A Game of Fate
Scarlett St. Clair
Publication date: September 18th 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Hades, God of the Underworld, is known for his inflexible rule, luxurious night clubs, and impossible bargains. Used to control, he is not prepared to discover the Fates have chosen his future wife and Queen—Persephone, Goddess of Spring.
Despite her attraction to the god, Persephone, an ambitious journalism student, is determined to expose Hades for his cruel and ruthless ways.
Hades finds himself faced with the impossible—proving his future bride wrong. Regardless of his efforts, there are forces who wish to keep the two apart and Hades comes to realize he will do anything for his forbidden love, even defy Fate.
—
EXCERPT:
It’s time for terms, Hades.”
He scowled and sat back in his chair, glaring. Aphrodite threw her head back in laughter.
“Someone does not like to lose.”
Her words were like a poker in his side. Hades did not actually mind losing. He lost all the time when he bargained with mortals, but he had not wanted to lose to Aphrodite.
The goddess pressed a finger to her chin and offered a soft hum, as if she did not know what to ask of him. She was wasting his time. She knew what she wanted, but just as he was about to bark at her, she spoke.
“Fall in love, Hades. Better yet, find a girl who will fall in love with you.” Then Aphrodite clapped and exclaimed, “That’s it! Make someone fall in love with you!”
Hades’ jaw tightened, and Aphrodite stared back as if she wished to see to his soul in turn. Her terms were insulting. If it were that easy to fall in love, he would not be alone now.
“Is this your idea of a joke?” he asked, his voice quiet and calm, despite the anger twisting his insides. He was going to have to torture someone just to release the tension in his body.
“Not a joke,” she said, raising a thin blonde brow. “You’ve offered love advice. Follow it.”
Not a joke then, but retribution. She was frustrated with him for offering his opinion on her marriage.
“And if I can’t meet those terms?”
Her smile cut across her face wickedly.
“Then you will release Basil from the Underworld.”
“Your lover?” Hades could not keep the disgust from his voice. They’d just spent the last few minutes discussing her love for Hephaestus, and here she was asking for a man—her hero, to be exact. Basil had fought and died for her in The Great War. “Why? Don’t you want Hephaestus to admit that he loves you?”
She glared at him. “Hephaestus is a lost cause.”
“You haven’t even tried!”
“Basil, Hades. He is who I want.”
“Because you imagine yourself in love with him?”
“What do you know of love? You’ve never loved in your lifetime.”
Those words did not hurt, so much as embarrass him. He leaned toward the goddess.
“Basil loves you, that is true, but if you don’t love him in return, it is meaningless.”
“Better to be loved than not at all,” she countered.
You are a fool, Hades wanted to say. Instead, he asked, “Are you sure this is what you want? You have already petitioned Zeus for a divorce, now you have asked me to resurrect your lover in the event I cannot meet the terms of your contract. Hephaestus will know.”
Aphrodite was quiet, and he recognized her uncertainty in the way she toyed with her lip.
Finally, she answered.
“Yes. It is what I want.” She took a deep breath then and managed a smile. “Six months, Hades. That should be enough time. Thank you for the entertainment. It was…invigorating.”
With that, the Goddess of Love vanished.
Author Bio:
Scarlett St. Clair lives in Oklahoma with her husband. She has a Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Studies and spends a lot of time researching reincarnation, unsolved murders and Greek mythology-all of which made it into her debut novel, When Stars Come Out.
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I love that eyecatching cover!
Cool cover.
I like the cover
I can’t wait to read it!!
Sounds like a good story. Great cover too.
I love finding new to me authors because it means more books to read.
Very nice cover. Hades owns a night club? lol
The cover is really cool!
great cover congrats on the release
The cover looks really good. Sounds like a good read.
Great excerpt and cover. Sounds like a great book
Sounds like a great read. Looking forward to reading the book
Sounds like a very good book.
Great excerpt and giveaway.
I think that the cover of your book is colorful and attractive also.
interesting cover
An awesome cover, synopsis and excerpt, this is a must read for me Thank you for sharing your book and author details and for offering a giveaway
The cover is stunning!
What a fascinating book! I enjoy stories based on Greek mythology. Great cover and excerpt. I’d love to read more.
I am always interested in learning about books that I may want to read.
Sounds like my kind of read and i love the cover too.
I follow book hounds on email.
I like the cover. The books sounds interesting.
Great, intense cover – matches the excerpt very well.
sounds good..cool cover
Sounds like a great read.
Fantastic cover! It draws me in, and after reading about the book, it is now in my reading list.
I enjoyed the excerpt! Thanks!
I love anything involving Greek mythology and gods/goddesses; this one sounds really great 🙂
I like the cover
Love the cover!