Trouble in Hades

Queens of Olympus #1

by Arizona Tape

Librarian Note: Alternative cover of B09BDBL8LX.

Ruling the Underworld is a job no one wants... until now.

As the new Hades, Maia is determined to make a difference, even if the current Persephone doesn't believe her.

There's nothing that Penelope hates more than a new Hades, especially when they make her job as the Persephone harder.

But something about this time is different. Maybe it's finally time for the problems in the Underworld to be fixed...

Genres: Mythology, Romance, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer, Adult, Retellings

162 pages, ebook

First published May 30, 2022

About the author

Arizona Tape lives her dream life hanging out with her dog and writing stories all day.

Her favourite books to write are urban fantasy and paranormal romances with queer leads, stories that she wished were around when she was younger.

When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm in the kitchen, watching shows that make her cry, or trying her hand at her new hobby of the week.

She currently lives in the United Kingdom with her girlfriend and her adorable dog who is the star of her newsletter. Sign up here for adorable pictures, free books, and news about her books: www.arizonatape.com/subscribe



Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/arizonatapeauthor
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Her books are available on all retailers and can be requested from most public libraries.

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in the quirky Queens of Olympus series by Arizona Tape.
Persephone/Penelope hasn't been treated well by previous holders of the position of Hades. Then again, she hasn't met Maia, the new Hades who intends to shake things up. The first meeting of the two women doesn't go well - Penelope leaves abruptly after submitting her monthly reports. She's been burnt in the past (having to clean up past Hades messes) and assumes that Maia will coast along, doing nothing of importance just like her predecessors. Not so, within a few days Maia finds her way to the Terminal and Harbour resolved to see for herself the problems Penelope faces. Months go by and co-operation grows as does the smoldering attraction. Is it possible for love to burn between Hades and Persephone once again?
A pleasing take on the traditional Greek myth with interesting side characters in Molly and Remus.

I rec'd a copy from Booksprout for review.

[Jos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounding up because the world building was neat, even if the story was a little fast.

I liked the twist on the Hades/Persephone pairing. Instead of a retelling, the characters in this world take on positions in like a sort of divine corporate Olympus. Hades is a position in charge of certain aspects in the Underworld, Persephone another position that is in charge of other Underworld things.

It's such a silly concept, but it works. The only downside is because this is a new idea I wanted more. I wish this was a full-length novel that really enhanced the inner workings of the ladder climbing olympians. What happened to the originals? Is Maia a demigod? Where did she come from?

For now, I will be satisfied with the fact that there are a number of other books in the series.

This was a short read, great to bump up those reading goal numbers. If you're a big mythology fan, you might like a different take, assuming you're okay with creative changes. Probably not something I would recommend to mythology purists or someone looking for a in depth fantasy.

[Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun take on Greek mythology. I wish the story was a bit longer and had some more development with the characters but I really liked the plot and this new alternate world. I am looking forward to seeing where the rest of the series goes and hopeful they will be a bit more in depth.

[Catran9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where “Hades” and “Persephone” are just job titles and you get elected to be Persephone from a popular vote as if you were president of the Underworld.
1/5🌶️
Tropes: FF; reluctant love; age gap; office romance vibes?

[DeeDeeWReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my title says, this Hades/Persephone story blew me away!!! I am a lover of a H/P story first off, so I have read many of them.

This one first is F/F just so you know, cause some people need that info. That said, the storyline is great, the characters are fun to read, as they interact with each other and those around them.

I think what also made this a winner in my book is the WAY it is done. The Greek 'gods' aren't the same person, they are 'characters' represented by people over time. Persephone has seen MANY Hades come and go in her 100 years.

So you MUST read this, not kidding, why are you not reading yet??? Can't wait for book 2, Aphrodite!!!! EEEK!.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Grendaycita Segovia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para pasar el rato.

Con una trama bien llevada en cuanto a ritmo (consideremos lo corto que es el libro) y ligera en desarrollo, el primero de la serie “Reinas del Olimpo” es entretenido y ligero para leer en una sentada.

El desarrollo es algo superficial pero ese no fue mi problema, mi problema fue la personificación de uno de los personajes principales; Hades, tiene un constataste total con la personalidad conocida en el mito y en otras historias, al punto que si se lee sin conocer quién es, no dirías que es Hades. Fue un tanto chocante imaginármelo esponjoso y lindo al leerlo. Fuera de esto, el libro está bien, pero no me atrapo tanto como las series de shfiters de la misma autora.

Como dije, un libro para pasar el rato sin más 🙆🏻‍♀️.

[BookDragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trouble In Hades by Arizona Tape is an absolute delight to read. It takes a fresh new look to one of my favorite Greek myths.

The characters are intresting and different than what I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised. I look forward to more unique takes from Queens Of Olympus series. I definitely recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Martina Weiß · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 / 5 Stars

CW: Mentions of Death

I'll be honest, I was always more of a northern mythology kind of gall, but got into greek mythology only about two years ago, when I started reading Lore Olympus. Nontheless, the story of Hades & Persephone has always been of interest to me.

Which was why a sapphic retelling sounded like my cup of tea. And sapphic it was indeed. With two really great main characters and loveable side-characters that we got to know of a bit in the short Prequel - which I've read right before starting this one. And if that had been all it was. Just two CEO ladies of two different companies, who start working together to make their companies better, it would have been really nice. But given the fact, that this is ALSO a retelling, well.
Let's just say it didn't really feel like one.

Partly because not a single soul is even trying to attempt to explain how the world works. I've had a bunch of ???'s that never got explained or even atttempted. And usually, I'm not that picky when it comes to worldbuilding, but I would have liked at least something. Anything. Especially since Hades and Persesphone might have held the title's and names of the gods they're based of, but nothing else.

Like, that's kind of the charm of retellings? Seeing how the stuff you know and love gets changed and formed into something else. Naming characters isn't really enough.

It's not a bad book. It's short, it's sweet. It's nice. But it's not a retelling. And I kind of expected it to be more than we got.

Final toughts

I did have a good time. It just wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.

[Tiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story! I would have liked a bit more development of the characters to really understand how they fell in love but it was a cute easy read!

[Cath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book one of the Queens of Olympus series and the main characters are Maia, the new Hades of the Underworld, a job nobody else wants, and Penelope, the Persephone, who has controlled part of the Underworld for over a century and has had to put up with a lot of different Hades during that time. All of them have been pretty lazy and not done their part of the job, transporting souls over the river Styx, into the Underworld. Maia had a horrible time in her previous job and actually volunteered for the job as Hades. She wants to do the best job she can, but Penelope isn’t exactly welcoming! Maia’s job as Hades is to deal with the first part of the transport of souls, bringing the dead through the lines in the terminal they arrive in, process them and then pass them on to travel over the river Styx, then Persephone takes over. Long ago, Hades ruled over the whole of the Underworld, but since one Hades and Persephone pairing became romantically involved, the role has been shared. Hades has a huge palace, all in shades of black, which is more like a maze, meaning Maia needs to call for her assistant to even get to the dining hall. She has no clue about what her actual duties are and has no one to really show her what to do.
Persephone has an assistant Molly, who she has been with to relieve the tedium of her loneliness, but meeting with Maia soon gets sparks flying between the two. Maia is embarrassed by her reaction to Persephone and tries to apologise, but Persephone wasn’t really expecting anything from her and is surprised herself to find a connection with Maia. She soon sees that Maia is trying to complete her end of her job, but struggling with lacklustre staff and not enough of them, as many don’t want to waste years in service to the Underworld. As Hades, Maia is able to travel back and forth between the lands of the living and dead, but Persephone is stuck only in the Underworld. Never to see the sun again! Both of them are the only beings alive in the Underworld, dealing with the souls of the dead. As they get to know each other, the job gets a lot easier as they work together to try and improve matters and get the others involved in doing their jobs properly. They still have a lot to do, but their romance progresses nicely and their work together gets easier. Two unlikely characters who start off on the wrong foot, but end up in love and work together perfectly. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that's a different take on Greek mythology — the gods as roles/jobs, that pass on to others over time. Sometimes the person taking over doesn't have a clue what they're getting themselves into.

The sapphic romance is fairly straightforward and gentle, which suites me fine. The world building is just a little thin, especially if you're more invested in the original mythos, but I found it to be oddly satisfying, anyway. The characters could be fleshed out more, but they're still compelling for me.

Rather than thinking of this story as richly built world filled with complex characters, I see it more as a sketch, using fast pen strokes and sweeping brush work, where all of those parts suggest the depth that the artist didn't make explicit. I enjoy that, though, as it leaves me the active role of filling in the details in my own head.

The downside of this book is the proofreading, or lack thereof. It might just be the version I've got, but one sweep by a competent proofreader would improve this immensely.

[Douglas Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Underworld has a new ruler and our heroine is not sure what she thinks of her. There is something about her that just might set her apart for the past rules. Something she is going to have to explore...

This is book one of the series, so all good on that front.

This is a paranormal romance of the FF variety offering a different twist on the old Greek myths. The story is well written and easy to read with a fun setting that is enjoyable to explore. The characters are are the main focus and they are also well done and very enjoyable. I really enjoyed this twist on the old stories and I look forward to more in the series.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book for review purposes

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. A very unique take on Hades and Persephone. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end and I thought it was a great start to a promising series. I really enjoy Tape’s sapphic alien series so I’ve been meaning to read something else by her. I liked that the Hades are people who get replaced/quit so it’s not just one. Maia is the latest Hades and Penelope is Persephone. Penelope is not impressed with Maia at first but their chemistry was great and I really liked their relationship and I thought they were likable characters. Maia just wants to do a good job as the new Hades of the Underworld and Penelope is a firecracker with a good heart. It was cute. I’m definitely going to continue on with this series.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a NON-SPOILER REVIEW of Trouble in Hades, the first book in the Queens of Olympus series by Arizona Tape. I read the prequel and was excited to read the series. This is mythology like you have never read it before. I love that the Gods are represented by avatars as opposed to the typical Greek Gods scenario. Hades and Persephone's story is a classic but in this series it has an added twist. This is a F/F romance. While not my preferred genre, this read is amazingly entertaining. I highly recommend the read and the series!.

This honest and voluntary review was made possible by reading a copy through Booksprout.

[Emry Mango · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arizona Tape has a very unique perspective on Hades and Persephone. It is creative and allows the characters to have more depth than they would have if they were the actual gods in mythology rather than human representatives.

That being said, I enjoyed the world building and plot more than the characters. There were plenty of promises of improving but with the time skips, it’s impossible to see exactly how they changed. The story could have been longer to improve the plot. But it is still a great read nonetheless.

I don’t think I’m going to continue with the series if the books are all similar length. But I will check out other books from Arizona.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twist on Hades and Persephone that is more than a modern retelling/hades is actually nice/sapphic in that it is all three! This is part of a series where the Greek gods, while powerful, are just titles/jobs that people have. Because of this, the main characters aren’t THE Hades and THE Persephone, but rather the current job holders at the time. It makes the myth more mundane without taking the magic out of it. While I enjoy this style of myth retelling, I can see how a viewer not interested in this specific sort of premise might want to look for a different retelling that is more magical or epic in nature.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Persephone absolutely hated getting new Hades settled in.

So many have filled the position more with their pro forma attendance and appearances, and seldom for anything functional, that the Persephone has grown frustrated and jaded.

A new face suddenly brings opportunities for change- and possibly even for working together to make a positive difference innthe workings of things.

lightly humorous f/f romance.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Looby Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this first book in the Queens of Olympus series. Persephone aka prickly Penelope was used to being let down by the people taking the role of ruler of the underworld, until Maia became the new Hades.
It was fun to watch Maia cut through all the prickles to get to the real Penelope underneath.
Looking forward to reading about the Goddess of Love who has no luck in love at all, in the next book.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read the prequel a long time ago and loved, but this book is much better.
The plot is very well developed and as usual has a delicate romance in this one.
It's interesting how the characters are changing during the story.
I really recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think that I needed a sapphic retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, but I was not disappointed at all. It ticked the boxes in telling a great story, it also was quite unique. I was enthralled from the first page and kept turning the page. I'm excited to see more where this goes.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hades and Persephone Revisited

In this story, Maia, new to the job of Hades, meets with her Persephone counterpart, Penelope. There first few meetings are rocky, but once they start to work together, romance blooms. I really enjoyed Arizona Tape’s re-interpretation of Greek mythology, with the gods and goddess as jobs rather than people, and then tells the stories of the people that fill the roles. The resulting stories are fresh and unique - I really enjoyed this one.

[Cleocutie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book that takes a Greek myth and updates it into something very different and great. I love idea that Hades is more of a position than a person and that there can be new ones as it puts a different spin on things.

[Rowan Creech · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a unique twist to an age-old myth that was engaging to read and an interesting read. This book is a must read for those who love a twisted tale made new.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable storyline for this tale and if you did know it's f/f, but don't let that deter you from reading it. Looking forward to more from the series.

[Ken Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arizona has produced another brilliant story. There doesn’t seem to be anything to stop her fertile mind.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jen Keyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book in the series. Hades and Persephone will steal your heart. Their relationship is so sweet.

[Sev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interested because of the Greek Mythology aspect and also because FF romance. Was a very quick read, surprised me how abruptly it ended. Which I must confess was disappointing but since it's the start of a series there may be better plot development to come in future books.

No cliffhangers. Also practically no spice, just a couple of hot kisses and fade to black. Some typos for which I have to dock points as they weren't just the occasional misspelling but missing words and extra words. Which meant having to stop and re-read in order to make sense of the sentences it happened in, thus breaking the story flow. Really, the proofreader -- if there was one -- should have caught them.

3 and a half stars rounded up to 4.

[TaniaRina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A female Hades – did Hell Freeze over???

A wee bit of subtle yet flirty innuendo then it’s off to a working relationship. ‘Bout time we see more females in C-suite positions.