Laurel is excited to star in a new ballet production, even if she did miss out on the principal role. But when it transpires the company is to be joined onstage by arrogant, egotistical musician Ace, sparks begin to fly between them. Quite literally. Because he's not just a rock god... 

First and foremost, I enjoyed the lightness of Apollo's character and his back and forth with Laurel. It really made their relationship 'pop' from the page more than Hades and Stephanie (who do make a brief appearance in this book). Although the book is shorter than 'Hades', I think you get more from both lead characters in terms of characterisation and development, and I could certainly feel their creativity and inspiration through the descriptions of their music and dance.

Weirdly, I've heard a lot about the Muses today (for some reason, Johnny Vaughan was talking about them on his radio show this morning), so I feel like these Goddesses might be trying to kick me a little bit of inspiration... I could certainly do with it at the moment! I did like the fact that there was a bit more of a 'purpose' to Laurel's story in this sense - it's not quite the 'fated mates' trope, but the draw between the characters feels more natural here.

However, as with the last book, the secondary characters appear to be there purely to inhabit the world, rather than to play any significant part in it. Again, opportunities for layered storylines are missed and there is very little else outside the burgeoning relationship of the main couple to cling onto. It does make it a very quick and easy read, but it feels like it could have been so much more.

I suspect that the books in this series are all going to be essentially carbon copies story-wise, just with different places and people. There are a few things already that are too similar - the best friend in 'Hades' and 'Apollo' is effectively the same person, and other aspects make the writing in the latter feel a bit lazy, rather than there being a worldbuilding element. I'm not expecting any surprises in the rest of the series, but it would be nice to have a bit of a twist. But as long as I keep my expectations of that pretty low, I'll definitely enjoy the rest of the series.

It probably doesn't help that Apollo isn't my favourite of the Greek Gods (Hades has that award), so I'm not necessarily as invested in a story based around him... but it was still a good read to pass the time.