Before

Destined #0.5

by Jessie Harrell

THIS IS A SHORT STORY prequel to my full-length novel, DESTINED.

When the God of Love falls in love for the very first time, the results are powerful ... and painful. Journey back to a time BEFORE Eros met Psyche and find out what happens when Eros is powerless to control the heart of the girl he loves.

Genres: Mythology, Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, Greek Mythology, Short Stories, Paranormal

7 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

By day, I'm an appellate lawyer. By night, I'm a wife, mother of two, and author/lover of all things Greek mythology. I'm a native Floridian, frustrated world traveler, unrepentant dreamer, lover of acoustic music and not-so-closet geek. Destined, released November 17, 2011, is my first novel. Stay tuned for Beneath the Surface, co-written with the amazing Brooklyn Grant, coming summer 2012.

Reviews

[Majo's Library. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Never love again. Especially not a mortal". I like that, yeah
This is a little short story about Eros and his first love before he met Psyche.
So... I don't know... maybe 3stars for the book, and 5 for the cover? xDD

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eros has taken things a bit too far this time with his mischievous fooling around in the gods’ love lives. And so, he is temporarily banished by Zeus to live amongst mortals who will show him no reverence or special treatment. By all means, a cruel punishment for his various minor infractions, right? But Eros just might begin to discover that he’s treated love a bit too flippantly and that when it comes to affairs of the heart, the consequences are never minor.


Telling the story of Eros before he met Psyche, Before gives readers a little more insight into the Eros we see in Destined – the events that color his view of mortals, the reasons behind why he behaves the way he behaves, and why he reacts the way he does toward Psyche and her decisions in Destined. His experiences in Before are eye-opening, are telling, and, in a way, they humanize this arrogant god so that he’s more relatable.


Overall, Before is a wonderful character building piece for Eros and a great companion short story to Destined that should not be missed.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super quick, 5 minute prequel. It was interesting & definitely has me wanting to read the next in the series... so I'm off to do that :)

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The one thought bouncing through my slogging brain with any clarity was that I would never trust again. Never love again. Especially not a mortal.
And then came Psyche.

Okay, okay, okay, nice introducion to the main book!

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, Eros. It's 3AM here in my side of the world and here you are, making me want to read Destined NOW. Gah, I need sleep, I do, I'm a growing kid (whatever) but Destined. I need Destined. I need it.

Jessie Harrell, you are a such a magnificent writer. I had not expectations coming in but I ended up squealing and rating it a 5. I do not give five stars for books even if I enjoyed it so much. I tend to give it to those that made me think or those that are not shallow. I am not saying Before is shallow because it makes such a fine prequel to Destined but the angst, oh the angst.

Jessie Harrell, you wrote one hell of a prequel. It is too short for me because I am aching for more but it is of perfect length to entice readers for Destined. Cocky, arrogant Eros falls in love and gets his heart broken by a mere mortal. And hurray for hot Eros! I usually think of Cupid as the arrow-wielding baby god but naming him Eros removes all that so yey. Gah, I am in love with this plot. Plus, as I said, Jessie Harrell is such a good writer, she captures Eros so fine. Though it felt weird that a Greek god was speaking English but as if I can understand Greek! Haha! She has a way with words that flows smoothly and a whole lot more I dunno the technical terms to. She's witty, funny and her descriptions are so rich!

And that cover? So amazing. I do find Eros, if the one pictured is Eros, to be too young in that pic but nevertheless, all the elements of the cover just screams READ ME NOW!

I will definitely read Destined when I wake up. For now, I will read its first chapters for free!

<3

[Rebecca Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short prequel told from Eros's perspective about his first true love. Fans of Destined should read this.

Also, I knew this cover looked familiar; it's the same cover as Cabel's Story. But if that's what Eros is meant to look like, he's a cutie patootie! ;)

[Jessie Harrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun little short story written from Eros' first person perspective.

[°☆.。.:*・Nanna°☆.。.:*・ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one, I guess I should have expected it to be short, but this gave so little that I just was left with utter disappointment and thought, 'What the hell was the point of even writing this.'

[Alison Beechner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all shorts, I wish it was longer, but it was good and I'm excited to read the book.
Read on Rakuten kobo.

[Amelia Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually liked this a lot! Be it short, It was very nice!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always really nice to see the prequel to the book you love, especially when it covers a backstory you're really curious about. But this was just too short! I think I only had to click next on my kindle 8 times and it was over. That's hardly anything! I mean, it was interesting, but it was way too brief.

[layl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful~! Although i dont think Eros truly loved her from the heart. Maybe he did out of lust. And for Psyche he was shot by his own arrow. I dont think gods can truly love someone from the heart, still and awesome read. Treasure every second. And absolutely LOVED the details and description here. So realistic. I felt Eros' agony <3 ~Annabeth

[Kimber Shook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very short novella. It lets you get to know Eros a little before Psyche comes into the picture. It lets you feel something for Eros and understand why he was the way he was.

I loved it!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I have been holding back reading this book so today I decided to actually read it and I finished it in 10 minutes it was nice and all but no details whatsoever. When I started to read it the book was done.

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super short, but gives you a better understanding of destined. Best to read AFTER destined in my opinion

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little short story about Eros and his first love before he met Psyche.

[Melissa]

Read 2 November 2012

It was ok, nice to know more about the girl before Psyche

[Meighan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short intro into Destined. Wonderfully done, a great look into Ero's character.

[Bella Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing special. The love affair of one of the gods of olympus that formed his personality.....

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short? but nice.))))))))

[Priscilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was too short!!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't what I was hoping for!!

[Morgan Schell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very quick background look into why Eros acts the way he does. Makes you further appreciate just how special his love for Psyche was.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before was a very short story. Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed it. I will probably start Destined soon.

[Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's be honest here... middle of the range story, but it's all about that cover!

[Tonda Maurer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice intro into Destined..

[Marjo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. Not great but not terrible. I was expecting a contemporary retelling for some reason: glad to have found out I was wrong in the prequel short. Now my expectations for the novel have been adjusted.