To Hell With Love

by Sherri Browning Erwin

"You like to sin, Kate?" When Boston interior designer Kate Markham meets real estate mogul Owen Glendower at a dinner party, sparks fly. Not only is Owen GQ-cover, drop-dead sexy and filthy rich, he has a maddeningly seductive way of knowing intimate details about her. Details that send heat rushing to her cheeks not to mention certain other parts of her body. Swept deliciously off her feet, Kate lets herself fall into a breathtakingly sensual journey she hopes will never end, even when Owen reveals his little he happens to be Hades, ruler of the underworld and the devil himself! Caught in the fiery-sweet grip of a desire so consuming, Kate must choose between her business, her family, her life on Earth, and spending eternity in Hell with Owen. Then, out of the blue, family tragedy strikes, shaking her out of a rapturous trance to face the decision of a lifetime. Will she spend eternity with this devil of her dreams or follow her conscience back to earthly reality? Sherri Browning Erwin is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA). She lives with her family in Needham, Massachusetts. "Wickedly entertaining!  Sinfully sexy!  Sherri Erwin's razor-sharp wit will make you laugh out loud." --Virginia Henley, author of Notorious and Infamous

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Sherri Browning Erwin, best known for critically acclaimed classic mash-ups Jane Slayre and Grave Expectations, also writes paranormal romance and historical romance as Sherri Browning. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Sherri has lived in Massachusetts and Michigan, but is now settled with her family in Simsbury, Connecticut. Watch for her return to historical romance with the upcoming Thornbrook Park series. http://www.sherribrowningerwin.com

Reviews

[Rain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seriously do not even know what to say about this piece of work. It's a rare and special day when you run across a romance novel where the male protagonist is death/devil/Hades. They are personal favorites of mine. So you can imagine I snatched this one up as soon as I saw it. I am glad I only dished out $2 for it.

The plot is as thin as wet tissue and more boring than watching mud dry. Every page was obvious and expected, the obstruction between the protagonists was blaring, and it was just very...bland. I will give the author credit for knowing how to write and tell the story she wants to tell. However, I must deduct points for the lack of creativity. I wanted so much to be wowed or at least enjoy the novel, but instead I felt like this would be a the love story about death and his lady as written by a high school freshmen, still dewy eyed.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a very hard time reading anything written in first person, but this book came highly recommended to me so I gave it a shot.

This book is a modern day twist on Greek mythology. Kate was very human - witty, funny, and intelligent. Owen - an Armani-clad, real life devil - was to die for (literally). He is described on another review website as "otherworldy" and this could not be more true. Their story is full of romance and strong, sexual tension.

I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed this book for the most part. If I hadn't been warned about the bittersweet ending of this book, I probably would have been strongly disappointed. This is not your everyday, happily-ever-after romance.

[Dede · Rating 2 out of 5]

RATE:
2 1/2 🌟

REASON:
I got a very bored of the repeating theme of Kate's: " do I need him? I desire him... but who is he? I want him to give me kids. My bio clock is over. Save the children. love the children. I want the children. Gimmie babies. Oh, owen, our connection is HAWT. Please, let's consumate. "
GIRL 💀😭

And them Owen being all " I know what you want. More than you do. I am Owen. You can't live without me. I can see in your mind. Say it...say what i am?" (This particular scene I was waiting for him to say: "this is the skin of a killer bella".)

AND THE POP CULTURE REFERENCES💀 it's a lot!!! I had Google opened cause who are half of these people. Like holy shi!

NOT TO MENTION: Kate is annoying as hell. There's a lot of coincidental scenes helping the plot. and her just readily accepting owens satan title. No questions. Cause she followes THE TINGLES. ...GTFO!😭🤣

This book was bad. The chemistry was surface level for the reader and "scorching" for the two character.s I didn't see or feel it.

And then halfway through the books, Zeus is name dropped and suddenly I have to believe that this is a ancient Greek love story instead of Christian. The writer is a very confused woman. Do you want the Greek gods or do you want the Christian one and his devil???? Like what?!?!?

( and how dare they do my girl persephone like that. APOLOGIZE NOW!)

I gritted my teeth reading this after a few chapters. It's so repetitive and Kate's I MUST HAVE BABY mentality is...annoying.

Also some of these scenes ( where Owen is dressed in a safari getup and Kate is like." Oh. He'd look hot with a whip and fedora" SCREAMED yt woman fantasy. 😭ma'am....why is your story so odd).

I don't recommend this. I came for a satanic romantic story and left with more questions and wasted time.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this at a book fair at my university for $3 and couldn't resist it. It didn't let me down.

I liked the first half. The tension, especially the sexual tension, was maddening. When was he going to reappear? When was he going to call? When the hell were they finally going to do it?! It was satisfying when they finally went to bed together (I was waiting for something to be fundamentally demonic about his genitals - sadly not) but then it suddenly went downhill.

I thought the second half of the book was bull. Equally maddening as the first half, but this time it was because I couldn't wait for it to be over. It was all about her family tragedy and Owen all but disappeared. There was a rift in their budding relationship, like they were suddenly indifferent to each other, and it felt like they were just going to drift apart with none of the passion of the first half, or any resolution at all. That didn't quite happen, but it still wasn't very satisfying.

There were parts that made me laugh, there were some interesting ideas about the afterlife and underworld, and a couple of intriguing supernatural sexy occurrences. I really didn't like the ending, but it doesn't make me write the book off completely.

Do people appear in the underworld at the age they die? Was she eventually going to return to Owen/Hades a withered old lady? That's not very sexy. I thought he was going to convince her to come to the underworld with him to look after the children who had died, and that she would thrive in the underworld. I thought that might sate her need for a baby, as she realised she had a higher purpose: to nurture lost kids and guide them to the Elysian Fields. Apparently not.

[Eugenia Doran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this were funny, but I'm not sure I should even shelve this as a romance, given it doesn't have a happy ending. Complete cop-out to actually resolving the conflict between the characters.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept complete with the phrase " Be careful what you wish for" it might come true.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book, I did cry in some parts. Definitely had me thinking differently about a lot of stuff for sure.

[Amy-Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I did really enjoy this book. It was exactly what I was expecting. I did find myself at times annoyed with the main character and her rationale but I loved the plot so much that this was easily overlooked. At the beginning of chapter 4 the author addresses the reader and this completely brought me out of the story which I didn't like. Parts of the book felt almost repetitive and had parts were very slow. The ending wasn't what I hoped for but I can't knock the rating down just because the ending wasn't the outcome I wanted.

[StrangeBedfellows · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Hades and Persephone story is my favorite myth, so I'm always up for reading anything based on that. Which also means my hopes are high for a story that lives up to my estimation of the original myth's potential. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite make the cut. What I really didn't like was the "romance" between Kate and Owen, aka Hades. There's chemistry, certainly, but nothing convinced me there was love. Owen's persona is arrogant and rather off-putting, so I don't see what convinces Kate he sees her soul (other than the mind-reading). As for his side of things, the story is related from Kate's perspective and his feelings are completely elusive. As a love story, this one left me cold (pun not intended, for those who've read the book). As a rendition of the Greek myth, it was mildly appealing.

[Christina (AKA Babbling) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quoted from my review @ http://misscz.wordpress.com

Comments: An unconventional romance, with a bittersweet ending you can see coming a mile away. Yet it still managed to move me to tears — which is no small feat, as I don’t cry easily. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hear “You Are My Sunshine” again without getting choked up.

Favorite Quotes:
“Very Angel at Wolfram and Hart. Straight from the weird room at the top of the building.”
– Kate (referencing the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off)

“I ended up with the greatest gift in the world. You love me. That alone will get me through anything.”
– Owen/Hades

[Natty · Rating 3 out of 5]

it wasn't what I expected I thought it was going to be a complete waste of time because of the reviews being so low having said that I thought it was half and half, I didn't really like the ending and I didn't like how 90% was so focused on her family and personal problems I understand it plays into the story but if its a romance story i would expect most of it to be focused on the couple but the parts that they were together I thought it was good.

[Julie (jjmachshev) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As best I remember I waffled between 3 and 4 stars for this one. She finds the man of her dreams. Only problem is, he's Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and he wants her to come home with him...Will she stay or will she go?
J

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book at work and thought it sounded interesting. I never thought in a million years that a book about Hades and falling in love would make me sob....for a few days when I thought about the book or the song.

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Romance reader PSA: Avoid this book if you are looking for an HEA.

[Karen Desmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

2

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, but if you are into this theme, best book to read is "that fatal kiss" by Mina Lobo. Way better that this one.