Promises and Pomegranates (Monsters & Muses, 1)

There are so many things in this book that I adore so much. I don’t even have a favorite part because of how good this book was. If I could I would give this book a 13/10. The plot to this story was amazing and the tension between characters was so aggravating but so necessary. I would recommend this to anyone.

YEAH BUDDY. My first SRM book and I was not ready, yall. Nobody warned me: the spice be spicin’! Is Kallum not a delicious masterpiece or what?! And if hell is on a nearly private island, sign me up. 😆 very little actual mafia involvement but I was fine with that. The angsty family drama though felt so justified. Overall, this was a great intro to the series and to the author. Looking forward to more M&M books. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (quality over quantity here)

Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥POV: Dual 1st PersonM/FStand alone? There are some unresolved plot points that I think will be addressed in future books but it isn’t a cliffhanger and this couple’s story is complete in this book.This is one of those situations where everyone is saying this is a five star book and I have to respectfully disagree. Not saying it isn’t a five star book for someone, but it wasn’t for me. Why, you ask? Well, because it is a reimagining of a myth.I personally LOVE these kinds of books. The ones that are not a retelling but a whole new creation loosely based on the original. I SERIOUSLY love them. I love them for their subtlety. I love them for their Easter eggs. I love them for the new stories that resemble the old and I ESPECIALLY love the antihero versions where the “villain” wins.This book only hit a couple of my points on my personal checklist well. The story itself was wonderful, dark, delicious. I enjoyed it. The “villain” aspect definitely rang my bell. However, I love a good Easter egg hunt and most of the Easter eggs were glaringly obvious and the few that were NOT were pretty well explained in the story. Also, I don’t know how many times the author thought they needed to reference Hades and Persephone but they did so CONSTANTLY. It lessened my personal enjoyment of the story.So, while the story was good (and if it hadn’t been a reimagining then I likely would have rated it higher but being one I have to say it was ok) it wasn’t really so much for me. If you aren’t an Easter egg hunter and don’t mind the constant blatant references to the original characters of the myth then this is a really good book and you’ll enjoy it.

This story follows Kal Anderson (AKA Dr. Death) and Elena Ricci. Elena is the eldest daughter of a prominent Boston mafia family. Kal is that family's fixer and has been for years.They find themselves drawn together initially in the innumerable shadows of their world, only to find their secret drawing them into the light. They have a tendency to pull on each other's darkness in the most delectable ways.Kal is a typical (for Miller) morally grey antihero in a very yummy, controlling way - that may or may not involve knives and bloody claiming rituals.Elena is a good version of Persephone. She's aware of her naivety in a comfortable way. She knows she's hiding away from her problems, but also, she kind of deserves to, at least for a while. And when she finally does face her problems (not entirely of her own will) she doesn't just bow down and take what life is handing her. She may have grown up a people pleaser, but she's learning that she deserves to be her own person and that person deserves pleasing as well.I highly recommend this book to any lovers of dark-ish romance (it's not terribly dark, IMO, even IF the MMC is a mafia fixer known as Dr. Death). It's a steamy Hades + Persephone re-telling that's fully self-aware in a nice, almost light-hearted way. And you do NOT need to have read any of the King's Trace Antiheroes books to read this book. Though it DOES take place in the same world and there are some character crossovers.

Different from other books I have read . nice to find versions that are refreshing to read and exciting. It keeps the motive going.