Of Love and Forge

A Neosphere Novel (Beyond a Contemporary Mythos)

By: Carly Spade

Narrated by: Thomas Locklear, Stella Bloom

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The god of the forge...

Life was good in the Neosphere District. I’d made a name for myself as a renowned supernatural bounty hunter, holding the record for most harpies slayed. But the best part about living in the future? Avoiding the other Olympian gods. Banishing a guy from Olympus because he was “imperfect” tends to make one hold a grudge. Go figure. And no other god possessed the means to time travel. But I did. Thanks to the portal hopping device I forged.

Yup. Life. Was. Grand.

Until a bounty popped up on a certain love goddess. Aphrodite and I had been friends since we were wee gods. I’d be lying to myself if I never thought our “innocent” flirting banter were real on occasion—kidding myself if I said I never wanted things to go beyond platonic. Hence, why I recently kept my distance. For my own sanity. So, of course, I made the grave mistake of taking the goddamned bounty.

The goddess of love...

Since reconciling with my son Eros, after centuries of bad mojo, I’d decided it was time to clean up my act. Ride the straight and narrow. My companion service, Sans Solo, became just the ticket I needed. And it allowed me to use my powers in disguise in modern California under the name Vena Milo.

With the aid of my best friends, and fellow goddesses, the Graces, we ran a legitimate business. All was right in the world.

Until the volcano god showed up. Hephaistos. Heph—a lifelong friend who never failed to confuse me, mind, body, and soul. Especially when he showed up with a magical pair of handcuffs. His audacity pissed me off, but the mere sight of him, the smell of him, made my stomach flutter. That...I couldn’t deny. And when Heph's plan goes to Tartarus things got even dicier and we became...the hunted.

A cyberpunk fantasy Hephaestus x Aphrodite romance that defies myth but answers true love's call.

©2023 Carly Spade (P)2023 Carly Spade

Love and Forge!

I absolutely loved the "Contemporary Mythos" series so I was very excited to see this new "Neosphere" story. This one is a modern day spin on mythology with Hephaestus (Heph) and Aphrodite (Ro) finding more. The God of the Forge and Goddess of Love have a long history and were always good friends; often confiding in each other. This story is my first five into a cyberpunk story. It is very interesting and intriguing. I listened to an audio version of the story and thought narration was really good. The narrators did a good job bringing the story and characters to life. The author did a good job developing the story with some good twists.

Great!

Carly has written a fun story! I loved the volcano god and his love goddess. It was well worth listening to the adventures they had.
Stella and Thomas did a fantastic job narrating it. I was used to Thomas doing romance and he was marvelous in this fantasy world. They were a great team!

Of LOVE and Forge

okay, this has to be my favorite book of the Greek gods. to be honest I don't think I ever heard a book of Aphrodite and Hephaestus. this love story is so good. very enjoyable. you guys are going to love it. and the narrators did an amazing job too.

incredible narrators!

This was my first read by Carly Spade, but it definitely won’t be my last! I’ve seen her books recommended by many friends on bookstagram, but hadn’t picked one up yet, until this tour opportunity popped up. I’m so glad I joined, because I am now joining the Carly Spade fan club! I had so much fun reading this time-traveling, portal-hopping friends-to-lovers romance featuring Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her childhood best friend, Hephaistos, the god of the forge. The chemistry between the two was off the charts and the banter was so much fun! Honestly, I laughed out loud so many times while reading, and I love it when a romance can make me both swoon and unabashedly laugh.

I actually listened to this one on audiobook; I hadn’t yet used my February credit for Audible, so I snagged this and dove in. The narrators were excellent, and just wait until you hear Heph’s voice, oh my gosh! It was also done differently than in other audiobooks I’ve heard and I really liked it; the male narrator did Heph’s voice even in Aphrodite’s POV chapters (as well as other male voices), and the female narrator did Ro’s voice in Heph’s POV chapters. I just really liked that because you felt even more like they were actually bantering and conversing with one another. If you enjoy audiobooks, I *highly* recommend grabbing this one on audio!

I recommend this to any fan of exquisite, humorous banter, friends to lovers, gods and goddesses living among us mere mortals, and adorable bunny rabbits (IYKYK). Seriously, any fan of romance and rom-com should pick this up!

Great start for spinoff series

My 1st impression after only a few minutes of listening: Heph is HILARIOUS!! And his accent!! Thomas Locklear was amazing! The book was read in duet style which I love. Stella Bloom did a great job as always.

Carly Spade has produced another wonderful book! The series is "Beyond a Contemporary Mythos," so it's a new series but connected to "A Contemporary Mythos." We got to see some of the characters from the original series. As far as timeline goes, this book happened about the same time as "Ares."

There is a story arc that is unresolved and I'm eager to find out about future books in this series. I'm sure we'll see some other couples because Heph & Ro are living out their HEA.

Side note: I think I may need a pet rabbit.

Love

Wow, I love this story so much. The narrators are incredibly talented and I really enjoyed listening to the book. They really brought the story to life with the phenomenal writing. Hephaestus and Aphrodite are my new favorite couple. Their witty banter turning into something more..whew (fans self) I absolutely adore Heph.

For Love

This was an interesting story, I loved the futuristic setting and the chemistry between Aphrodite & Hephaestus.
I’m curious about the Sovereign and what’s going to happen next.

A fun and steamy take on an old mythology.

Greek gods, myths, magic, humor, time travel paradox, steam, action, romance, drama, cyberpunks — this book had something for everyone.
The story drew me in from the start and kept my attention. The chemistry between Hephaestus and Aphrodite is hot, and the way their relationship goes from friends, to sort of enemies, to lovers is believable. Their adventures had some scary moments and comical situations. They definitely earned their HEA.
I loved the way the narration was done in this audiobook. Thomas Locklear and Stella Bloom kept their parts even when the point of view changed, so the voices were consistent throughout the entire story. They did a stellar job.
The romance between Hephaestus and Aphrodite is wrapped up nicely, but there are overall plot questions that remain, and set things up for the next story in the series.

Fun story with incredible narration

I loved the story, it had it all. Humor. Action. Steam. The narration was truly immersive, with gorgeous voices and accents. What a treat.

It's a Paradox

Futuristic, mythical, or similarly themed books aren't my thing, but Carly Spade is one of the few authors who has been able to coax me into this world. This time, she's brought me into the world of cyberpunk, year 2104. I'm not sure what it's about, but I'm here for the ride!

Hephaestus "Heph", God of the Forge, and Aphrodite "Ro", Goddess of Love, have a long history (which peeked up several times during the prior series), but it's their present that caught and entertained me.

Things get a bit topsy turvy and a little bit weird when the future impacts the past. TGIF! (Thank God it's fiction) Even though I found it strange and I'm not 100% positive that I understand it, it's still a fun twist. All-in-all, Heph and Ro turn out to be a fierce and fiery couple who fight side-by-side with friends and family and geek out together when they've sated their needs. 🔥🥵🤜🤛⚒️🔗🏹🎮

There is a bigger storyline developing, and I'm interested to see where it leads.

I received an author's copy of the audio book. The narrators, Thomas Locklear and Stella Bloom, are wonderful in this duet edited book. I loved both of them, especially the changes and accents for different characters. ❤️👌❤️

Story: 4.5 stars
Narration: 5 stars <-- a rating I rarely give for narration
Listening Speed: 1.6x