4 "Fire God & His Healer" Stars.
In the debut of a brand new series that reminds me of a grown-up version of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series, Felicity Heaton sets up an urban fantasy world on the verge of war. The heroes in this series are all brothers, sons of Hades and Persephone, and gods in their own right. Each has been banished by Hades from the underworld and tasked with guarding the gates from the mortal world to the underworld to ensure that only gods, demigods and others selected by Hades can enter the underworld and that the dead can never leave it. However, the daemons that have been excluded from the underworld are getting restless, and the worlds seem to be coming to a revolutionary time.
The main hero in this story is Ares. Ares has the power of fire among other powers. Although Ares has his six brothers (each has a different main power), he has led a pretty solitary life for several centuries due to the fact that his power makes him unable to touch anyone (including many of his brothers) without burning them. This also means he has been unable to have a relationship with a woman, even a goddess in that long.
During a normal patrol, Ares is attacked by a daemon, and a woman named Megan comes to his aid. She instantly garners Ares' brothers suspicions, when Ares awakes without his fire power and mysteriously healed by this woman who defies convention (as she appears not to be a demigod or other god who would have great power). As the crew of brothers set towards the goal of finding the daemon that stole Ares' powers to get them restored, Ares must also struggle between his personal desires for Megan and his obligations to his father to protect the underworld from unwelcome intruders. If he regains his fire power, he will never be able to touch Megan again. Can there possibly be a HEA under the circumstances?
I enjoyed getting to learn about this mythical world which is based on Greek mythology. The personal struggles, as well as, world altering circumstances looming in the background led to a sense of heightened suspense as to which direction this story would turn. I also liked that we get a glimpse at some of the struggles of the other brothers, including Valen, the hero of the next book (planned to be released around Valentine's Day 2017).
I can't wait to see how Valen resolves his perceived inability to love as well as to see how these gods continue to protect both the underworld and the mortal one in future books.
Source: Review copy provided for review purposes.