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Greek Myths #2
Shimmering Splendor
A romantic retelling of an ancient Greek myth finds Psyche and Eros struggling against the vengeful goddess Aphrodite to preserve their forbidden love and Psyche's earthly life.
413 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Roberta Gellis
58 books187 followersRoberta Gellis has been one of the most successful writers of historical fiction of the last few decades, having published about 25 meticulously researched historical novels since 1964. She was married to her husband Charles for over 50 years and they lived together in Lafayette, Indiana with a lively Lakeland terrier called Taffy. She has one child called Mark.
Her page at the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
Her page at the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 17, 2013
Psyche was a plain child who grew up to be a breathtakingly beautiful woman. SO stunning, suitors are swarming from every nearby kingdom, all swearing undying love for her, based entirely on her looks. This would seem like a nice problem to have, but the jealousy and rivalry threaten her father Anerios's kingdom, and the poor young woman can't even walk around her own home without being attacked by a would-be lover. Psyche declares she hates Love and Beauty, and Anerios closes the Temple of Aphrodite and forbids sacrifice to her.
As goddesses go, Aphrodite is fairly easy(going), but she can't allow the natives to publicly blow her off. Anerios and his proud daughter must be seen to be punished. She sends her friend Eros to handle it for her.
Eros has long had his own Issues. He, too, had lovers flinging themselves at his feet simply because of his looks, and even for a long-lived Mage, this got old. Then following the takeover of Olympus by Zeus and crew, Eros was punished by having a spell of revulsion set upon him, so that all who looked at him fled as fast as their vomiting would allow. This too has passed, and all that is left is a vast ennui, and a feeling of loyalty/gratitude towards Aphrodite, his one friend among the mages.
Eros's boredom departs when he sees Psyche; he, too, falls in love with her. After giving her father a short-lived but intense spell of unnatural love set upon a wrinkled old sow, Eros decides he will punish Psyche by marrying her to a monster. Himself, wearing a cloak of darkness, but the people of her family don't know this; even Psyche herself doesn't know.
As time passes, Psyche truly falls in love with Eros, posing as Teras, though she has never seen his face. When he seems to doubt her love, she believes if she can find a way to dispel the cloak of darkness, look upon the monster and still embrace him with love, then surely Teras will believe she loves him.
It's an interesting take on the old myth, and the details are fun, like the little boys and girls waiting upon Aphrodite as a source of cherubs. Psyche's family is supportive, yet not without petty jealousy and conflicts, too. The humor is rich; the scenes where Anerios was weeping for love of the sow were hilarious. Psyche is a strong, courageous heroine; Eros an interesting hero, challenged with the problem of having to win the love of a woman for the first time in his long life WITHOUT his looks being a factor.
As goddesses go, Aphrodite is fairly easy(going), but she can't allow the natives to publicly blow her off. Anerios and his proud daughter must be seen to be punished. She sends her friend Eros to handle it for her.
Eros has long had his own Issues. He, too, had lovers flinging themselves at his feet simply because of his looks, and even for a long-lived Mage, this got old. Then following the takeover of Olympus by Zeus and crew, Eros was punished by having a spell of revulsion set upon him, so that all who looked at him fled as fast as their vomiting would allow. This too has passed, and all that is left is a vast ennui, and a feeling of loyalty/gratitude towards Aphrodite, his one friend among the mages.
Eros's boredom departs when he sees Psyche; he, too, falls in love with her. After giving her father a short-lived but intense spell of unnatural love set upon a wrinkled old sow, Eros decides he will punish Psyche by marrying her to a monster. Himself, wearing a cloak of darkness, but the people of her family don't know this; even Psyche herself doesn't know.
As time passes, Psyche truly falls in love with Eros, posing as Teras, though she has never seen his face. When he seems to doubt her love, she believes if she can find a way to dispel the cloak of darkness, look upon the monster and still embrace him with love, then surely Teras will believe she loves him.
It's an interesting take on the old myth, and the details are fun, like the little boys and girls waiting upon Aphrodite as a source of cherubs. Psyche's family is supportive, yet not without petty jealousy and conflicts, too. The humor is rich; the scenes where Anerios was weeping for love of the sow were hilarious. Psyche is a strong, courageous heroine; Eros an interesting hero, challenged with the problem of having to win the love of a woman for the first time in his long life WITHOUT his looks being a factor.
November 1, 2024
the eros and psyche adaptation i never knew i needed. eros threatens to kill himself every thirty seconds which is hysterically funny for reasons i don't feel like sharing in a goodreads review. a great display of the end of the honeymoon phase when most romance novels stop there. both characters are fully fleshed out and compelling voices and there is a plot that i actually cared about beyond their getting together. the author kept referring to psyche's... uh... as "her nether mouth" but i'm not mad about it. the ending implies a sort of strange nonsexual threesomehood with aphrodite that i don't necessarily love but makes sense. i should read more 80s romance novels
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2025
Woof.
Ok, so when my mental health soars, my second chance readings girl boss too close to the sun. I was like "oh, this book isn't bad; I was just in a bad place". And what's worse? That overall rating is so AND I loved this author's take on Hades & Persephone 😭.
It wasn't the story or the romance, but rather it lacked a story telling/emotional elements. Unlike this author's take on H&P, this felt like a like I was reading a cross between a Wiki page and someone's creative writing assignment in a comp 101 class rather than a novel. I really tried, guys. One day I'll find some more E&P variants. Suggestions always welcome 🥰.
Ok, so when my mental health soars, my second chance readings girl boss too close to the sun. I was like "oh, this book isn't bad; I was just in a bad place". And what's worse? That overall rating is so AND I loved this author's take on Hades & Persephone 😭.
It wasn't the story or the romance, but rather it lacked a story telling/emotional elements. Unlike this author's take on H&P, this felt like a like I was reading a cross between a Wiki page and someone's creative writing assignment in a comp 101 class rather than a novel. I really tried, guys. One day I'll find some more E&P variants. Suggestions always welcome 🥰.
May 6, 2026
It was a decent retelling with good smut. I was intrigued by how the book reimagined the trials for Psyche.
March 14, 2015
i have read it over and over
January 26, 2017
Hay cosas muy importantes muy mal llevadas.
October 7, 2018
I love when Roberta Gellis retells the greek myths. Some of the best romance out there.
May 23, 2021
Loved this book. Love Greek mythology. I love her writing.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews