Book Review: Open House (Pool of Souls) By Krystal Shannan

Open House
(Pool of Souls, Bk #1)
By Krystal Shannan

Blurb: 
Intrinsically woven into the fabric of human existence, Aphrodite, Titan Goddess of Love and Passion, dedicates herself to matching soul mates. 

Rebecca Carol and Robert Corvin missed their original chance to bond when Ares, God of War, took control of Robert's career ten years ago. Their souls have naturally pulled them back together for a second chance at love, but...How far will the gods go to get their own way? 

Will divine influence create another perfect match or will it tear them apart forever?

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Lea's Review: 

"Open House" is a quick and delightfully sexy read.  It's not your ordinary paranormal.  There's a twist.  The Gods of Olympus, in this case Aphrodite and Ares, play a crucial role in influencing the decisions and actions of the humans they look out for.  It reminds me of legendary Greek Mythology and the clash and chemistry between immortal Gods and ordinary humans.

Rebecca Carol and Robert Corvin are the humans destined to be together.  Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, is determined for their union while Ares, God of War does everything he can to keep them apart.

The scenes switch from the human realm to the Gods' realm.  As events unfold, Aphrodite keeps a close eye on the lovebirds through her pool of souls.  With this pool, she is able to witness what they are doing.

From Rebecca's possessions (i.e. Honda civic, non-brand name clothing) I can tell she's a working woman who leads a normal, everyday life.  She works for a realty company.  Nothing too out of the ordinary stands out in her everyday life.  However, throughout the novella, I never actually get a good picture of her physical attributes.  Although what she wears is detailed in scenes, I can't picture what she looks like.  I don't know her eye color or the shape of her face.  The only feature given is her chestnut/auburn colored hair.  Therefore, I found myself making up what she looked like as scenes took place in my head.

Robert, on the other hand, is described in detail so it's easier for me to create an image of him in my head.  He owns his own engineering company, holds a contract with the government, and is a multimillionaire.

The characters seem well-developed even for something as short as a novella.  It is outlined how they even knew each other in high school, how Robert "found" her again in the recent Fall season, and how Robert intended to make him hers in the future.  Through it all, his feelings are made known and as Rebecca falls for him, she reveals how she felt about in the past as well as the present.  

Throughout the blossoming union, the Gods are watching it all unfold in Olympus.  Ares does a couple of things to throw conflict into the mix because it benefits him more if Robert didn't have Rebecca in his life.  It's quite entertaining to see Ares do all that he can to stop Aphrodite's overall plan of bringing Robert and Rebecca's souls together.  Without this added conflict, the novella would not have been as compelling to read.  Sometimes, you have to throw a monkey wrench into a well oiled machine.  This is how I think of the Gods' interference with the humans and their relationships.  

The sex is hot and sizzling.  The chemistry between Robert and Rebecca is playful and sweet combined with encompassing sensuality.  There were moments I thought that they were going too fast, but I reminded myself that this is a novella and most novellas churn at a faster pace than a full length novel in order to tell a complete story.

Adding spice to the story is the tense and combative relationship between Aphrodite and Ares.  It's this competition between them that draws them together resulting in a hot, passionate sex scene that does justice to how I would think two Greek Gods of Olympus would have sex of the most highest magnitude.  Epic, no less:

"His cock filled her with one thrust, she screamed in pleasure as her climax rippled out from her sex. Her entire body hummed, and her essence exploded through the room as if a flash of lighting had struck. He thrust again, and another shockwave rolled through the bedroom."

Powerful words are used to convey that these are powerful Gods having sex; words such as "exploded", "lightning", and my favorite, "shockwave".

Open House is a solidly written novella.  Despite its short length, The author is good at providing detailed descriptions of the scenery.  This is always a plus with me.  I want to envision the scene the author has the characters in and I was able to do so here.  My only wish is that I had a better physical description of Rebecca and Aphrodite.  It's the males I had no problem picturing. 

The inclusion of the Gods and their interference with human relationships is a unique twist on the paranormal.  It enriches the story and has me wondering which God will prevail while the humans are oblivious to their involvement.  The back and forth quarreling of the Gods is quite entertaining, too.  I see many story possibilities with the Humans and Gods theme in this series.

Rating: 4 Stars - I Loved It