What do you think?
Rate this book
Goddesses #1-3
Goddesses: The Untold Tales
A collection of Greek and Roman myths with a twist.
Book I: Cupid and Psyche
Once there was a king and a queen with three lovely daughters. The youngest, Psyche, was so beautiful, so fair of face and form that she was revered throughout the land, and the people of her kingdom reached out to touch her as she passed. No suitors dared to cross her doorstep. So highly was she worshiped that Psyche was deeply lonely. Her beauty became legend, far and wide, and it was not long before words reached the ears of Venus. Tales of the young princess enraged the jealous goddess, and she made plans to dispose of her. Venus called upon her own daughter, Cupid to do her bidding. It was meant to be a quick mission except Cupid did not expect to find herself entranced by the same passion she inflicted on others.
Book II: HADES
Hades was well-cast to rule over the land of the dead. But what if Hades, the fearsome monarch of the Underworld was, in fact, a goddess? Everyone called her, 'Lord of the Dead' out of mockery since she prefers the company of women. She was considered an isolated and violent immortal, who loathed change and was easily given to a slow black rage like no others. But then everything changed when the dark goddess met the daughter of Demeter, Persephone. Now the tale of Hades and Persephone will be retold with a sprinkle of twists and turns.
Book III: Artemis
Artemis, the beloved daughter of sovereign Zeus and rich-haired Leto, was born through passion and blessed with gifts. She was also the most beautiful among the Olympians. Her whims and desires could change the course of human destiny. No goddess had more freedom and intriguing life than the immortal huntress. With the rest of her chosen Nymphai, though all are lovely, there is no mistaking which one she is. With flowing golden hair and golden limbs, Artemis is alike her twin brother Apollo, a delighter in arrows and the silver bow. She, too, enjoyed the company of beautiful maidens. Though her life was full of adventures and thrills, there are also tragedies.
Book I: Cupid and Psyche
Once there was a king and a queen with three lovely daughters. The youngest, Psyche, was so beautiful, so fair of face and form that she was revered throughout the land, and the people of her kingdom reached out to touch her as she passed. No suitors dared to cross her doorstep. So highly was she worshiped that Psyche was deeply lonely. Her beauty became legend, far and wide, and it was not long before words reached the ears of Venus. Tales of the young princess enraged the jealous goddess, and she made plans to dispose of her. Venus called upon her own daughter, Cupid to do her bidding. It was meant to be a quick mission except Cupid did not expect to find herself entranced by the same passion she inflicted on others.
Book II: HADES
Hades was well-cast to rule over the land of the dead. But what if Hades, the fearsome monarch of the Underworld was, in fact, a goddess? Everyone called her, 'Lord of the Dead' out of mockery since she prefers the company of women. She was considered an isolated and violent immortal, who loathed change and was easily given to a slow black rage like no others. But then everything changed when the dark goddess met the daughter of Demeter, Persephone. Now the tale of Hades and Persephone will be retold with a sprinkle of twists and turns.
Book III: Artemis
Artemis, the beloved daughter of sovereign Zeus and rich-haired Leto, was born through passion and blessed with gifts. She was also the most beautiful among the Olympians. Her whims and desires could change the course of human destiny. No goddess had more freedom and intriguing life than the immortal huntress. With the rest of her chosen Nymphai, though all are lovely, there is no mistaking which one she is. With flowing golden hair and golden limbs, Artemis is alike her twin brother Apollo, a delighter in arrows and the silver bow. She, too, enjoyed the company of beautiful maidens. Though her life was full of adventures and thrills, there are also tragedies.
- GenresFantasyLesbianHistorical
274 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 22, 2017
7 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Svetlana R. Ivanova
16 books276 followersI got into writing novels by a dare. I've always loved reading about strong female characters in books, but it's hard to find LGBT characters, so I decided to take it upon myself to become a wordsmith. My works may not be the most professional or grammatically correct, but I'm not an English major, I just want to share a story. I like to think of myself as a writer version of a mad scientist. I don't stick to one genre as I might or might not have a monkey in my mind. So far, my books are supernatural, science-fiction, fantasy, chicklit, and a bit of dystopian, steampunk, and historical fiction.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 22, 2017
If you are familiar with Greek Mythology you know that all the Gods are jerks. Mortals are just playthings to them, to be used, abused and discarded. So when you read Cupid and Psyche don’t think it will be any different.
Svetlana R. Ivanova tells three stories. The first one is about Cupid and Psyche and it threw me a bit because this is where the author chose to use the Roman equivalents where as I am more familiar with their Greek counterparts.
Psyche, youngest daughter of a King, was so incredibly beautiful that no suiter dared to ask for her hand. Her beauty made her legendary but also incredibly lonely. Aphrodite was not pleased when she found out this mortal was worshipped and admired instead of her, the Goddess of beauty and love. She gets into real bitch mode and tries to make the poor girl’s life a living hell. She sends her daughter Cupid (yes, Cupid is a girl) to deal with it - make her shoot one of her famous arrows and let the unfortunate mortal fall madly in love with whoever (or whatever) she sees first. But that backfires badly. Cupid gets scratched by her own arrow and is the one who grows instantly besotted with the young woman. And she does what any lust stricken Goddess does, she kidnaps the girl and sequesters her in a magical palace. On her own. Lots of wooing ensues, always in invisible form (which clearly confuses poor Psyche… what or who is trying to get into my panties?!).
But deities always get their way and so does Cupid. And when Cupid wants to make Psyche her baby mama even though she lacks a certain tool, she is a powerful Goddess so she can make it happen. But then it all goes off the rails when Psyche accidently sees Cupid (who was so tired from baby making that she forgot her cloaking device). Cupid is enraged and kicks poor Psyche, who is pregnant, to the curb, magics the palace, food and invisible servants gone and sulks off. Aphrodite, now in super bitch mode and blaming it all on Psyche, steps it up a notch and hounds the poor girl up and down the country. As you know I am not spoiling the end, so you will have to read the book if you want to know how it goes on ;-)
Same theme for the story of Hades (also a Goddess in this tale) and Persephone. When Hades sees the lovely goddess of Spring she is in instant lust and has to have her. So she kidnaps the poor girl and takes her to the underworld. Persephone's mommy Demeter falls into an instant funk about the loss of her daughter and goes on strike. Because she is the Earth Goddess and mistress of everything that grows that's kind of problematic. So the first ever winter occurs and man and beast are suffering, including poor Persephone, who really doesn’t want to be in the realm of the dead. Hades is determent to give her new queen anything she desires to make her happy. Will Persephone come around or will we all starve to death before that happens?
And last we have the story of Artemis and Callisto. We get to know about the origin story of Artemis. How her mother, the Titan’s daughter Leto, falls victim to rapey Zeus in the guise of a bird and then meets the wrath of petty Hera. Leto flees to Delos and births the twins, the godly Artemis and her twin brother Apollo. They grow up within a week (it’s a god thing) and Artemis pays daddy Zeus a visit with a long list of wishes, which she gets granted. She sets off into the woods and hunts all day, surrounded by 60 nymphs who tend to her and sing her praises (it’s a god thing). She goes on many adventures. Then she lays eyes upon the lovely Callisto and (yes, you know the drill by now)… has to have her. They fool around and are happy, but then Zeus has to be a dick and (disguising himself as Artemis) has sex with his own daughter’s girlfriend (!) who has no idea that the asshole is impregnating her. Artemis kicks her out into the elements (it’s a god thing). Hera (remember her?) is no fan of Artemis and vindictively changes Callisto into a bear so she can be hunted. Ugh!
The book is written in a flowery language, a bit like the old myths are traditionally told. Instead of Persephone saying to Hades “hey honey, let’s get busy”, you will read “Hades, my full heart urges me boldly to share the marriage bed with you this very night.” I think it suits the stories though.
In short, if you are blessed with extraordinary beauty you are basically fucked. It’s better to be plain.
f/f and also Zeus can’t keep his hands to himself
Themes: apparently Gods are filled with golden ichor, all the gods are basically dicks… , Aphrodite is a jealous bitch, Zeus is a horny rapist, Hera is a vindictive cunt, Cupid is a spoiled child, Artemis is an entitled bore with a penchant for young nymphs, Psyche is fucked, Persephone is fucked and Callisto is truly fucked, don’t read this book to lift your spirits.
4 stars
Svetlana R. Ivanova tells three stories. The first one is about Cupid and Psyche and it threw me a bit because this is where the author chose to use the Roman equivalents where as I am more familiar with their Greek counterparts.
Psyche, youngest daughter of a King, was so incredibly beautiful that no suiter dared to ask for her hand. Her beauty made her legendary but also incredibly lonely. Aphrodite was not pleased when she found out this mortal was worshipped and admired instead of her, the Goddess of beauty and love. She gets into real bitch mode and tries to make the poor girl’s life a living hell. She sends her daughter Cupid (yes, Cupid is a girl) to deal with it - make her shoot one of her famous arrows and let the unfortunate mortal fall madly in love with whoever (or whatever) she sees first. But that backfires badly. Cupid gets scratched by her own arrow and is the one who grows instantly besotted with the young woman. And she does what any lust stricken Goddess does, she kidnaps the girl and sequesters her in a magical palace. On her own. Lots of wooing ensues, always in invisible form (which clearly confuses poor Psyche… what or who is trying to get into my panties?!).
But deities always get their way and so does Cupid. And when Cupid wants to make Psyche her baby mama even though she lacks a certain tool, she is a powerful Goddess so she can make it happen. But then it all goes off the rails when Psyche accidently sees Cupid (who was so tired from baby making that she forgot her cloaking device). Cupid is enraged and kicks poor Psyche, who is pregnant, to the curb, magics the palace, food and invisible servants gone and sulks off. Aphrodite, now in super bitch mode and blaming it all on Psyche, steps it up a notch and hounds the poor girl up and down the country. As you know I am not spoiling the end, so you will have to read the book if you want to know how it goes on ;-)
Same theme for the story of Hades (also a Goddess in this tale) and Persephone. When Hades sees the lovely goddess of Spring she is in instant lust and has to have her. So she kidnaps the poor girl and takes her to the underworld. Persephone's mommy Demeter falls into an instant funk about the loss of her daughter and goes on strike. Because she is the Earth Goddess and mistress of everything that grows that's kind of problematic. So the first ever winter occurs and man and beast are suffering, including poor Persephone, who really doesn’t want to be in the realm of the dead. Hades is determent to give her new queen anything she desires to make her happy. Will Persephone come around or will we all starve to death before that happens?
And last we have the story of Artemis and Callisto. We get to know about the origin story of Artemis. How her mother, the Titan’s daughter Leto, falls victim to rapey Zeus in the guise of a bird and then meets the wrath of petty Hera. Leto flees to Delos and births the twins, the godly Artemis and her twin brother Apollo. They grow up within a week (it’s a god thing) and Artemis pays daddy Zeus a visit with a long list of wishes, which she gets granted. She sets off into the woods and hunts all day, surrounded by 60 nymphs who tend to her and sing her praises (it’s a god thing). She goes on many adventures. Then she lays eyes upon the lovely Callisto and (yes, you know the drill by now)… has to have her. They fool around and are happy, but then Zeus has to be a dick and (disguising himself as Artemis) has sex with his own daughter’s girlfriend (!) who has no idea that the asshole is impregnating her. Artemis kicks her out into the elements (it’s a god thing). Hera (remember her?) is no fan of Artemis and vindictively changes Callisto into a bear so she can be hunted. Ugh!
The book is written in a flowery language, a bit like the old myths are traditionally told. Instead of Persephone saying to Hades “hey honey, let’s get busy”, you will read “Hades, my full heart urges me boldly to share the marriage bed with you this very night.” I think it suits the stories though.
In short, if you are blessed with extraordinary beauty you are basically fucked. It’s better to be plain.
f/f and also Zeus can’t keep his hands to himself
Themes: apparently Gods are filled with golden ichor, all the gods are basically dicks… , Aphrodite is a jealous bitch, Zeus is a horny rapist, Hera is a vindictive cunt, Cupid is a spoiled child, Artemis is an entitled bore with a penchant for young nymphs, Psyche is fucked, Persephone is fucked and Callisto is truly fucked, don’t read this book to lift your spirits.
4 stars
June 11, 2023
Break my heart, won't you?
All these Greek people and sadness. Now all was good, but that Artemis story, my god, rip my heart out and step on it repeatedly. That was really good writing, my heart.
All these Greek people and sadness. Now all was good, but that Artemis story, my god, rip my heart out and step on it repeatedly. That was really good writing, my heart.
January 10, 2018
I literally had the best time reading this book during Christmas. It was so captivating. The language and the plots reflected the classic tale very well. I loved the poetic prose and the imagery expressions the author used in this story. We got a glimpse into the famous Greek myth better even though it's a lesbian retelling. The storyline stayed almost true to the original but there's so much more. The emotions and the settings are just well described. I'm so glad I found this author. All of her books never disappoints me. Her other two stories, Hades and Artemis are even more powerful. I have read them before, but I still enjoyed reading them again. Such a great work.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews