Veena’s review of Lightning Unbound (Even Gods Fall In Love, Book 1) by Lynne Connolly
Historical Paranormal Romance published by Samhain Publishing 13 May 14
This is a fantastical tale of Olympians and Titans transplanted into eighteenth century England, living their lives in the guise of English aristocrats. The Titans want to rule the world and want to subjugate the Olympians and humans as necessary to do so. Gerard Sterling is Zeus, though he is completely unaware of that fact and, in fact, believes himself to be dying of an incurable illness due to some of the symptoms of being Zeus. His meeting with Faith lights a fire within and under him, leading him to take a standard against his father in her favor. And so it begins…
When Gerard goes into Bedlam to rescue a fellow peer, he finds his past in the form of Bacchus, who can tell him all about being an Olympian and his future in the form of Lady Faith, with whom he falls in love. From Bacchus he learns all about the Olympians and their ancient enemies, the Titans, to find out that he’s been brought up by Kronos, king of the Titans himself.
Thanks to coaching from Bacchus, Gerard is able to come into his powers and mount a stand against his father. He feels that he knows how to stand against his father with the little rebellions that he’s practiced over time, but he’s definitely in for a surprise as he finds himself played by a master. His father, in fact, has been pulling the strings for a very long time and Gerard might actually have to lose something before he can find himself in a position to fight back. Clearly we know this is a love story and so a happy ending is in the cards, but let me warn you that there are some interesting twists that will catch you by surprise.
In retrospect, I am not sure how I feel about the story. For a while I questioned how the prologue fit in with the overall story, but fortunately it does resolve itself much later. The love story between Gerard and Faith is refreshingly normal, but the rest of the story is somewhat far fetched and hard to wrap one’s head around it. I know Bacchus comes next and I am going to read his story to see if it all makes sense before I throw in the towel and admit that this series might not be for me.
Grade: C+
Summary:
What the heart wants, it finds a way to take.
When Gerard Sterling, Earl of Ellesmere, races to Bethlehem Hospital—also known as Bedlam—to rescue a wrongly committed friend, he’s astonished to hear a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to his sister, with whom he shares a mind link.
Fascinated and enchanted by Lady Faith Bradley, inspired by her dedication saving her brother from the horrors of the Incurables ward, he includes them both in his rescue mission. But woo her he cannot—not with a fatal disease that saps more of his strength every day.
Faith would slay dragons to keep her brother safe from her father’s scheme to set his simpleminded heir aside. But it’s Gerard, who feels the hot breath of death down his neck, who wins her heart.
Then it is revealed that Gerard is none other than the reincarnation of Zeus, and they face a far more dangerous enemy—Kronos, whose plan to regain power includes Gerard’s death. To foil his plan, Gerard and Faith must hold firm to the power of love…and defy Fate itself.
Warning: Be careful—beautiful clothes, perfect manners and heat between the sheets are bound to keep you awake at night!
Other books in this series:
Sorry it didn’t entirely work for you! The series started when I was reading a textbook that said the aristocrats of Georgian England behaved and were treated like gods. That was it. I started on the “what if?” trail. The events in the story are factual, including the Bedlam riots (frequent and usually brutally quelled), as are the conventions of the time. But as one of my most high concept series, I knew it wouldn’t work for everybody! Maybe the next one will work better for you. And thanks for the review!