ares is knocked for a loop with the attraction that he feels for the him. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that Ares ends up fighting to keep Dion safe from the murderous intentions of Zeus and all of Olympus.
I truly enjoyed For Love of War. Kiernan Kelly has crafted quite an adventure for us all with her godly goings on. Anyone even remotely familiar with Greek mythology will recognize many names, such as Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Eros and Hermes, who all have interesting roles in this story. I was so caught up in the adventure and the hot, and I mean really hot, attraction between Ares and Dion that I couldn’t wait to get back to the story when I had to put it down.
The characters are all well developed enough to feel real to me – despite being mythological beings. The plot was fun, sexy and moved at a really good pace – there wasn’t a slow spot to be found. Even the secondary characters were interesting; Zeus as the arrogant god of Olympus, Hera as his nagging wife, Hermes as Zeus’ snarky aide, and especially the three Fates, who were a hoot. I just loved them all!
If you’re in the mood for a hot, sexy, fun and kind of funny fast paced read, then I highly recommend For Love of War. It was a truly enjoyable experience that I will definitely be reading again and again.
I hesitate to ask. Is there an epilogue??
Hi Ingrid – No, there wasn’t an epilogue, just a paragraph of somewhat tongue-in-cheek dialog after all the action occurs.
Good to know TJ. I don’t think this writer dares to write one.
AS for the story, it sounds good. I love greek myth as well.
I LOVE Greek myths and I love Kiernan Kelly’s work. This is definitely a must read for me. Great review. Can’t wait to get to it. (Ack! My list of “must reads” is growing out of control.)
Tam – If you’re already a fan of Greek myths and Kiernan’s work, you will definitely like this one. I really enjoyed the new take on Greek mythology.
I love Kiernan’s writing and Greek myths as well. To the top of my wish list it goes. Thanks for the great review, Tj! 🙂
My pleasure Lily – literally. I really enjoyed this fun story.
Hi Tj! I love Greek mythology but, for some reason, I remember not wanting to read this one after I read the blurb. I’m glad you reviewed it, because now I can’t wait to read this one 🙂 I think it was because Ares was always my least favorite Olympian 🙂
This sounds really good, thank you for the rec!
You’re quite welcome Cole. I do hope that you enjoy this as much as I did. I was pleasantly surprised with the story. I thought Ares was kind of hot myself, and I had a number of chuckles as the author has some fun with the other Olympian’s characterizations.
Hey Tj, I just wanted to come back and say that I read this after your review and I really loved it. I loved the characterizations of the Olympians, especially Hermes. Also, she did a good take on Ares, showing his vulnerable side. I really loved it, thanks for recommending it!
Hey Cole. Thanks for coming back to let me know. I agree, the author did a great job on the characters – especially Ares, who was so much more that just the arrogant god of war that you’d expect. Talking about it makes me want to go back an re-read the book!
I`m currently reading a book about gods and goddesses but it`s on the dark side.It might be fun to read something more lighthearted with the same theme.
I would`ve liked to see your goofy smile! 🙂
Thanks for the review!
s.
Hi Sims – This would seem to fit the bill for you then. It’s very lighthearted and fun and I really got a kick out of the characterizations of the gods. Thankfully my goofy smile is the one thing that isn’t sagging or wrinkling as I age. 🙂
I love greek and roman mythology and have often wondered why more m/m writers don’t sst their stories in those worlds since they are already steeped in homoerotism as they are.
Thanks for the review.
Very true Diane. You would think that authors would find a lot to work with in mythology. Maybe it requires too much research vs a contemporary? I hope you enjoy the book.
Great review Teej.
I didn’t want to read this book because I had a bad experience with an epilogue that this author wrote for one of her books – (that’s probably why Ingrid asked that question since we both remember the experience). 🙁
Maybe it’s time for me to give Kiernan Kelly another chance because I LOVE Greek mythology. If you love it as much as I do I have another book to recommend in that genre that I reviewed almost 3 years ago – It’s called Forgive and Forget by A. Steele, published by Loose Id. I’m enclosing a link in case you want to check it out but it may no longer be available. Anyway I’ll put this book on my TBR based on your recommendation. 🙂
http://www.gayromance.org/?p=24
Thanks Wave. Well that explains Ingrid’s question. Luckily there was no epilogue here. Just a fun, sexy story, with no angst to be found. I hope you find it to be as good as I did.
Thanks for that other book rec. I will look for it since I really like Greek mythology too.
Oh Gods, Wave you know how I feel about dead protagonists in the books in general, but killing one in the epilogue? I am begging here 🙂 what was the name of the book, I really really do NOT want to buy it by accident, since I want to look for this author’s other works now. Please?
I’ll email you the name of the book. 🙁
TJ I loved this book, thank you for a great review. I loved the story, but I also loved how recognizable Gods and Goddesses were, how well the author researched Greek mythology and based such fun adventure on it. I mean I loved Ares of course, but Fates were probably my favorites amongs them all.
You’re welcome Sirius and thank you too. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the book as much as I did. You mentioned all of the things that I loved as well especially the Fates. Thanks so much for letting me know how you liked it.
I believe the epilogue crime was committed in Riding Heartbreak Road.
Yes it was. I didn’t want to say the name on the site but since you did and not me, I can confirm this was the book I remember so vividly. I deleted Riding Heartbreak Road from my hard drive after I read it since there was no way I was going to read it again.
Thanks Jen and Wave, believe me it is very much appreciated.
I am glad I am not the only one who deleted that book! It was such a disappointment.
Thanks for the review TJ – Egads I almost missed this one, and I majorly love mythology. This one will be nudged to the top of my list.
Epilogue crime – yikes! I have hurled books across the room (speaking of Ares, LOL) when I’ve been unhappy with plot direction or endings……not something I’d do with my Kindle though 😉
You’re welcome Dianne. I hope you enjoy the book and please come back and let me know what you thought of it afterwards.
I just read it — totally fun book! Thanks, TJ, for bringing it to my attention. 🙂
Hi Val – That’s so great to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed it too. It was a really fun book. Thanks for coming back to let me know.