The Mistress and The Renowned is a spicy retelling of Hades and Persephone I feel like I would have to read it again to give it a better understanding.

I'm going to say sorry first but I think the authors can make a good opening and ending but not a good plot in the middle of the story. Because this book directly continue from the first book, I was so excited to see the story, how Persephone deal with Hades and her new power. I love how this book give us a good conflict at the beginning, we can see Hades past here, the development of Persephone here but... BUT.. after that everything go downhill.

I don't know what is wrong between Hades and Persephone. Clearly they love each other but then there is something withhold their relationship. They fight with each other and then reconcile and then fight again. Both of them are so stupid. I know they have their trauma but I just can't grasp what is the problem in their relationship. For me as the reader, nothing happen but the author seems want to have something and executed poorly. REALLY POORLY.

Then nearing the ending, something big happen, I can't stop reading it until the book end with cliffhanger. Again. I just wish the middle part of this book never happen and we can enjoy such a brilliant story despite the NOT SO COMPLICATED relationship between Hades and Persephone.

3 ⭐ because of the beginning and ending of this book.
3 🌶

The Mistress and the Renowned does what the first book didn’t, it provided relief from a boring work place erotica. If I had to read one more time about them being in the office and staring at each other, I was gonna scream. Thankfully, this book develops more of an interesting plot and introduces us to more characters... However it relies too much on miscommunication tropes to be truly good. There were times when it seriously went too far, I didn’t even understand what they were fighting about, and despite all this fated love nonsense, silly misunderstandings seemed insurmountable (to them at least, to every reader I am sure it seemed inane).

While meeting other gods was great, some of the Aphrodite/ Hephaestus plot lines have already been hashed out by other authors. It seemed a shame to focus on these characters when she built more original relationships for the brothers, as well as Mellie and Helios.

I also kept waiting for more Demeter, in flash backs or something more immediate. Supposedly she is the big bad of the story but honestly there's insufficient background on Persephone and Demeter’s relationship to make me care. A lot of this book just feels kind of feels random at times.

The book does end on a cliff hanger but I am not sure I will continue.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

I feel like I am missing part of this story. As soon as I started I was excited to see Hekate since we normally don't get a lot of stories with her in them. So I was so freaking excited. But as the first chapter started I felt like I was missing parts of the story. The story as it stands felt like it was missing something. I did enjoy most of the characters but the story at large just felt meh. The story felt slow and in parts boring. Persephone felt like she was causing most of the issues within her life and it just made me want to roll my eyes and slap her. The spicy parts were great but again I really just didn't like her. Overall I think there are far better stories out there that are Hades and Persephone retellings to waste your time with this one.

The Mistress & The renowned is book 2 in Love and Fate (retelling about Hades & Persephone)

In book 1 we get modern kind of retelling about how Persephone fell in love with Hades.
In TM&TR the story continues but in the Underworld. We get many plot twists, romance, betrayal, dealing with past and many more.
So the story starts exactly where the first book ended. Persephone is exploring the Underworld while Hades is absent. Later as she wants to get reunited with him, she has to find where he is and go get him.
I liked that in this retelling Hades, Zeus and Poseidon have better relationship than they usually have. Also Hades POV was really cool, I got to know him more and I really enjoyed it.
But let me tell you - I really hated Demeter. She wanted to keep Persephone for herself, wanted to change the fate and who Persephone really is.
I was mad at Persephone through the book, sometimes she was annoying (not wanting to deal with her feelings and more) but I kind of understand her. After everything she’s been through with her mother I understand that she wanted to deal with everything her own way.

That ending was mind blowing and I can’t wait for next book!

I wanted to enjoy this book so much but I just couldn't get into it no matter how hard I tired. The plot fell flat.

Honestly, what happened here? I liked the first book, it was a fun and interesting retelling of Hades and Persephone. This? I checked a few times if it was written by the same authors. The vibe, the story, the characters, all felt totally different. It did not feel like a continuation, it felt like the authors wanted to completely change the mood of the story.

Thank you NetGalley for my e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 ⭐️ The cliffhangers in this series should be illegal!

I got an ARC for the first book in this series and loved it. My obsession with Hades x Persephone retellings hasn't waned, if anything I've just accepted that it's here to stay. So when I got an ARC for this second instalment, I pretty much lost my sh!t. For obvious reasons, but also because I kept trying to look for updates for this series and could find nothing. And then boom! Another book available in Net Galley. I could've cried, I was so excited.

In this series, we get to see some of the typical, canonical Hades x Persephone moments and plot-points, but with its own unique spin. This second instalment is no different. I loved it, but if you're a die-hard fan of the greek myths and you expect a faithful description of them, don't read this - you'll hate it. This is a modern, erotic retelling, which means I loved it but I understand it might not be everyone's cup of tea. To make a long story short, I reread the first book in preparation for this book and regret nothing. It took me about a week to finish both because, unfortunately, life doesn't understand that I was uninterested in any and all things apart from this book.

Now, I'm going to be honest, I enjoyed book #1 more than I did this second one. They're different, the pacing is different and the themes and plot are, obviously, different. This book is a lot darker than book #1 was, the themes a lot heavier and although I can appreciate all those things, I read books for the HEA moments and this book has few of those. The angst is turned to the max in this one!

That being said, I cannot wait to read the next one -and however many more there are to come!

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC! This review has already been uploaded to Goodreads :)

A Disappointing sequel attempts to retell the timeless myth but falls short compared to its predecessor. The main issue lies in the lack of engaging dialogue, which feels forced and fails to create a meaningful connection between characters and readers. The romantic elements, particularly intimate scenes, lack depth and emotional resonance, leaving readers unsatisfied.

Moreover, the repetitive conflicts between Hades and Persephone become tiresome, hindering the story's progression and losing the expected intrigue. While the concept of a Persephone and Hades retelling holds promise, this sequel struggles to deliver on its potential. It may still appeal to those interested in familiar myths, but for devoted fans of the series, it might not live up to expectations. Overall, the book disappoints with its underdeveloped storytelling and missed opportunities to create a truly captivating narrative.

I thoroughly enjoy hades and Persephone retelling and all things Greek mythology. That being said, I also read the first book of this before and was looking forward to this one. I’m so excited that it lived up to my hype. I do hate the miscommunication between them but I loved the book so much. I wish there was more Cerebus though, he’s my favorite.

"I am the Queen of the Underworld, but I am also the Goddess of Spring, and I have lived too long being one without the other, existing as half of myself, ashamed of an entire part of me."

I really enjoyed this sequel! It definitely did not go in the direction I thought it would after the first book which in a way made the story more interesting to read. The character development was interesting and I loved getting to revisit these characters!

"How do we piece our souls back together when neither of us knows where to start?"

My one complaint would be I felt like the plot got lost in the story. Certain events were rushed through so we could focus more on the emotional effects of the events. It was hard to connect to the trauma the characters were experiencing when the trauma event itself wasn't a focus of the book. The story just really got bogged down by the character's miscommunication and the storyline getting buried under the weight of the character's emotional baggage.

"My brothers collect weapons and power. I collect knowledge. In the end, the weapons that always stood the test of time were between the pages of a book."

This isn't a profound and complicated story, but it isn't supposed to be. Did I have fun? Yes, and that's what counts. Thus, four stars.

I dunno why but I'm not vibing with this book although I loved the first book. I will try later again, maybe I'll change my mind but I just not liking the plot amd the fact they are apart. Like let them be together and overcome their issues together.

3.5⭐️ 3🌶️

I am a sucker for Hades and Persephone retellings and I loved the fresh take book one had so I couldn’t wait for book 2.

I love Hades so much. I loved that despite being the ruler of the underworld and a pretty important guy in the human world, he was still vulnerable when it came to insecurities with his relationship with Persephone. I never doubted his love and commitment to her. It broke my heart when he really needed some reassurance from Persephone about their relationship and she was not in the right headspace to have serious heart to heart with him.

I once again struggled a little with Persephone. I loved so much about her, like her ridiculous nickname for Cerberus, her friendship with Mellie, and her acceptance and compassion for everyone in the underworld. But I struggled with understanding why she was so resistant to talking to Hades and why she created distance between them for so long when it was quickly resolved when they finally did talk. I loved what a total baddie she became when the underworld was under attack but I also raged at how she chose handle things at the end of the book leading to a crazy cliffhanger.

This very much felt like book two in a trilogy and I am anxious for the next one to see how this is resolved.

I was lucky enough to get a ARC of this book and knowing it was pert of a series i grabbed myself a copy of the first, and i was hooked.

I do love retelling stories with a bit of something extra and this definitely had the something extra.

I loved the characters of Hades and Persephone and the way they interacted with each other and how their love blossoms even with plenty of things stopping them and these books it seems always ends with a cliffhanger which frustrates me no end but I’m looking forward to the next instalment hopefully it will not be too long.

Thank you netgalley for a copy for an honest review

Definitely should have read the first one before this, I didn't realize this was the second in the series before getting the ARC. I'm a sucker for a good spicy Greek mythology retelling especially hades and persephone, but this one wasn't my favorite. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had read the first one but the miscommunication in this got very aggravating. But the cliffhanger will leave people eager for the next book so I won't knock it too much.

i did not read the sequel because the first one did not do it for me. however, i would be willing to revisit them in the future!

MY First ARC REVIEW YESSSS! I love how kind of very faithful to Greek mythology how hades even though is ruler of the underworld is really just a regular dude. The main problem is that Persephone gets into trouble because of Persephone. Persephone never wants to communicate which causes problems and makes things feel awkward. Even though everything is on the line Persephone just wants to get dick downed so badly in the first book. That now she thinks Hades doesn't want her anymore lmao. At least in the first book there was smut which was it's redeeming quality. This one has NONE! and it flopped badly. 1.5 stars. Just my honest review. Persephone ruined the whole book for me. Miscommunication has it's place in romance books but not in the exchange for the whole book. This DRAGGED THROUGHT THE WHOLE BOOK! And the depressing energy doesn't for this type of story. just saying!

This is book two in the series of a retelling of Hades x Persephone. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. I have read book one and two so far and can’t wait to read the third book when it comes out. Thank you to Alexis Rune, Jeanette Rose, Rose and Star Publishing and Netgalley for an opportunity to read this book.

I wouldn't say I liked this book as much as I wanted the first one. I felt this one was more centered on the couple being apart then when they are actually together. Also, I just hated the plot arc of the entire book. I loved the original ending of the first book and would have been okay with just that as the ending.

I was so excited for The Mistress & The Renowned after reading The Maiden & The Unseen, but this did not meet my expectations whatsoever. So bummed!