The Night Belongs to Lovers Haunted Hearts
fantasy/paranormal
self
10/7/24
Kindle
245
Amazon
Amazon Link: amazon
True Love Is Eternal. Revenge Is Undying.
Ancient deities, a vengeful spirit, and the enigmatic Wheel of Destiny clash in a monumental battle for and against true love. But how potent is truth when it's frustratingly subjective and perception is easily manipulated?
Olympius and Coriolanus, two powerful immortal lovers, endure over two millennia of heartache, back-and-forth condemnations, and consummate betrayal secretly orchestrated by a malevolent, cursed ghost. And this vengeful apparition will stop at nothing, commit any atrocity, to keep the Fated Lovers apart.
From the blood-soaked streets of embattled ancient cities to the dazzling gay nightlife of modern-day Toronto, Canada, these two star-crossed lovers, these undying embodiments of darkness and the night itself, attempt to repair their shattered relationship time and again. With the aid of a wise, crafty old friend, can Olympius and Coriolanus find their way back to each other before their spectral enemy succeeds in destroying their love forever?
Review By Ulysses Dietz
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Amazon Link: amazon
Ryan Lawrence has done something madly original in his contribution to the Haunted Hearts series. Yes, there is a ghost, but not your ordinary ghost. I’ll say no more on that.
It’s even a bit of a spoiler to reveal the basic premise, but otherwise I’d have to say nothing at all. The core premise here is the stormy relationship between Coriolanus and Olympius. Olympius might be a creature of the author’s imagination, but he bears the name of a Roman general with a rather dark history. Coriolanus, on the other hand, is a rather more famous Roman general, immortalized in one of Shakespeare’s bloodier histories.
Olympius, who is the God of the Dark, one of the old gods, witnesses the brutal death of Coriolanus at the hands of betraying friends. Falling in love with the beautiful but ill-starred young man, Olympius gives Coriolanus his blood—making him immortal. A god even. And, most interestingly, a vampire. Because the nectar of the gods is in fact blood. All gods are vampires, although the more recent term vampire is considered insulting to the immortality and nobility of the gods. Who knew?
Got all that? I thought it was both a bold line to take, and surprisingly logical (as long as one embraces the reality of the Greco-Roman pantheon).
This is the story of an ugly break-up, and an extravagantly long time between that unhappy moment and what (finally) comes next. I really don’t want to give away any more plot points, but suffice it to say we learn a surprising amount about the old gods, and the new golds, referred to dismissively as “Secundus.” If you have any experience with Greek mythology (which is Roman mythology’s prequel), you won’t be surprised at the attitude the immortals bring to their dealings with humans. After all, the reason the Greco-Roman cosmos worked so well is that it explained all of woes of humankind by way of the petty selfishness and narcissistic meddling of the gods.
What makes Lawrence’s story so intriguing (and unsettling) is that the ancient-but-lesser god Coriolanus is somewhat more, uh, human, in his approach to his prey. Corey, as he calls himself, has learned to love the modern world, with all its technology and social fluidity. As the story moves back and forth between present-day Toronto and ancient Rome, we get insight into both Coriolanus’s mind, and the moral complexities of the ancient immortals.
My only unanswered question about this book is the title—unless the romance of it is presented ironically in contrast to the violent, bloody epic that unrolls on the pages. I was very grateful for the epilogue. You’ll see why.