Today we’re excited to participate in the Creative Blog Tour for Of Love and Forge by Carly Spade hosted by MTMC Tours. Of Love and Forge is the first book in the Beyond a Contemporary Mythos series, a cyberpunk fantasy Hephaestus x Aphrodite romance that defies myth but answers true love’s call.
I really enjoyed reading Of Love and Forge, the combination of Cyberpunk with Greek Mythology was very intriguing! Read on below for the book review, an out-of-context character interview + an International Giveaway for an opportunity to win an epic prize!
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Of Love and Forge by Carly Spade
Series: Beyond a Contemporary Mythos #1
on February 27th, 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy Romance, Cyberpunk
Pages: 397
Format: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon|Book Depository
Source: Author, MTMC Tours
I received this book for free from Author, MTMC Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
*The god of the forge…*
Life was good in the Neosphere District. I’d made a name for myself as a renowned supernatural bounty hunter, holding the record for most harpies slayed. But the best part about living in the future? Avoiding the other Olympian gods. Banishing a guy from Olympus because he was “imperfect” tends to make one hold a grudge. Go figure. And no other god possessed the means to time travel. But I did. Thanks to the portal hopping device I forged.
Yup. Life. Was. Grand.
Until a bounty popped up on a certain love goddess. Aphrodite and I had been friends since we were wee gods. I’d be lying to myself if I never thought our “innocent” flirting banter were real on occasion—kidding myself if I said I never wanted things to go beyond platonic. Hence, why I recently kept my distance. For my own sanity. So, of course, I made the grave mistake of taking the godsdamned bounty.
*The goddess of love…*
Since reconciling with my son Eros, after centuries of bad mojo, I’d decided it was time to clean up my act. Ride the straight and narrow. My companion service, Sans Solo, became just the ticket I needed. And it allowed me to use my powers in disguise in modern California under the name Vena Milo.
With the aid of my best friends, and fellow goddesses, the Graces, we ran a legitimate business. All was right in the world.
Until the volcano god showed up. Hephaistos. Heph—a lifelong friend who never failed to confuse me mind, body, and soul. Especially when he showed up with a magical pair of handcuffs. His audacity pissed me off, but the mere sight of him, the smell of him, made my stomach flutter. That…I couldn’t deny. And when Heph's plan goes to Tartarus things got even dicier and we became...the hunted.
-A cyberpunk fantasy Hephaestus x Aphrodite romance that defies myth but answers true love's call-
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Why you need to read Of Love and Forge
*This review is written by Isabel from The Reader and the Chef, all thoughts are my own. Please do not copy without permission.*
Of Love and Forge was a fun combination of cyberpunk, Greek Mythology, magic and romance! We follow the love story of Ro (the goddess of love) and Heph (the god of the forge) in a futuristic world were they both have to join forces in order to outsmart a vexed god seeking revenge on both.
I really liked the character dynamics between Ro & Heph, you can immediately tell that they have deep feelings for each other no matter how much they try to hide it. This was specially amusing to read about since we get to read both POVs and know exactly what they think/feel. In this story, they have been friends since childhood, but as they grew older, they slowly drifted apart. And it’s until now that they’re “forced to work together” (but in reality they’re both equally pleased) that they have the opportunity to reconnect.
Of Love and Forge was action packed and at the same time a diverting look into the daily life of these otherworldly gods/goddesses. Full of dramatics, revenge, power, passion and irrational personalities, this first installment of Beyond a Contemporary Mythos series was very entertaining! Definitely recommended to romance readers that enjoy tropes such as forced proximity, “there’s only one bed” & star-crossed lovers.
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Out-of-context Character Interview
with Ro & Heph!
Hi Ro & Heph! So happy to have you here today, can you introduce yourself to our audience?
Ro: Leading mortals to love day-in-day-out could get dreadfully boring. Mundane. Dull. And yes, this is coming from the goddess of love herself. (…) All of the gods still existed in the modern age, but with very few humans believing in us, it drove us to create aliases for ourselves. That is if we wished to be out in public amidst the crowds. Give me living with the humans any day over living like a hermit in a cave like Hypnos did. Big negative Ghost Rider. I’d adopted the name Vena Milo…
Heph: Hephaistos. God of the Forge and blacksmithing extraordinaire. With every bounty I took , with every being I dragged in or pulverized, there was also the right weapon for the job. (…) On Earth , in modern times, I’d simply be your friendly neighborhood blacksmith—swords for live-action role players, the occasional knife, horseshoes…
What do you do for a living?
Ro: …ran one of the most prestigious companion companies in Los Angeles: Sans Solo. Needed a date for a wedding? You got it. Someone to hold your hand at a funeral? Most certainly. We could even provide a companion for a Friday night Netflix and chill.
Heph: Dimension hopping allowed me to be my own person . My own god. And I’d made a life out of bounty hunting , made a name for myself without the inconvenience of pretending I’m anything but what I am. It suited me fine.
Dimension hopping sounds exciting, and I read that it’s done by something you created Heph! I just loved the fact that you live on the future, tell us about Neosphere District!!
Heph: Jumping in, I reappeared in the year 2104 in the Neosphere District. I fucking loved it here. Most of my godly brothers and sisters preferred to stay in modern times on Earth. Not me. Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it was existing in the modern age? They all had to disguise themselves. Take on aliases. Work mundane jobs. Me? I preferred the future. So much had changed that people never batted an eyelash at me making a hammer appear from thin air. By Olympus, I could rub one out in the corner of a pub, and no one would give a rat’s ass.
Ro: There was Las Vegas, and then there was the Neosphere District that never truly slept. Establishments were open almost twenty-four seven with rotating schedules to achieve ultimate profit.
Would love to visit one day!! You both knew each other before the start of this story, how would you describe your relationship?
Ro: In the past, we’d both taken advantage of the status of our relationship, our friendship, to gain favor. As much as we ribbed each other, we’d always been too close of friends ever to wish any ill will. Or if we’d said it, we certainly weren’t being serious.
Heph: It wasn’t as if I could ever call myself innocent, especially in my youth. We’d pulled some fast ones through the thousands of years we’d known each other— pranks, practical jokes, pure spite, and sometimes, we’d exploit each other because we could. We knew each other that well. And yet we both continuously let it happen. Back-and-forth.
So in Of Love and Forge you are forced to work together and it includes one of the favorite romance book tropes: “there’s only one bed”. Would you give our audience a sneak peek?
Ro: I couldn’t recall the last time Heph and I had ever “roomed” together. Scratch that. We’ve never roomed together. The realization bubbled as we walked into the room, and it nestled under my skin when I heard the door click and lock behind me. Nerves I never knew existed prickled my skin, but I kept my “goddess of love cool” expression.
Thank you so much for chatting with us! Cannot wait for everyone to meet you, I’m sure everyone would love you!!
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INTL Tour-wide Instagram Giveaway!
Head over to my Instagram account to enter the tour giveaway where one lucky reader will win an Of Love & Forge promo box with box art, signed paperback, art print and swag!
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Ends on March 18th, 2023. Winner will be announced on @mtmctours’ Instagram account.
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Tour Schedule:
March 6
@thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram & Book Blog
March 7
@mothergamerwriter – Bookstagram
March 8
@rozanne_visagie – Bookstagram & Book Blog
March 9
@bookworm_panda – Bookstagram
March 10
@dastardly.reads – Bookstagram & Book Blog
March 11
@monikasbookblog – Bookstagram
March 12
@thesleepybookworm – Bookstagram & BookTok
March 13
@buildingourbookshelves – Bookstagram
March 14
@elle.cheshire – Bookstagram & BookTok
March 15
@the._bookarazzi – Bookstagram & Book Blog
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Hosted by:
About Carly Spade
An adult romance writer who has been writing since she could pick up a pencil. After the insanity of obtaining a bachelor’s and master’s degree in cybersecurity, creating worlds to escape to still ate at her very soul. She started writing FanFiction (which can still be found if you scour the internet 😉), and soon felt the need to get her original ideas on paper. And so the adventure began.
She lives in Colorado with her husband and two fur babies, and revels in an enemies to lovers trope with a slow burn.
