Tall, Dark, and Divine (Bagging a Greek God #1) by Jenna Bennett - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.*

My Pre-Reading

Title: Tall, Dark, and Divine
Author: Jenna Bennett
Year Published: 2013 (First published July 20, 2012)

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Synopsis: Being the Greek god of love doesn't mean you believe—or want—anything to do with that sappy emotion. Sure, Eros runs his matchmaking business, Made in Heaven, but finding his own love has never been part of the equation. When he spots the sweet baker who works across the street, he vows to match her with someone else before she stirs his sullen heart.

Annie Landon has given up on finding Mr. Right. What she needs is Mr. Right Here, Right Now, and this so-called “Greek God” she’s heard is on the rebound sounds like the perfect kind of distraction. But picking up the bitter workaholic is easier said than done… especially when he seems unreasonably determined to match her with someone else.

Can a woman looking for love—and the matchmaking god who wants her to find it with someone who isn't him—have a shot at a happy ending? May the best god—or mortal—win.


Review: While this is not typically the kind of book I read, I actually ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. I loved how the Greek/Cretan gods and goddesses were integrated into New York, and how they somehow managed to avoid doing anything really suspicious that would lead mortals to think they were divine beings. I also really enjoyed how they tended to pick professions based on what they were gods/goddesses of - Eros runs a matchmaking service, Dionysius owns a bar, etc. Oh, and I thought it was neat how they modernized their names as well.

I kind of felt like the romance was a little forced, but that it ended up working out eventually. The whole story takes place over like 5 days, so I guess it plays with the whole "love at first sight" thing. That's not really my style, but it seemed to work here so props for that. I also should have expected there to be sex scenes and such, because just look at the cover, but I was a little taken by surprise when I got to them. They aren't long or too in depth though, so even if those tend to scare you off, you can always skip over them pretty easily. I don't think the story would have really worked without there being a few steamy parts though, so take that as you will.

Although I'm used to a significant amount of world-building and all that jazz because of the types of books I normally read, I actually think Bennett did a pretty decent job of reconstructing the world as we know it to include the Greek gods living among us. I think she gives enough history and enough explanation without really taking away from the whole romance thing, and I was pretty impressed by that. There's also not much character development, except for maybe Eros, but again I don't think that it's really necessary in this book. It works. Oh, and I love Zeus and Dionysius' father/son relationship.

Overall, I think this was a nice, easy read. Maybe not for the younger crowd, so tread with caution if you plan on giving this to your teen. I don't know if I would read any more in this sequel (I might), but I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a contemporary romance with a twist. a 3/5 for me, but I think it would do very well in the romance genre. 


--Ashley