The Happiness Collector

by Crystal King

In this stunning contemporary fantasy novel for fans of V. E. Schwab and Kaliane Bradley, a historian’s dream job in Italy takes a dark turn when she discovers her employers aren’t exactly human…

After losing her book deal and her academic position, historian Aida Reale needs a new career, and fast. After all, she and her fiancé, Graham, have a wedding to pay for. So when a friend recommends her for an extremely high-paying position at a company called MODA, it’s almost too good to be true. Plus, she’ll get to live in Italy, in a gorgeous palazzo!

Aside from a snooty assistant, a daunting NDA and some very stringent rules about the use of personal technology, working for MODA is a dream come true—at least at first. But the more research Aida conducts for this elusive company, the more things feel off. Not only does her relationship with Graham suffer, but it seems like every site she visits either vanishes or is struck by tragedy soon after she’s been there.

It’s only after a mysterious woman approaches Aida and Luciano, her devastatingly handsome and equally concerned MODA colleague, that they learn the truth—they are just mortal pawns in a game between gods. Now Aida must find answers to the question she's been avoiding: What's really happening to all the happiness she's been collecting…and can she stop the gods’ plans before it’s too late?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Adult, Audiobook, Italy

Audible Audio

First published December 2, 2025

About the author

Crystal King is the bestselling author of THE CHEF'S SECRET, FEAST OF SORROW and the upcoming novel IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS (Sep 2024). A culinary enthusiast and social media professional, her writing is fueled by a love of history and a passion for the food, language and culture of Italy. She has taught classes in writing, creativity and social media at Harvard Extension School, Boston University, Mass College of Art, UMass Boston and GrubStreet, one of the leading creative writing centers in the US. A Pushcart-nominated poet and former co-editor of the online literary arts journal Plum Ruby Review, Crystal received her M.A. in Critical and Creative Thinking from UMass Boston, where she developed a series of exercises and writing prompts to help fiction writers in medias res. She resides in Boston.

Reviews

[Tracy Telle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love fiction intertwined with mythology, and love creative storytelling. This was both and the audiobook was done well. Extra points for introducing me to new mythologies.

[Crystal King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so thrilled to see this little labor of love out in the world! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

[Jennifer S. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t remember the last time I read such an original novel. Aida has lost her book contract and her teaching job, just when she needs the money to help pay for her wedding to Graham. The mysterious MODA offers her a dream job in Italy, and she decides to take it because the money is too good to refuse. She’ll be going to famous spots to record the beauty, the history, and most importantly, the happiness each place provides.

This happiness collection, however, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and there are worrisome developments in the world. Aida is disturbed by changes and odd memory lapses. What in god’s name is happening? Or rather, what in the gods’ names is happening? Turns out some Roman gods are behaving badly, stirring things up, and Aida has to figure out exactly what they are doing and why.

Aida is an incredible heroine and the details of the locations she visits are gorgeously rendered. The novel focuses on lesser well known gods, which I found fascinating. King manages to weave in information about the gods so smoothly that it wasn’t until I was done reading that I realized how much I’d learned. Covid is also a pivotal plot point, in a completely unexpected way.

This book was engrossing and magical, a book I couldn’t put down. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

[RoosBookReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be so unique and intriguing. The idea of happiness being collected and stored away from people, hoarded like a resource is fascinating. How could anyone, God or man, find a way to take so many places out of the collective consciousness? The characters in this were very fun, though the romance between the lead and her boyfriend felt forced. I also found the book to be far too long, the timeline dragged. The book takes place over years, when it could easily have been set in a year and had the same impact. I liked the author's use of the pandemic to further the misery forced upon humanity, it found that to be very clever.
Great narrator-very clear and distinct voices and sound quality was consistent despite this book being about 15 hours.

thank you to NetGalley, the author Crystal King, and Harlequin audio for my ARC of this audiobook.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for early copy for review*

This really disappointed me. The opening chapter was so intriguing only to be followed by entire part that was boring. The introduction to the gods storyline amped up the intrigue again only to have the timeline align with the pandemic which brought the whole story down for me. I overcame that because the ending was approaching only to have one of the most unremarkable endings I have read in ages. I feel like I wasted my time. The fact that this has such a slow start (after the great first chapter) was already disappointing, but to have a dull ending. Unforgivable.

Also if you enjoy romance in your books then look somewhere else, because what becomes the couple in this conduct electricity like rubber.

The audiobook narrator did fine and held my attention long enough to finish this. One of the gods voices were not my favorite, but I also did not like the lines he was saying either.

[Alyssa Palombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has such an original concept, one of the most original I've seen lately. A historian hired for an unusual job cataloguing important sites and artifacts in Rome learns that she's a pawn in a game between the ancient gods and, well - things get crazy. Woven into the tense and exciting story are lots of great tidbits about historical places and artwork, making this a perfect armchair travel book. And one of the great strengths of this novel is how well King mapped the conflict at the center of the plot onto today's world, and namely the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. A truly innovative and page-turning fantasy that is not to be missed!

[Read.With.Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Aida is approached by a mysterious company offering her a dream job in Italy, it seems too good to be true. But with no job and a wedding to pay for, she and her fiancé decide to take the chance.

At first, it is everything she hoped for. Luxury living, breathtaking travel, and a fresh start. But soon her relationship begins to strain and the beautiful destinations she visits start to vanish without explanation. As Aida questions what her role truly is, she uncovers a startling truth: she is a pawn in a game played by gods.

Now Aida and her charming colleague must race against time to uncover the company’s secrets or risk losing not only their own happiness but the happiness of the entire world.

I love Greek mythology and have really enjoyed the wave of retellings in recent years. However, with the market becoming as oversaturated as it has, a truly new idea feels like a gift.

The premise and plot here start out as exactly that. Even with a pretty bland and dry writing style, the story and the deities kept me going. By the middle of part two, it felt like everything was building toward an exciting and satisfying finish. I could feel the tension rising and I was ready for the payoff.

Then part three hit and the story took a turn I did not expect. All the potential just fell apart.
It is the literary equivalent of ordering a decadent dessert only to discover it has no flavor. You can see what it should be, but it never delivers on its promise. I wanted a story to savor and instead I was left hungry for something more satisfying.

If Greek mythology is your jam, this might still be worth the journey. Just be ready for a very slow ride. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️

The Happiness Collector initially starts as an engaged Aida starting a new job in Rome. Everything is going great, but then she finds out that she is collecting happiness for gods that want to destroy happiness!

This was a fine read! I was totally bored the first half, but once Aida met Sophie and Luciano, I was hooked. The romance in this book was sweet and not too in your face. I liked being in Aida’s head! She’s fierce, but she also has flaws. I wish I knew more about her or even the side characters. The depth of the characters was lacking. But the writing was nice, and the setting was great. The author’s descriptions put me right into Rome.

Thanks to The Hive and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for a review.

[Joanna Korolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big thank you to Netgalley and Mira Books for the ARC of The Happiness Collector! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Its unique dive into the world of lesser-known Greek gods resonated deeply with me as a Greek. What truly stood out was Crystal King's exquisite ability to transport me directly to Italy with her vivid descriptions.

[CiCi | bookameme · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was creative and well written but extremely dry. The characters were reminiscent of Ali Hazelwood’s because they were intellectuals in pursuit of love and happiness. It just felt like there was a lot of unnecessary information here.

🎙️: I enjoyed the narrator, a solid 4/5

Urban Fantasy
Greek Gods in the Modern World
Found Family
Italian History
Minor Romance Plot

❌🌶️ one steamy scene and 1 semi explicit word in love scene, otherwise it was practically clean

[Molly Greeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I pick up a Crystal King book, I am astonished by the ingenuity of her premises. THE HAPPINESS COLLECTOR is no exception, weaving mythological figures seamlessly into a modern narrative, tackling Covid in a completely unexpected way, and all the while exploring the question of what it truly means to be happy. I was transported from the first sentence to the last.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to net Allie and Mia for the ARC!

Please excuse any errors in this review. I am using voice to text on my phone.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. A author down on her luck and searching for a job gets offered the opportunity of a lifetime to work in Italy with a high paying job. Obviously it seems too good to be true which to no one surprised it is.

I did enjoy this book, especially for the characterization of Ida and the very real essence of what it’s like to be a struggling author/person, especially in this economy. I also think a lot of the things that she went through with Graham and Erin we’re very real and valid reaction/responses and I appreciate that these characters weren’t one dimensional

The one thing I will say is that the total shift of this book was a bit too jarring for me. I think the premise of being in under the control of gods in a game is very interesting and I think the aspect of a disease wiping out the human race Under the whim and power of some omnipotent beings is very interesting. However, I think the total shift from the start of this book to the latter part of this book was a bit too stark for me, and I had a hard time really believing the magical elements of this world.

Also, I just think that the lack of accountability that Graham and/or Erin had for how they treated Ada was really underwhelming. I think the point of Graham as a character is that he is meant to be the archetype of the two-faced fiancé who seems like they really care about the well-being of their student to be spouse, but it’s pretty clear that there’s other intentions behind what they say. Of course also Graham’s family is the cartoonishly snooty looks down on our main character rich vibe that we only see for some reason for the first hundred pages of this book and then they’re just never mentioned again which I think was a little weird given that a huge part of a good chunk of the first book was The conflict with Graham’s family and Ada. I just genuinely think that the way Graham handled the situation was gross. I don’t like that Erin also seemingly by the end of this book got away scot-free granted she did pass away from this inevitable disease that was wiping out the entire human race, and I think that the premise and understanding of our people redeemable for unforgivable or arguably unforgivable things is interesting in theory However, the fact that in the majority of the time in which Ada catches Graham and Erin together, Graham is the one who takes the fall for basically everything true he’s her fiancé but also Erin is Ada‘s supposed oldest and closest friend. And I just felt like that The impact in which Ada is struggling with that should I forgive Erin just didn’t have or pack as much of a punch for me just because Erin didn’t really say or do anything to try to pair any semblance of the relationship she had with Ada and I think that just also made me lose more interest in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed it and I definitely think that this is a very intriguing premise, and I would love to read more from this author.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the beginning of the book, Aida is a historian working in Boston, who loses her contract for her upcoming book when her publisher abruptly folds. Fortunately, a friend of a friend sends her a mysterious job offer almost immediately. Her new assignment will send her to Rome, where she’ll be reviewing beautiful art and cultural treasures, and reporting on their happiness levels. Also, it’s a highly paid job, where she can live in an Italian palazzo with a private chef, even if there’s an unfriendly assistant and loads of secrecy involved.

I always love the cloak-and-dagger of a perfect, mysterious job offer. Plus, everyone at this secretive, well funded company has a cool mythological name. We’re not talking Sirius the dog and Remus Lupin the wolf, these names are deep cuts for people who once majored in classics. (Me.)

Aida’s new job is a dream, she visits artistic and historical treasures to notice and record their how happy they make people, and why specifically these things make people feel happiness. The new job has some weird rules about secrecy, but whatever, she’s also making huge piles of money to live the historian dream life in Rome.

As Aida completes her assignments, she starts to notice something that is a bit disturbing, and without revealing the story exactly, she and her friends are caught up in a battle between the gods. I loved how this played out, showing how the gods have immense powers, but they’re still bound by certain rules. I don’t want to reveal too much here, because it’s fun to discover it along with Aida.

The pacing turns weirdly slow for a bit here. I don’t know if this is the pandemic vibes, because this part was set during lockdown, but I felt like there was a too-long period after Aida and her friends knew what was wrong while saying to each other that they’ll have to take action. I loved Aida’s ride-or-die bestie, and the secondary characters in the palazzo, but I just wanted the story to move on! And the payoff is solid, after that slow section.

The Happiness Collector was a great Roman adventure, with the ancient gods messing with modern humans, and a fun ride through classical and renaissance art. I don’t really know all that much about the renaissance artists mentioned, but I imagine there are the same kinds of clever, scene-setting references for art history majors as there are for classics majors.

[Chelsea]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

The Happiness Collector by Crystal King is a third person-POV speculative novel. Aida is engaged to be married and is getting ready to start her new life when she gets a job offer from a company called MODA, which asks her to catalogue happiness at various historical and artistic sites in Italy. But things start to feel off and the renewal contract feels more like a trap than a job opportunity as Aida’s life is thrown completely out of balance.

Like Crystal King’s first book, this feels more speculative to me rather than fantasy. There's paranormal elements, yes, but she writes them in a way that very gradually introduces the fantastical and doesn't integrate them in a way I expect of an urban fantasy or a contemporary fantasy. If a book is a fantasy, I expect the fantasy to hit me within two or three chapters, not to be some big reveal more than 40% in. I also wouldn't call this urban fantasy because it's missing the grit and paranormal feel the subgenre is known for. It's hard to classify something that feels like it's taking a bunch of different elements and puts them in a blender and then refuses classification because the term that feels most apt, in this case ‘speculative,’ carries different connotations that the book also does not match. For me, this isn't fantasy, it's something else, but I'm only guessing at what to actually call it.

Once we get to the part where the fantasy is actually introduced, it feels like the story actually starts and everything before was building up to that moment. This intersects with the fact the book starts before COVID and actually does partially take place during the pandemic once we reach the 70% point. It's not a COVID book, but it is a book mostly set in Italy around that time period so it does impact the narration and plot.

The pacing is on the slower side and the narration feels quite character-driven as opposed to the plot-driven blurb. This felt even more character-driven than Crystal King’s debut and almost borderline what I would expect of a literary novel, not a fantasy.

I would recommend this to fans of literary fiction or book club books who want something with lighter fantasy elements

[Krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and MIRA for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

3.5

Aida is a historian focusing on Roman and Italian culture. She has just lost her book deal for her academic work, and her job as a professor has also been cut and she has no source of income. She has an upcoming wedding where she will marry her fiancé Graham but with no income how will she contribute her part. On Christmas Eve she gets a mysterious envelope on her doorstep with no return address just instructions to attending a meeting that will solve her job troubles. An old friend from Rome gives her a heads up that he recommended her for a job with a very wealthy organization that needs her specific skill set. MODA is offering her over $100K for a 3 month probationary contract for her to record specific historical objects, events and places all expanses paid in Italy.

She takes the contract with no plan to extend past the 3 months but she falls in love with her work and Graham makes mistakes leaving her with nothing to come back home to Boston for. Soon she will start to realize her employers are keeping a lot of secrets and the work she is doing is for a purpose far more nefarious than she could have ever imagined.

This book was absolutely fascinating. I love me a story featuring gods and them playing around with humanity. The premise was unlike anything I have ever read and was so intriguing I didn’t want to put down this book. There were some plot points that I feel were distracting and unnecessary to the story and it hindered some of my enjoyment. Erin was a character I felt could have been left out, her later involvement was completely unneeded. The ending felt a bit rushed but over all the author put out quite a good novel.

[Teague Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am heartbroken. I was so looking forward to this because I love King, and the first half of this book is her typical masterful combo of thrilling, heartfelt, and mysterious. I was intrigued, I was entertained, I was moved. I was happy with the creative premise, the beautiful characters, and the Italian setting--all hallmarks of King's work. I was especially delighted that she'd worked in Aida as a sort of fantastical self-insert. A woman who writes about Italy uses her vast knowledge to write creative works of fiction rooted in history, and she gets not one but TWO of her dream jobs! Fun!

Then this became half amateur hacker/sleuth story, half soap opera of the gods, and the two aesthetics did not mesh well. Suddenly I was reading weird Da Vinci Code fan fic. The stakes didn't feel real, the character development of Mo felt particularly aimless, the story was no longer tight, and the whole "meander"/Hephaestus tech/phone tracking/key developing/upload hacking/catacombs breakout mission was mis-paced, awkward, and dissatisfying. The middle was languorous while the last 25 pages were immensely rushed...I didn't dig it all. I wish I could have read the ending which the first half of the book promised, because it felt like I read two completely different halves that got shuffled with their matching pieces. 

King is still on my list because In The Garden of Monsters and The Chef's Secret are phenomenal. This one missed the mark, but I will continue to read her work.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel about the places and things that make us happy... and what we must do when forces try to take away our happiness. In this envisioning, the author invokes the gods in our modern-day settings. A researcher of Italian history is offered her dream job just when her book deal falls through and she needs to earn money for her upcoming wedding. It's an offer she can't refuse because it was tailor-made for her skills. Yet when bad things start happening to the places she has researched, she begins to suspect there are forces at work using her for their nefarious plans. The multi-narrator audiobook is well-voiced and, while not believable, the story is fun and engaging as these 30-something characters roam NY, London, and Italy via private jets and chauffeured limos.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @HarlequinAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #TheHappinessCollector for review purposes. Publication date: 2 December 2025.

[Alice Frati · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my! This novel is so good! I loved it. Aida is offered a high-paying job from a company called MODA, but it is in Italy. They’ll pay room and board and a lucrative salary for her to catalog art across the country, specifically how it brings happiness. However, Aida cannot divulge anything about what she is doing or anything about the company. She is on constant surveillance. She soon realizes something is not right. But what is it? Weird things are happening. A museum she just visited lost funds and must shut down. A earthquake destroyed a church she catalogued. Aida and her friends must figure out what is happening or Italy’s treasures will be lost. This novel pulls you in and doesn’t let you go! Definitely a good read!

[DarkPlotsAndLipGloss (Carlie) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pros:
-I really liked the narrator. She did an amazing job.
-the first chapter of the book had me hooked. I thought, yes, this is what I've been missing this is about to get so good.

Cons:
-the rest of the book.


Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the audiobook version of this from netgalley. This was definitely a little different than I expected, but in a good way. At first, I got a little annoyed at the character names, but then I appreciated them once I knew a little bit more about the story. there was a line that Moe said early on in the story that gave it all away for me. very ahead of where the story took that turn. there were some things that surprised me, and quite a bit of the book that I enjoyed. I know this is petty, but it made me crazy that the narrator accented shell when she was talking about the hatch shell in Boston. being a person from Boston and a musician, it just irked me. I would definitely read more from this author.

[Carrie King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, creative, intelligent and unique!

[Kai Kokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5
I absolutely loved the premise of this book and is one of the most unique ways I’ve seen Greek Mythology worked into a modern day novel.
Here is a quick glimpse to the premise “Aside from a snooty assistant, a daunting NDA and some very stringent rules about the use of personal technology, working for MODA is a dream come true—at least at first. But the more research Aida conducts for this elusive company, the more things feel off. Not only does her relationship with Graham suffer, but it seems like every site she visits either vanishes or is struck by tragedy soon after she’s been there.”
I was kept on my toes for a majority of the book and really enjoyed the characters, I felt like there were moments that we could’ve dove deeper into the characters and their pasts or met some of Aida’s other colleagues to find out more about them. Literally in my notes I have “story is better than the characters”. It didn’t really knock any points off though.
I have a few unanswered questions, which like are answered but not at the same time I want to know more.
The book is separated in parts and it definitely picks up around part two, the pacing is good though it just had a little bit of a slow start. Now one of the only things I wish was different was I wish there was more direct danger, there was a looming sense of danger but not too much happened until the climax of the book. I kinda wish there were more ‘repercussions’ of Aida and her friends' actions (even though I was all for their mission).
The ending of this book was everything that it needed to be, I have very little opinions on the ending. I also need to dive into Greek Mythology after reading this, there are a lot of names I have never heard about.

[Tori Boudreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for letting me read this ARC 💫. As a fan of fiction inspired by Greek mythology, this book was right up my alley!

What stood out most was its unique concept—reimagining the emotional toll of the COVID era as part of a fantastical storyline. While I appreciated how accurately it captured the sense of joy being drained from the world, I found the idea of turning that experience into a game played by the gods a bit unsettling, especially given how personally difficult that time was for me.

I did, however, enjoy the focus on lesser-known Greek deities like Euphrosyne, Sophrosyne, Momus, and Oizys, rather than the usual Zeus or Hades. It gave the story a fresh angle that mythology lovers might really appreciate.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy mythological retellings with a contemporary twist. Just be aware that its themes may hit close to home if the pandemic period was particularly hard for you ⚠️

[Will Swardstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept behind Crystal King’s The Happiness Collector is intriguing and kept me reading even as the book meandered through its plot based in Greek and Roman Mythology pulled out of time and placed in the way of modern-day events. Overall, it isn’t the most original -- think Percy Jackson for middle grade and young adult readers and many reimaginings of Greek myths in literary fiction over the last couple of decades. However, King highlights some of the lesser-known deities from the Greek Pantheon, showcasing an innate knowledge of the ancient legends.

Our main character, Aida, is at a low point in life when she’s offered a lucrative job halfway across the world in Rome, researching classical locations under the guise of discovering the “happiness” of each of them. But, of course, as a reader, we all know that it has to be too good to be true. The history teacher in me enjoyed the research and the dabbling into ancient time eras, but ultimately I struggled when the book didn’t get to the main plotline until about halfway through the book. By that point, I started having more issues with the time period.

When I first noticed that the book was initially set in the year 2019, I thought it was clever to keep it set in the modern day without getting into the messiness of Covid-19 and the Global Pandemic. I understand that books will need to tap into that time period and tell stories from it, but for me, it still feels almost too soon for some of it. So, you can imagine my disappointment when the third act of the book takes place almost completely in the heaviness of the pandemic from 2020 to 2022. I could see the appeal of setting this story in that time period and building the plot around it and using it as a plot point, but for me, it didn’t really work. Maybe in a decade or so, I’ll feel differently about it, but for now, maybe I’m still just too close to it.

The Happiness Collector just didn’t quite work for me, even as I liked Aida as a main character. It was just too obvious there was something more sinister happening without letting the audience in on the secret…and then once that happened, the action didn’t progress fast enough for my taste. I really enjoyed the Greek Mythology angle and advancing the Pantheon into the 21st century and think there was a lot that did work about King’s novel.

[♡Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Happiness Collector, the thought-provoking new novel by Crystal King, is a powerful exploration of how happiness—through art, beauty, architecture, imagination, history and more—enriches and enhances human existence, and the devastation that would surely be wrought if it were stolen from our lives. This brilliant, haunting contemporary fantasy is thrilling, chilling and thoroughly original.

Ms. King presents a stunning and compelling argument that draining and destroying happiness, and therefore hope, from the world leads to fascism, authoritarianism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia and basically all humanity’s potential ugliness. But humankind also possesses the intellect, resilience, free will and resourcefulness to combat that malevolence and we must be willing to wield it like a beacon in the darkness.

As the extremely intelligent, fierce and sympathetic protagonist Aida slowly realizes her dream job may be much more consequential and destructive than she could ever have imagined, she and her motley crew try to outwit and outplay the gods themselves. At times fast-paced and exciting, the narrative could also get bogged down by the sheer volume of detail. While the vastly well-researched knowledge of mythology, culture and history was often interesting, it could also be too dense. I feel the story would have benefited from some judicial editing. That said, overall, it’s a compelling, intriguing and quite entertaining modern fantasy.

The novel builds with an ever-encroaching dread that culminated in the covid pandemic horror we all remember too well. It’s fascinating how the fear, confusion and panic I still feel emotionally and mentally fold right into the narrative. The desperate fight for hope, love and beauty in the climax is frightening, exciting and breathtaking.

I’ll be thinking about the themes in this novel for a long time, especially given the collective despair many of us are suffering in 2025. We all urgently need hope right now.

TL;DR: I thoroughly enjoyed this captivating novel and highly recommend it.

Massive thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA and NetGalley for the chance to read an ARC. This is my honest, unbiased review.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to MIRA & Harlequin Trade publishing for the eARC via NetGalley.

This was an interesting book, a mix of academia/thriller/mystery with a hint of romance. I liked the premise of collecting happiness across the world for a mysterious organization, and some sort of involvement of various gods from the Greek/Roman pantheons, and once you get into the story, its intriguing. You've got a bit of historical fact, some magical realism/fantasy, and a race against time to have our main characters get to the bottom of whatever is going on. It was also clever how the author took real world events and mixed them in with fictional ones, to make the setting of this story seem more lifelike and real.

But I did have issues getting into the book in the first place. There are a few places where the story just kind of slows way down and plods along with not many interesting happenings going on, and I felt like there was a lot of that in the first third of this book. I almost wonder if it would have been better off starting with Aida's first quarterly check-in with MODA, and delivering much of her backstory as flashbacks instead of guiding the reader through from the very beginning.

However, once I got through that first third, the story really started to pick up and you start seeing the evidence of things being a bit off, and the book finally grabbed my attention and got me invested in learning what happens.

The other issue I had with the book was that the writing felt a bit lackluster to me, and not as engaging as it could have been. I found myself wishing for a bit more clarity at times, as well as for the story to really keep up the pace it had gotten to instead of slowing back down at times, particularly once we get to a specific real world event that is involved in the plot. I do also wish the characters had more substance to them, but maybe that was because there were quite a few of them to keep track of, between the main characters and various MODA employees and the gods.

Overall it was a good read, if not quite what I was expecting.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 🌟
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and Harlequin Audio for providing this ARC and Audiobook!
First off, I want to say that this book was a really interesting and unique take on a mythology story. Mythological gods are involved in the world’s happiness, and our FMC is trying to stop their interference. 


📖 The book is mainly set in Italy, and the descriptions of the setting and Italian culture were really rich. I always enjoy when an author takes time to make readers feel as if they’re actually in the country a book is set in. You can tell a lot of care went into that aspect of the book. The story also included lesser known gods and goddesses, which was really cool! 

I was pretty invested at first, but the story started losing me. The main problem was pacing, which felt way too slow considering the high stakes plot line. The entire first act (and a lot of the second act) is all about Aida getting involved at MODA and noticing the strange things happening to places she documents. This is great, except we’re already told what’s happening to these places and why in the book’s blurb. Because of this, the book starts to feel really drawn out because nothing is happening to actually move the story forward into unknown territory. It felt like a repeat of the same event over and over without any real progression. If act 1 was condensed, this would have been a way more enjoyable story! Side note, but I also didn’t enjoy how a lot of act 3 centred around a recent world event. 

Another main issue for me was the romance subplot, which felt way too sudden. A slower burn romance would work better for a story like this. The connection between the characters felt forced and underdeveloped, making the romance feel unnecessary and surface-level. At times, it felt like it distracted from the main plot. I honestly wish it was kept out.

🎧 I enjoyed Jennifer Jill Araya’s narration and felt that it really enhanced my experience with the book. Jennifer does many different voices and accents, which made me more immersed in the story!

[Ann Schwarz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was strange and unique and it drew me in from the first page. The prologue gives you just a hint that something supernatural is at play here. But from there we're moved forward to the recent present just before the Covid pandemic. Aida, the main character is happily engaged and seems to have a wonderful life in store. But her professional life is stalled and after losing her book deal when the publisher she was contracted with unexpectedly folds, things are not looking good for her to find another academic position as a historian. However, a mysterious note is left on her doorstep soon after, requesting she meet a reclusive billionaire for an interview for a job in Rome, Italy that exactly meets Aida's qualifications as an expert in Italian history. Leery of this being a scam, a call from a friend in Rome convinces Aida that the unusual offer might just be legitimate. It turns out that the job is real and more than Aida could have dreamed.

The thread of the story from there continues to be mysterious and strange. I found Aida to be a clever and engaging character and the mystery, which involves lesser known gods and their plot to collect happiness, kept me reading to figure out what the heck was going on. King also wove in the pandemic throughout the book and tied it to Aida's job as a happiness collector as well, making the fear and uncertainty that plagues Aida and her friends as they fight to save the world, real and compelling. I felt like I learned something more about Roman mythology after reading this book and I appreciated how well all the threads eventually come together at the end in a very tense climax. This is a novel I won't soon forget.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mira Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Jacquelyn Dohoney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was interesting. There was a lot to like about it. The writing was beautiful and the author clearly did her homework on all of the locations. I’ve been to some of them myself, so it was really cool to be able to picture Aida doing her research as if it were really happening. But therein lies a lot of the issues that I had with this book. It took me FOREVER to get through it. The author spent so much time describing the places Aida went that it took over the first 50% or so of the book, which drastically slowed down the pace of the book. I almost DNF’ed it so many times, but I hung in thinking there was something I was missing based on the other reviews. But this was beyond slow. I can see a lot of people burning out on the beautiful descriptions just waiting for something to happen. When things finally did start kicking off, aside from one single incident involving Aida and someone I won’t name, it wasn’t until maybe 60% of the book. It got to the point where the scenes were frustratingly repetitive. I kept looking at the time until I finished the book, and that it couldn’t possibly be that much longer. At that point I had already invested too much time and finished it out of spite. I also wasn’t too fond of the narrator. She sounded way too young, and I had a hard time thinking she was narrating a thirty-four-year-old woman’s story. Don’t get me wrong. I think the author is a great writer. But this book was about four hours too long. The ending was good though, and it was interesting to learn about some of the lesser gods who don’t get too much time on paper, so to speak.

Huge thanks to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

[Mal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced reader copy

*Spoilers ahead*

When Aida gets a job offer from a mysterious company called MODA, that wants to capitalize on her background as a historian, she wonders if the whole thing is too good to be true. But when she's whisked off to Rome to live in a fabulous palazzo, gets the chance to spend her days doing the kind of research she loves, and gets paid a life-changing amount of money, she's willing to overlook how strange the employees of the company are and how much they monitor her. But eventually, she realizes that things around her are changing--literally and figuratively--and she must decide how far she's willing to go to get what she thinks could be her happy ending.

The premise of the book was interesting--a woman gets hired to be a "happiness collector" by traveling around Italy to record the ways that the architecture and art spark happiness--but the writing felt flimsy. The characters were very flat, including Aida, and many of the plot points didn't feel organic to the story but rather felt like things the author put into play in order to get things to happen that they wanted to happen. The fact that Aida leaves for Rome and almost immediately finds out that her fiance is cheating on her with her best friend was treated very casually and she's able to get over it entirely too fast. And the addition of the gods being involved in a war for happiness was intriguing but the pace of the book was so slow that there was little excitement in the moment that Aida meets one. For people who really like Greek mythology, this could be an interesting read--just don't expect a fast-paced one.

The Happiness Collector is out December 2, 2025