Review: Gods help me, I enjoyed the mess out of this silly little book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 23, 2013
You know those times you read a book and get so caught up in the characters <cough>ChristianGrey<cough> that you willfully choose to ignore that the book is preposterous and silly and you should feel ashamed for enjoying it?You know. YOU KNOW.So now you have an idea of the conflict I felt while reading this book. Let me say that I really, really liked it. It's fun and flirty and frivolous. It's a book that knows its purpose: to entertain. There is no Big Message, no attempt to make you think or give you something deep to ponder. It's just FUN.And oh so silly.So you've got Nikki, who has worked for cosmetics entrepreneur Tor (le swoon) for six years as his personal assistant. Not personal enough for her liking, but it works. He trusts her. The company tends to target Women of a Certain Age, as exemplified by Tor's mother, who turns out to be - ready for it? - Aphrodite. Yes, that Aphrodite. Tor is what you call a demigod in that he is half god, half man. And my oh my is he a brilliant combination of the two. When Tor hires a new creative guru to recharge the company, they decide to add a new focus on younger women. Who better to represent this but Tor's own professional, if not even a bit mousy, assistant. The same assistant whom Tor bedded when he was "drunk."Oh, the tangled web we weave.There are some mythology strains here, with Aphrodite and some other gods and goddesses. But the kernel of the story - a woman's unrequited love for her hot boss - doesn't really need all of that. In fact, it's the gods and goddesses stuff that makes this book take an exceptionally silly turn.The good news is that the sex scenes are H-O-T. Tor ... oh, girls. TOR. He can get the job done, you know what I'm saying? And I think he'd get it done even if he wasn't half god. The headboard rockin' in this book is nicely written and, just as importantly, nicely paced. It isn't a string of sex scenes; there is a plot, and the sex scenes occur right when we need to read them.The issue I have is the "suddenly beautiful" thing. Yes, Tor beds Nikki before her makeover. But why doesn't he really notice her till afterwards? Why does it take the makeover for him to recognize her as an attractive, compelling woman? At one point he even asks why he never paid attention to her before. I don't like that it took some blonde highlights for him to wake up, especially since Nikki is presented as a sort of antithesis to aggressive women who are aware of their beauty. I would have liked it better if her "sudden beauty" didn't make an impact or impression on Tor at all.Still, though, this is a hot, fun read. And Tor. TOR!Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.@VivaAmaRisata