Aphrodite knows love. Just don’t ask her to figure out her own heart. Instead, she toys with the hearts of humans. It’s a little game the gods play, and this time it’s Aphrodite’s turn to defend the domain of love. The battleground is New York City, and the stakes are high—the winner receives a token, a favor the loser must fulfill. But every god has secrets. Every god lies. And no god can be … And no god can be trusted.
Apollo is no exception. He killed Aphrodite’s love, and for that, he can never be forgiven. But Apollo is on a mission to win. For thousands of years, Aphrodite has kept him from the one he loves, but the wind has shifted, and now is his chance.
God and goddess will choose their players. The clock will start. Two humans will fall in love, or they won’t—their fates are intertwined with the gods, their hearts slave to their circumstance, a slave to the game.
And in this game of love, Aphrodite never loses.
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On one hand I loved the concept of the Olympian gods having a contest. On the other hand it is to manipulate human emotions. Mmmmm…. this story is witty, flipping between both worlds to allow you to enjoy all the characters.
“Paper Fools” (read when it was called Deer in Headlights) by Staci Hart has been on my to-read shelf for a while, so I was very excited to be accepted by NetGalley. The book is pretty short, but still manages to tell the love stories of both mortals Dean and Lex, as well as immortal Aphrodite and her multiple loves. None of the tales were rushed, they all played out well, and in a very believable and satisfactory way. I enjoyed reading about the New York story line just as much as those on Olympus.
Overall, a cute little story that I’d recommend to fans of a good love story and/or tale of the Greek Gods. I can’t wait to read more of the series.
When I read the blurb to Paper Fools, I knew I wanted to read it. I didn’t even notice until I was half way through the book that it had been edited and previously published under a different title. All I knew was that I wanted to read about Greek Gods in the modern world and the games they play on humans. That was enough to suck me right in.
I’m going to start off by saying that it was a bit slow for me in the beginning. I only ever tell people that when I really want to encourage them to keep going. Which is exactly why I’m mentioning it now. If you find yourself in the same situation, please keep going. It will be worth it.
So we get two stories mixed into one with this. The first is that we have Greek Gods who are living in the modern world. They’ve even replicated their home to reflect the current culture of the time period. They are super competitive and are always playing some kind of game/challenge. Some that last years and or decades to play out. Up next is a game between Aphrodite and Apollo and the rules are simple. Aphrodite is to pick a female and Apollo picks a male. The goal is for either Aphrodite to make them fall in love or Apollo to keep them apart. Throughout all of this, we get back history between all of the Gods. We get to see the hurt, pain and love loss that they have been through. It certainly isn’t pretty but you are left rooting for all of them to find their happiness.
Dean and Lex are the players that the Gods chose. Lex is Dean’s new drummer’s girlfriend and is an absolute no go but he can’t seem to stay away from her. He’s a bit broken and makes no apologies for his behavior in the past but Lex seems to shift something inside of him. The one person he desperately wants to be with is the one person he absolutely cannot be with. As time progresses and the Gods play a little interference, it becomes clear that the two of them are actually made for each other.
I really enjoyed the storyline here. Greek Gods in a modern world, making love matches. Or at least one of them is. Haha. While I understand that Dean and Lex are the main love story, I think adding the Gods into the world and having them with their own little story really helped tie everything together.
Overall, I enjoyed this fun yet twisted love story. If you are looking for a bit of old mixed with new and one broken singer finding his true love, then this is the book for you! As always, I look forward to Staci’s next book!
New twist on Greek Gods and Goddesses