GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Book Review: Someone To Hold Me (The Gods Made Me Do It Book 6) by Lisa Oliver + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Book Review: Someone To Hold Me (The Gods Made Me Do It Book 6) by Lisa Oliver + giveaway

Someone To Hold Me (The Gods Made Me Do It Book 6)
by Lisa Oliver
August 11, 2019
395 pages
Hades, Lord of the Underworld, has spent years searching the world for his Fated Mate. He's watched his brother and nephews find their "light" and yet he can't find his. On the verge of giving up hope, Hades attends his brother Poseidon's wedding; so outside his comfort zone, but his discomfort proves worth it. Because there, at the reception, he finally sees his light.

It wasn't that Ali was uncomfortable around wolves - he'd been a good friend of Claude's for years. But when one of the wolves at Claude's and Poseidon's wedding gets verbally pushy, he feels he has no choice but to shift and find the alpha. What he doesn't expect is to find a beautiful man with soulful eyes, holding out his hand.

After all Ali and Hades have been through in their lives, you'd think the Fates would be kind to them. But between Cerberus's howling, Persephone's snarking, and Ali's family proving there is more to them than their blatant wealth, Ali and Hades have their hands full creating a life with each other. But maybe, just maybe, the Mother has a gift for them after all.

This is an MM paranormal true mates story intended for adults only. This book can be read as a stand-alone. Mpreg elements (Not the MCs, or the focus of the story)



Ali is a chipmunk shifter, and Hades is, well, Hades, lord of the underworld, ruler of all things dark and in charge of imprisoning and sentencing souls to their eternity in his realm.

In this story, Lisa Oliver presents Hades as the brother who drew the short straw and wound up with a job no one else wanted. He’s lonely, miserable, and excluded from almost everything to do with his family and has few if any, friends.

The story opens up in a club where his brother Sei is bewildered by the fact that Hades isn’t banging every piece of ass that looks his way.

But Hades is tired of sex and wants love. He’s looking for his fated mate.

Ali is a chipmunk shifter who has been turned out by his snobby family and left to his own in the big bad world. When a chunk of that big bad world on two legs decides he wants Ali to perform for him, Ali winds up in the arms of Hades, and it’s love at first sight. Or at least fated mates at first sight.

Story Concept: C
I hate to say it, but the Greek gods, the underworld, gods with mortals, gods banging mortals, lives depending on the fates, has been done, and very little has been done differently.

Shifters have been tossed into the mix, but they, along with the antagonist, feels like more of an add on rather than an ingredient.

Combine that with all-powerful beings who can snap their fingers so no one even has to crack open a bottle of lube, things get kind of silly.

World-Building: C
Worldbuilding isn’t easy and a lot of authors struggle with it. Considering the monumental concept Lisa Oliver chose to tackle, I’m surprised there was any sense of being grounded at all in the book.

Some places are fairly strong, such as the moral realm, a few spots in the underworld, but for the most part, the character interactions and experiences with their environment are rather flat.

There were so many missed opportunities to paint a fantastic visual as Ali took a tour through the underworld for the first time. The experience wasn’t rushed but there was no awe factor. Some scenes were obviously supposed to be disturbing or frightening, but the delivery left it feeling more like a Hollywood tour bus going through a carnival funhouse.

Characters: A-
As annoying as Ali could be (hyper chipmunk overdosed with optimism), he had a very distinct voice as did most of the characters in the book. They were definitely far more thought out than the actual world and held the story together even at its weakest points.

Secondary Characters: A- 
While there were a few characters I really didn’t care for, again they had distinctive voices, personalities, and were very believable, despite some of the awkward encounters.

Folsom was by far the best secondary character—humorous and very rich, even in his limited screen time.

Plot Execution: A/D
Two scores on this, and I’ll explain. Lisa did a very good job bringing about each obstacle, whether disgruntled Persephone or Ali’s less than stellar family, all the way to Hade’s facing his insecurities.

But here lies the problem. The gods were too powerful. While there were obstacles, at any time, Hades could have snapped his fingers (literally) and made it all go away. For me, this was the weakest and most detrimental part of the story. By making the gods have all, and able to do all (or almost all) dulled any physical threats and muted all conflict. Especially since this power followed Hades from his realm to the mortal world.

Now the contrast to that power (which is another part that connects to the A in this rating) is the gods' helplessness when it comes to emotional and mental challenges.

Resolution: B-
Multiple conflicts were running in this story that did not connect except by the fact the same characters were involved. Hades and Ali found each other too easily for me, the challenges I expected (ones hinted to) were not all that challenging. The delivery of the conflicts felt like a laundry list to be checked off as they were dealt with.

Hades and Ali got their fairy tale ending, of course, so there were no real loose threads left behind.

Enthusiasm: A
Overall I felt as if this author enjoyed these characters and the story. There were parts I wondered whether or not they struggled due to how those sections felt more like extra words than important events.

I think the most love for the characters came through Ali and his gregarious personality.

Conclusion:
If you love sweet, squishy, and safe, you’ll probably enjoy this story very much. It’s a good read to have when you don’t want any surprises, a little humor, some silliness, and very little action.

I think there are a lot of people out there who will find great enjoyment through the story Lisa Oliver crafted.


Guest Reviewer: Valentine


Excerpt
Cupping his hand carefully, Claude reached around his neck. Sitting on his palm was the cutest little chipmunk Hades had ever seen. He had pale gold fur, mixed with almost white on his belly and paws, and his face had two black streaks that ran from his sharp little eyes to the edge of his pointed ears. And he was pissed off. Sitting upright on his back legs, the little fellow jabbed his wee front legs around as though he was boxing, chattering nineteen to the dozen. Hades doubted anyone could understand what was being said, but they could understand the tone and it was all directed at the hapless Bart.

“Well, would you look at that,” Sei grinned reaching out a finger as it he wanted to touch. “Ali has to be the cutest little shifter I’ve ever seen.”

“Put your finger away,” Hades muttered quietly, more to himself than anyone else. “You touch him, and I’ll strip the skin from your fingers.”

But obviously he wasn’t quiet enough. “Brother?” Sei looked shocked and then a huge smile spread across his face. “You see the light at last?” Claude and the other wolves who’d all stood around wanting to be nosy, looked between them as if not sure what was going on.

Hades only had eyes for his cute little mate, who had stopped chattering and was now twitching his nose madly in Hades direction. “I’m not the greatest catch,” he said quietly, catching the little creature’s eyes, “but I’ll spend eternity doing my best to make you happy if you’ll let me.” He slowly held out his hand and waited.

Time stood still. Hades wasn’t even sure if his heart was beating anymore. The little chipmunk dropped down on all fours, looking over his shoulder at Claude who smiled, then at Bart who growled, and then back at Hades. Twitching his tail madly, he took a flying leap, landing directly on Hades’ palm. Hades quickly moved his other hand to cradle him. He didn’t want his little mate to fall off and hurt himself. But Ali showed no signs of falling. Looking up at Hades he pointed one of his front paws at Bart and started his angry chittering again.

“I know, I know. I completely understand.” Hades said, nodding, keeping an eye on the angry shifter. “This guy has upset you and he deserves to pay. I totally agree.”

“Er, bro,” Sei cast a worried look in Claude’s direction. “The wolves get upset when us godly beings interfere in pack affairs.”

“Ali’s not pack.” Hades called on his power. A voice screamed in the back of his head that this was not the right place, that he could lose his mate if the wee guy couldn’t handle who he was, but Hades wasn’t about to shirk his duty to his precious mate on the very first day. “Do you know who I am?”

The world looked different from his new perspective. In his god form, Hades’ head almost touched the ceiling – the wolves below him not even half his size. His power cloaked the room – dark, dangerous – there was not a being in existence who didn’t immediately recognize how menacing he could be, even if they didn’t know who he was.

Only Ali appeared unaffected. The tiny chipmunk looked even smaller in his huge hand, but the guy didn’t seem worried, rubbing his cheek against Hades’ thumb which Hades found rather soothing.

“I’ll say again,” Hades’ voice bellowed around the room. “Do you know who I am and who’s mate you’ve had the audacity to upset?”

“Oh, my gods,” Bart fell to his knees, blathering. “I’ve done it now. My sexy shaft is going to be the death of me. That’s who you are, isn’t it? You’re Death and you’ve come to take me away and fuck, I’m still hard. I can’t die before I orgasm, that’s just not fair.”

“Actually,” Thanatos pushed through the crowds, his mate tucked in by his side, “I’m Death and I’m not taking you today, although your god reference was highly accurate.” He looked up at Hades and winked. “The man is a simpleton, Lord; I can see his soul. He is one of the classic examples of a man being led around by his dick, but I don’t believe he meant any permanent harm to your mate.”

Hades’ heart almost stopped when Ali leaned over his finger, chittering madly at Thanatos. Tilting his head to one side, Thanatos listened and then nodded. “You are quite right, little one, that anger of his is a grave concern. Any of the Doms here know they have to respect the laws of consent. I’m sure Claude has a suitable punishment for him, though, don’t you think? You really don’t want trash like this cluttering up the Underworld.”

Ali chittered a bit more and Thanatos laughed. Hades wished he had the power to understand all languages but only Death himself had been granted that power. “You’re probably right about that too, little one. But the Fates get upset when someone takes a life unnecessarily and this man isn’t bad, he’s just misguided. I’m sure he’s going to apologize, isn’t he?” He looked back at Bart who was watching, his mouth slack.

“Apologize,” Claude growled, stepping forward when Bart stayed silent, his fist raised. “You’ve upset two gods today and Death himself, not to mention my really good friend. Say you’re sorry, or I’ll castrate you and then we won’t have to worry about your dick leading you astray again.”

“Not my dick, not my dick.” Bart doubled over, clutching the body part in question. “I’m sorry. I’ll listen. I’ll take whatever punishment you give me, but don’t kill me, please don’t kill me.”

“It seems your presence has rendered him more useless than usual,” Sei sighed, digging Hades in the thigh with his elbow. “Why don’t you take your new mate somewhere special and get to know him. You have my word Bart won’t bother you or your mate again.”

Slowly moving his arm, Hades bought his hand up to his face. His sweet little chipmunk showed no fear – even reaching out for him with his cute front paws. “Are you ready to leave?” He asked keeping his voice as low as possible which wasn’t easy in this form. Ali’s excited bobbing of his head meant his fur brushed across Hades’ cheek sending tingles throughout his whole body. Closing his eyes, Hades enjoyed the sensation for just a moment, before translocating them to his favorite earthly home. No matter how accepting Ali was proving to be, he wasn’t about to subject his mate to the cold hardness of the Underworld until he absolutely had to.


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Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams. Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips.

When Lisa is not writing, she is usually reading with a cup of tea always at hand. Her grown children and grandchildren sometimes try and pry her away from the computer and have found that the best way to do it, is to promise her chocolate. Lisa will do anything for chocolate.


Giveaway

Lisa is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card with this tour – for a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter

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