I was immediately drawn to the story of the book .At first it was interesting, getting to learn all the characters and trying to figure out the little mystery, but as the book progressed i found myself enjoying it less. The numerous missing words throughout, errors etc became quite annoying after a while, and Alena as a main character is not very likeable.One moment she's badass and the next one she's cowering in corners terrified.The sex scenes were not great either. I finished it because i did like the story itself, just the other things spoiled it for me. ( )

4.5

*Book source ~ Review copy provided by InD’tale magazine.

Ares, the God of War, is an Olympian in exile. Banished for a crime he knows he didn’t commit he nonetheless is enjoying his time away from the annoying denizens of Mt. Olympus. Until the morning when a woman washes up on his shore. Who is she? And how did she come to be on his island out of all the islands in the ocean? A moody and grumpy God, Ares does not like mysteries. He needs to find out who she is and why she has shown up out of the blue.

Magdalena McLeod has amnesia though her memory is slowly returning while on the island belonging to Ares. Many things come back to her, but how she came to be on the island just isn't one of them. In the meantime she has to deal with the big, brutish, handsome and sexy Ares. Will she survive his attentions?

Epic. With plenty of mythology, secrets, lies, enemies, intrigue, steamy sex and colorful characters this story has it all. Well, except romance. There’s not much hearts and roses involved. I mean, we are talking about the God of War after all. But he and Maggie do muddle along quite well in their courtship. The sex between them heats up the pages and Ares goes from being a guy who I consider a douchebag to a fairly decent Alpha dude, if you like your men big, brawny and bossy.

Be warned that there are scenes of violence including rape and torture as well as very rough sex and let’s not forget that Gods and Goddesses had sex with each other even if they were related. These items may disturb some people, so I wanted to give fair warning. My only complaint is that the story tends to drag in parts and I really, really hate the other Olympians. I mean, seriously. Can we say Asshats with a capital A? All-in-all a wonderful read. ( )

I won a copy of "The Heart of War" by author Lisa Beth Darling from a book give-away from LibraryThing. I actually won this copy on April 2, 2014 and had it sitting in my to read file on My Precious (LOTR referrence). Having several book review deadlines, I just never did get an opportunity to read this little steamy jewel, until now.

When I created my blog, I orginally said I didn't want to read/review erotica. I just didn't want my new baby to be overwhelmed with this genre. I had read a couple erotica in the past and was not too impressed. It reminded me of the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am style of porn. To me, I like a book to have depth.

It was my best friend that demanded I read "Knight & Play" by Kitty French. It was after reading this series, I found that there was actually some good books that fell into this genre that had more than just sex.

With all that said, "The Heart of War" is one of those books that falls into this category. So, before I begin my review of this hot piece of work, I want to give a warning. It is for 18+. There is graphic sex scenes, rape and violence. If this is something that doesn't sit well with you, then I wouldn't suggest this book.

*****

"The Heart of War" starts off with Ares God of War on his Greek Island. He has been exiled from Olympus by his father Zeus and forced to live amongst the mortals. Ares not only lives for conflict and war with the humans. He's also a sex craved God.

The only way that any women are ever brought to his island is if he seeks them out. All of them are lost, abandoned and loney women. Each has their place in his little heram that he has created. With all the woman around him, one has declared herself #1...Katrina.

Thing start to get heated up when a strong odor is detected from Ares. It's an odor that he hasn't ever smelled before on his island. On a quest to discover what is going on, he finds that a woman has washed upon his shores.

Unsure who this mystical woman is, he summons his Uncle Neptune to get to the bottom of this. Neptune reassures him that he had nothing to do with this lost sole. With nobody around to say who she is, he takes her back to his cave to figure out this mystery woman.

Magdelena MacLeod (Alena) wakes up to find herself in a bed, in an unknown place. She doesn't know how she exactly got here, where she is, or if she is even safe. All that she knows is that she isn't floating in the ocean anymore.

With Ares already spying that she has a golden chasity belt around her waist, he starts to question who she actually is and who she belongs to. With the celtic designs on the belt, he has a feeling that she must be a woman of some importance and will be missed by her master.

Ares soon learns that this woman, who is in his possession is not just any woman. First, she is mystical. With long silver hair an beauty as he has never seen, he is simply taken. Plus, he discovers that she is a force to be reckoned with. Where all other women are submissive to him, this woman is defiant. She stands up to him, puts him in his place, refuses to be ordered around and shows that she is just as independent and capable of survial on her own.

It's through a series of arguments with his disfunctional family that sits high in Olympus that that they discover she is a Fey. She belongs to Cernunnos the Celtic God of Forest & Death. However a mystery surrounds why she is in chasity and on Ares island.

It's Ares that learns that he has the magical touch (IN OH SO MANY WAYS) to remove the chasity belt that has been on Alena for hundreds of years. Once free of her burden, Alena starts to discover that there is something about Ares she can't deny.

Not only do the two develop a friendship of sorts, but an affair begins that will rock not only Ares and Alena's little piece of Earth, but also the heavens of Olympus as well.

*****

Ms. Darling builds such a great story about the relationship of Alena and Ares. We learn so much about who these two amazing and strong-willed individuals are. We learn history of the Gods and how screwed up they actually are.

What really makes this story tick is the sex. There is several different things that make this great. One is the "foreplay," if you want to call it that. Alena and Ares are battleing with each other and the sexual tension just keeps building. At one point I just wanted to say, "just get it on!" Then there is the well written love scenes. I'm not going to go into any detail. I can tell you this...I would had been willing to swap places with Alena any time of the day or night.

This was a long story at 594 pages. It did take me 3 days to get through it. Not one moment in this book was dull. If it wasn't the bickering and backstabbing of the Gods. You were witnessing jealously of the mortal women. The story was so well written that you could actually transport yourself onto the island and swear you were walking amongst greatness.

I will be contacting the author to beg an plead to read more of what she has penned. I want to see how Alena and Ares learn to grow and deal with the adversities that they will be facing. This is going to be one good series to follow ( )

Strong book with great detail of mythology and the kingdoms within. Erotic and dark romance, but very fitting in the story. I think this will be a good series and hope the descriptions remain vivid throughout. ( )

Author: Lisa Beth Daring
Published by: Moon Mistress Publishing
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Series 1
Rating: 5

Review:

"The Heart of War" by Lisa Beth Daring was a good mythology erotic dark romance read that was the first in a series...Of War. We find from this read that the main character named Alena who has been on the run hiding from Cernummos. Another main character was Ares who was ancient Greek God of War who had be exiled from Olympus to Greece. It was there that he finds Alena and becomes captivated by her as he learn more about this strange woman. Only before they can "have a relationship truth must be uncovered, and the psychopathic evil God stopped." Now, is the time that I say you must pick up this read to get the fool story of mythology. You will definitely see 'The Gods of Olympus are engaging with such characters that are simply strong and interesting. Be ready because there is heavy eroticism leaving you only to say Wow! There will be plenty of 'subplots and back stories' from many viewpoints Alena, Ares, Cernummos and Eros. Be prepared for a lots of violence...rapes, beatings...real violence. Do note that "The Hear of War" is a Adult read.

I believed that author did a wonderful job with writing "The Heart of War" and I would recommend as a excellent read. ( )