52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than Goddess by Mistake!, July 19, 2005
This review is from: Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Carolina Francesca Santoro is a 43-year-old Italian-American woman who lives in Tulsa Oklahoma and owns a bakery called Pani Del Goddess. After Lina realizes that her business is in major debt and she might have to declare bankruptcy, she decides that she needs to expand her menu to make more money for her business. After looking through half a dozen old Italian cookbooks from a used book store, Lina opens a cookbook entitled The Italian Goddess Cookbook and finds a recipe for Italian pizza. The recipe involves chanting to the Goddess of the Harvest, Demeter. (One problem I had was that the author didn't use Demeter's and Persephone's Italian names, Ceres and Proserpine, but that's not really a big deal). By saying this chant and asking for help with her bakery, Lina got Demeter's attention, and the Goddess decides to switch Lina and Persephone. The dead souls of the Underworld are calling to Demeter because they want the comfort of a goddess, and Demeter believes that her daughter Persephone, Goddess of Spring, could light the darkness in the Underworld. However, Persephone is young and immature, and Demeter decides to send her to the mortal's world to experience life there, and manage Lina's bakery. In the meantime, Lina will switch places with Persephone to return Demeter's favor, and will visit the Underworld as the Goddess of Spring for six months.
Lina and Hades soon find that they are falling in love, but Lina's conscience can't rest because she promised Demeter that she won't let anyone know that she isn't really Persephone, but she longs to tell Hades. She is also worried that Hades only loves her for her body, which is really Persephone's. The other problem is that Lina has to leave Hades and the Underworld forever in 6 months.
While I liked P.C. Cast's first book, Goddess by Mistake, it seemed a little long-winded and dull at points. After reading this book, I see that Cast has polished her writing skills a lot since then. Goddess of Spring flows MUCH better, and I couldn't put it down!
I also think that Cast fares very well in writing about classical mythology. I loved her descriptions of the Gods and Goddesses, and the Underworld. She paints beautiful, vivid pictures of Hades' Palace, the Elysian Fields, and the dark Tartarus.
I loved how much mythology was woven into this book. The myth of Eurydice and Orpheus was incorporated very well into the story, as was the story of Dido and Aeneas. Cerberus, the dread steeds of Hades, and Charon were also mentioned, as well as the River of Styx, and the River of Forgetfulness, Lethe, which allows one's soul to be reborn in a mortal's body.
I also liked how the reader was able to get to know the real Persephone a bit, and got to see how well she fared in the modern, mortal world.
The romance in this book was much better than Goddess by Mistake, because it wasn't just about lust; it was about soul mates and how little one's outer appearance matters. It was so sweet and actually almost made me cry at one point.
The ending was also done very well, in my opinion. Very interesting, and it was actually how I thought it would end.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes romance or mythology!
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I have been beaten over the head with a stick saying that mature woman can be sexy, but otherwise this was a typical romance, June 28, 2006
This review is from: Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
With a nod to Greek mythology and a little body switching romance, this book looked to be the perfect start of my summer fun reading.
It was a little disappointing to realize that this is really a typical romance novel. Lots of sexual tension, maybe two actual sex scenes and people falling hopelessly in love in about two minutes-with a whole lot of misunderstandings along the way. Pretty typical actually. This is nothing more than a romance novel.
Oh, there's some nice stuff about the realm of Hades, a couple of mythology references for the geeky out there (me included) and a stereotypical gay guy. But in short this book just mostly has Lina (our middle aged heroine who ends up in the underworld while Persephone takes care of her Italian bakery) befriends and mothers everyone in sight while the author beats you over the head with a stick that says "mature woman are sexy and desirable and can have romance in their lives...."
Which is fine, I understand not all romance belongs to the young. At the age of 18 I have watched by 60 year old mother date for ten years. I get it. The author can stop repeating how wonderful mature Lina is. I would also like to know why such a huge deal was made out of Lina being Italian when all the gods she dealt with where Greek. And while she was in the underworld, why didn't Hades mention that the titans (his parents and uncles and aunts) were in the deepest part of hell? But that's nitpicky.
In the end, well, I did purchase another of this authors books at the same time as this one, so I will read it, but had I not I think I would have lost interest. This is just too much like a fill in the blanks romance novel. Too stereotypical of the genre.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Adult Fairy Tale, September 21, 2004
This review is from: Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
The Goddess Demeter feels that Persephone is to immature to handle the problems in the realm of the Dead.
Carolina Santoro needs help with her bakery. She finds an old book of receipes dedicated to the Goddess Demeter. Following a receipe she invokes Demeter.
Demeter suggests that she change bodies with Persephone so the the Goddess of Spring can save her bakery and she who is more mature, can fix the problems in Hades realm.
This is a wonderful adventure full of magic, humor, and romance. The playful mix of myth and reality is stunning. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more.
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