Review: Touch of the Gods: The Wager

Reviewed by Allison
 

Touch of the Gods is the story about Hephaestus, god of inventions, blacksmiths, and volcanoes. We first meet Hephaestus after his long-awaited divorce from the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. Heph's nephew, Eros, tells him about a friendly family wager between Eros & his father, Heph's brother, Ares. Ares doesn't think Heph could get a woman ever again but Eros, always the believer in happy endings & love, knows that he can & not just any woman, but a mortal one. So, Eros sets Heph up with a job, a house, & a cover identity & watches him fall for his voluptuous neighbor, Vanessa.

The attraction between them is instant & sizzling...but they don't act on it. Something that Hephaestus will come to regret since, willing to do anything to win a battle of every sort, Ares takes Vanessa as his own. The only problem is that the Touch of a God is an addictive & harmful thing for mortals & Vanessa completely changes once under Ares' spell of lust. Eros & Hephaestus come up with a plan to humiliate Ares & make him leave Vanessa alone once & for all - but even after Ares gives up, the real challenge has just begun.

I enjoyed the concept of this book, but I'll admit I'm not completely sold on the execution. I would have enjoyed it more if the plot, especially the whirlwind romance between Heph & Vanessa, was a little more fleshed out. The characters were interesting & you can tell that Luc has done her Greek mythology research which is always a pleasure to see. Ares is a complete dick & I hated how easily changed Vanessa was even though it was all a symptom of the Touch. Hephaestus was not really what I pictured the god of blacksmiths to be, but he was still a sweetheart. I think the biggest disappointment for me was that I understood that Hephaestus loved Vanessa, but I didn't understand why. He Touched her & all of a sudden, she's his soulmate? I didn't get it. Their courtship was sweet but even that didn't actually start until more than halfway through the book after he had already decided she was The One. I felt the lust, just not the love.

Touch definitely had its hot scenes although the language didn't always flow - a mix of dirty & formal in the same paragraph, sometimes sentence, was confusing for the reader. If you're looking for a hot book with interesting greek mythology, you've found it but I wouldn't count on the storyline.

Rating: C

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Touch of the Gods: The Wager

by DX Luc

Release Date: May 4, 2012

Publisher: Sinful Restraints Publishing