Goddess of Spring

If you are a lover of classical mythology, fantasy, and romance, you will love this story. It is well written, the characters are well developed, and the story is captivating.

Carolina Francesca Santoro is a 43-year-old Italian-American woman who lives in Tulsa Oklahoma and owns a bakery called Pani Del Goddess. After Lina realizes that her business is in major debt and she might have to declare bankruptcy, she decides that she needs to expand her menu to make more money for her business. After looking through half a dozen old Italian cookbooks from a used book store, Lina opens a cookbook entitled The Italian Goddess Cookbook and finds a recipe for Italian pizza. The recipe involves chanting to the Goddess of the Harvest, Demeter. (One problem I had was that the author didn't use Demeter's and Persephone's Italian names, Ceres and Proserpine, but that's not really a big deal). By saying this chant and asking for help with her bakery, Lina got Demeter's attention, and the Goddess decides to switch Lina and Persephone. The dead souls of the Underworld are calling to Demeter because they want the comfort of a goddess, and Demeter believes that her daughter Persephone, Goddess of Spring, could light the darkness in the Underworld. However, Persephone is young and immature, and Demeter decides to send her to the mortal's world to experience life there, and manage Lina's bakery. In the meantime, Lina will switch places with Persephone to return Demeter's favor, and will visit the Underworld as the Goddess of Spring for six months. Lina and Hades soon find that they are falling in love, but Lina's conscience can't rest because she promised Demeter that she won't let anyone know that she isn't really Persephone, but she longs to tell Hades. She is also worried that Hades only loves her for her body, which is really Persephone's. The other problem is that Lina has to leave Hades and the Underworld forever in 6 months. While I liked P.C. Cast's first book, Goddess by Mistake, it seemed a little long-winded and dull at points. After reading this book, I see that Cast has polished her writing skills a lot since then. Goddess of Spring flows MUCH better, and I couldn't put it down! I also think that Cast fares very well in writing about classical mythology. I loved her descriptions of the Gods and Goddesses, and the Underworld. She paints beautiful, vivid pictures of Hades' Palace, the Elysian Fields, and the dark Tartarus. I loved how much mythology was woven into this book. The myth of Eurydice and Orpheus was incorporated very well into the story, as was the story of Dido and Aeneas. Cerberus, the dread steeds of Hades, and Charon were also mentioned, as well as the River of Styx, and the River of Forgetfulness, Lethe, which allows one's soul to be reborn in a mortal's body. I also liked how the reader was able to get to know the real Persephone a bit, and got to see how well she fared in the modern, mortal world. The romance in this book was much better than Goddess by Mistake, because it wasn't just about lust; it was about soul mates and how little one's outer appearance matters. It was so sweet and actually almost mad

Everyone has a "keeper" pile. But sometimes you come across a book that goes beyond keeper and stratospheres directly into the "Desert Island" class. You know, the books you'd want with you if you were stranded on a desert island? THIS is one of THOSE books. P.C. Cast's imaginative retelling of the classic Greek myth of Hades and Persephone gets a modern twist when the soul of the Goddess is switched with Lina, a 43 year-old baker trying to save her business. Suddenly, Lina has a new body and a dark, brooding God to deal with and Persephone is serving scones in Oklahoma. The writing is superb, sucking you into Lina's skin so that it is impossible not to fall in love with Hades and his world. The storyline works outside the typical heroine MO. The world building is brilliant, especially considering you are in the Underworld. After reading this, "I see dead people" will have a whole new meaning! Best of all, this story ventures below the skin, into the soul where wisdom and maturity are valued more than a nubile body. Refreshing. Powerful. True. P.C. made a life-long fan of me. Brava!

The Goddess Demeter feels that Persephone is to immature to handle the problems in the realm of the Dead. Carolina Santoro needs help with her bakery. She finds an old book of receipes dedicated to the Goddess Demeter. Following a receipe she invokes Demeter. Demeter suggests that she change bodies with Persephone so the the Goddess of Spring can save her bakery and she who is more mature, can fix the problems in Hades realm. This is a wonderful adventure full of magic, humor, and romance. The playful mix of myth and reality is stunning. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more.

Upon first hearing of this new 'Goddess' novel, I was ecstatic. Having read-and adored-'Goddess by Mistake,' I couldn't wait to begin this new jaunt into Cast's world of mythology. While the setting differs greatly from that of 'Goddess by Mistake,' 'Goddess of the Spring' has a charm uniquely its own. Lina Santoro, a middle aged baker from Tulsa, OK, needed a fix. Her beloved bakery was in trouble, and she would do anything it took to save it, even if that included paying tribute to the long-forgotten goddess Demeter. While believing the reward for her tribute would be a fabulous new menu item, she ended up getting much more. She landed in the realm of Demeter, inhabiting the body of the goddess' daughter, Persephone. Demeter explained that the Underworld, the Realm of the Dead, needed a goddess queen to soothe its occupants. So, at the whim of Demeter, Lina and Persephone had traded places-Lina parading to the Underworld in Persephone's body, and Persephone managing the bakery while inhabiting Lina's body. Upon reaching the Realm of the Dead Lina meets it's lord, the god Hades. There is instant attraction between the brooding, angsty god & the world-hardened baker in the body of a goddess. What's more, the dead and the creatures of the underworld accept Lina as their queen, and, more, they adore her warm spirit and kind heart. But what will happen when Hades finds out that the goddess he loves is no goddess at all, but actually a mortal? The basis of the story is a love put to the test by mistaken identity, pride, and hurt, and Cast does a fantastic job. The book left me feeling happy and content, and also left me with a lesson: things do not always run smoothly, even for a goddess, but they will work out in the end.

I just finished reading the book. And am left with a sense of complete happiness. Sounds corny and so trite, I know, but for me there is nothing better than a love story involving two characters so hopelessly in love, and a little bit of Greek mythology sprinkled in there for good measure. Cast took a legend, Hades' rape of Persephone, and truly made it her own. I expected at first, as anybody who knows the Greek myth, to worry how she would overcame this whole rape situation. However, I won't give away anything, suffice it to say, Hades has been really given a bum rap. :) Hades, is a brooding, stand-offish God, but not because he believes himself above the other gods, but because his dealing with the dead has taught him that the frivolous natures of the God no longer appeal to him. He yearns for the one thing mortals are best at...Love. And he finally finds it in the soul of Carolina Santoro. A woman who's made a deal with Demeter and has been temporarily transplanted into the body of Persephone. Through persephone's eyes she's able to do what no other god or goddess ever has, she sees the Underworld as an adventure, exciting and interesting. Not disgusting or repulsive, her insatiable desire to learn more of her surroundings and the delectable 'Batman' God, has Hades believing that perhaps an enduring love really does exist. If you want to be pleasantly surprised by an old story, and please don't expect anything to be Disney-ish, then pick up Goddess of the Spring. P.C. Cast has risen to the top of my list of favorite authors. Also if you love mermaids, check out her Goddess of the Sea, another very noteworthy read.