Blood of Zeus

Blood of Zeus, Book 1

By: Meredith Wild, Angel Payne

Narrated by: Jennifer Mack, Jacob Morgan

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

"Blood of Zeus is a dynamic and uniquely alluring paranormal romance! This author duo knows how to scorch the pages and tug at our imaginations. I can’t wait for more!" (New York Times best-selling author Carrie Ann Ryan)

An ancient grudge. A forbidden love.

The only thing worse than being a demon is being a Valari. As an undergraduate at Los Angeles’s Alameda University, Kara Valari can sometimes succeed at forgetting she’s both. Lost between the pages of the classics and tucked into the shadows of lecture halls, she can dodge the paparazzi’s lenses as well as her family’s publicized dramas - not to mention their private expectations. She has one more year to feed her true passions. Then she’ll be expected to fulfill a much darker destiny.

Cursed with inexplicable strength and godlike stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Every day he’s reminded of the missteps of his childhood and the devastating consequences they’ve had on those dearest to him. To atone, Maximus spends his nights alone and his days submerged in the quiet life of academia. His existence has become a study in control, and he’s become a master at it - until Kara Valari walks into his toughest course.

Viscerally, Kara’s everything he craves. Logically, she’s everything he rejects. She’s a starlet of privilege. She’s also a student. And after one touch, he can’t deny that she’s awakened something in him that may never go dormant. Nothing about her makes sense, but everything about her feels right. Especially in the deepest strands of his DNA, which are still shadows of mystery to him - a mystery Kara seems determined to uncover.

She’s Hollywood royalty. She’s forbidden fruit. And he’s pretty sure she could be the answer to everything.

©2020 Waterhouse Press, LLC. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Sexy and Godly

I purchased this book as it was part of a $5 sale, so I figured why not try a new author.

I always enjoy when the authors have a novel narrated by both a male and female. Jennifer Mack and Jacob Morgan did an amazing job! Jennifer's voice allows me to imagine a young, high end, college girl while Jacob certainly offers that husky voice of a professor. There is no doubt that he is a man in charge.

Meredith Wild and Angel Payne did a wonderful job developing the plot. It's an arc that is new. This is not a book you've ever heard before. It is interesting to think that, in modern times, the old mythological rituals are still being followed. The wealthy have everything they want but, at what cost? How dark and sinister can one family be? A female lead with a destiny she does not want and a path chosen for her.

Then we have the male lead who just seems like your normal college professor. At least the one that is hot and everyone wants to attend his class just to stare at him. Why is he drawn to this student when it's never been an issue before? Why does she ignite such strong feelings in him? What is she hiding?

This novel is a great start to a mythological series. For my personal tastes, it was rather short at just over eight hours. It also ends with one heck of a cliffhanger which leads you to have to purchase book two.

Cliffhanger

This book is well written but moved a bit slow. As soon as the book began to pick up BAM it ended. I'm of course going to buy the 2nd book. I don't completely hate cliffhangers I just wish I could get more content before it ended. Both narrators were awesome.

Alright

Finally listening to this highly recommended audiobook and...I liked it alright. Definitely an interesting start to the series. I think it's an age gap between a student and her professor but I don't remember ages mentioned. Their secrets are major mysteries for the reader and the characters. Jacob is amazing as always ❤

Slow Burn

Slow Burn. A lot of ??? And you only REALLY get one or two of the answers only you have to finish the book to get them. Tricky, tricky. So, I'm going to admit that I'm an avid audiobook listener and I'm also a book cover whore so when I saw the trailer for this book, staring, the beautiful and sexy Brock O'hurn, that was pretty much a wrap staying that I was GOING TO READ THIS SERIES NO MATTER WHAT!!! Now, I'm not a fan of slow burn stories but this one kept me interested if only because I needed the answers to the questions and I wanted to figure out the actual plot. The story follows Kara Valari who is half human/half demon and is promised to a demon once she finishes school. However, she has signed up for a class that is taught by Maximus Kane who by description is godlike in stature and (hello… Brock O'hurn!!!) And also has unexplainable godlike strength. The frustrating part of this book is that it seems that EVERYBODY knows what's really going on except the hero and heroine and they are consistently asking the questions throughout the book… who, what, and why? It would be ok if it wasn't fine in EVERY chapter. Despite that, I have to believe that the story will get better and because the story has gotten so much better at the end with an unbelievable cliffhanger…. I must move on to the next book in the series. 

Blood of Zeus is a wonderfully unique love story

The book was well read and narration pleasing to listen to. The authors have a brilliant way of molding the story into a colorful, beautifully written combination of love story and mystery. The best I’ve read in awhile. I can’t wait for the continuation. Bravo

Loved this book!!!

There were so many good parts in this book its hard to list them all!! I loved it!!!!

loved it

I loved that their was an man woman reading it. an th story was awsome cant wait for the next one.

A fresh take on a PNR teacher/student romance.

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have a new take on the PNR genre the likes I haven't seen since Sherrilyn Kenyon (now McQueen). I am a die-hard PNR junkie and there are few authors that really bring a fresh idea to the scene. A lot have tried, and a lot have failed but not with these two authors. They've taken the teacher/student trope and gave it a Greek/Roman mythos twist. Demons and Demigods have mingled with us mere humans, making pacts and sowing seeds but still being the absent parents, they always have been throughout history (so toss in your parental issues as well).
Our hero Maximus has always had super strength that has come with serious consequences. It's more a curse than a blessing but like anyone, you learn to deal. He's gone on to become a professor at University and has a pretty decent, normal life until this famous socialite wiggles her way into his class and his life, bringing all her drama and upending all his carefully cultivated protections.
If you love PNR, if you love teacher/student romance, if you love famous people/regular guy romance or just want something different with a slow build that will span many books, give this one a shot.
My only critique is for the audiobook version. For me, the cover and descriptions do not match the voices. I was expecting completely different voices than I got and to be honest, it was a bit jarring. From the cover with Brock O'Hurn I was expecting a deeper voice, more mature voice and from the description of the heroine I expected a more sultry voice but what I got from both the female and male Narrators were younger, more new adult college aged voices which to me is in complete contrast to the characters but that's my opinion.

Book is great... audible is?

The book is great, but the audible is horrible. They have a male and female voice, but when it’s the females chapter she also voices the male, and vice versa. Sounds horrible bc it’s like you’re listening to two different books. Keep one voice it would have worked better.

Entertaining

Paranormal romance is not a genre I usually read, however since it is co written by one of my favourite authors, Angel Payne, I thought I would give it a try and I am so glad that I did. Although it is PNR, it was intriguing and Blood of Zeus was a book that I had a hard time putting down; in fact I was so invested in the story line that I forgot that there were paranormal elements to the story.
The chemistry that sizzles between the mysterious and tortured Maximus Kane and Kara Valari was so scorchingly hot that at times I felt as though I was going to burst into flames. Maximus is swoon worthy and there is something about him that ticked the boxes for me whilst Kara is a strong determined woman.
The secondary characters were just as engaging and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. I am also going to purchase the audio as soon as it is available.
The narration by Jennifer Mack and Jacob Morgan was spot on and they really brought the story to life for me.