KaraSkinner

The last thing Paula needed was a blindfolded, glowing god in her bed, but that's exactly what she got.

Still reeling from her fiance, Nick, breaking up with her, Paula is desperate to try anything to get him back. So when her neighbor, Mrs. Stephanopolos gives her a magic statue that will give Paula her heart's desire, she's skeptical but does the required ritual anyway.

A split second later, Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, is standing in her bedroom, ready to help Paula, even though he thinks Paula can do so much better than Nick. Everything seems to be working out until Eros sneaks in and shoots one of his insta-love arrows at Apollo. Now the sun god needs to stay permanently blindfolded to avoid falling in love with the first woman he sees, especially when Paula is so not his type. Now Paula and Apollo are stuck with each other until Aphrodite can swoop in and reverse the spell. But with the two of them in such close proximity to each other, they might realize they're each other's types after all. 

I definitely enjoyed this book. A lot of little details were explained, like the history of the statue and why she and Apollo can understand each other, despite them speaking different languages. And even though this book has a lot of my usual pet peeves, like insta-love, arrogance, and even lack of regard for personal boundaries, I still didn't mind it. I think it's easier to accept because Apollo is a god and things work differently for him. His love for Paula doesn't have to be completely realistic because he's not human. 

However, the actual moment Apollo gets shot is incredibly anti-climactic. 

Suddenly, the golden god flinched, and he slapped at the side of his neck as if stung by a mosquito.

“No - Oh No! Not again!” He shut his eyes tight.

“What’s the matter?” Paula stared at him.

“Eros,” groaned the god, keeping his eyes tight shut, “He’s fired on me.”

 

That's it. It's a significant event in the book but it's as dramatic as a mosquito bite. You don't even meet Eros in this book. But aside from that unsatisfying scene, this was an excellent story. 

I really liked Paula as a character. She's a bit of a smartass and despite being insecure with her looks, she's not whiny or obsessive about it. Even though she needs to go along with Apollo's absurdity to get her heart's desire, she stays snarky instead of being resigned to taking his (unintentionally) hurtful comments about her appearance. The only thing I didn't really like about her was her attachment to Nick. I get the fact that he was her fiance and she's in love with him, but it got a little repetitive, even in this novella-length story. It was especially bad when:

However, for the most part, Paula rocked. 

Apollo is so absurd, he's adorable. Normally, arrogance turns me off, but Apollo is so over the top, it's impossible to take him seriously. 

"Turn away from me, and try not to think of my wonderfully developed upper arms or what you moderns call my six pack"

It's just so silly that it's funny. And Apollo genuinely does care for Paula. He warned her away from Nick from the start, telling her she could do better. He also offered to strike Nick dead for her and was in general very protective of her (but not in a controlling way). 

His lack of personal boundaries bothers me slightly. He has no concept of personal space and has no problem touching Paula randomly and without warning.

While this sort of behavior would usually bother me, I don't really mind it because it's pretty clear he's not doing it to exert power over her or because he thinks he owns her. He's just pretty oblivious to how the world works. 

However, I really liked him for the most part. He's really sweet in general and has a great dynamic with Paula. 

This was definitely a short and sweet read worth checking out. People who love romance and Greek mythology will like this book, and the other two novellas in the trilogy. It's available for free on Smashwords.