Welcome Back to Dark Olympus
3.5
Midnight Ruin Book Cover Midnight Ruin
Dark Olympus
Katee Robert
Romance, Erotica
Sourcebooks Casablanca
January 16, 2024
Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook
336

Eurydice Dimitriou has always been the innocent sister, but she's finally ready to step out of the long shadow cast by her powerful family…and the ex who shattered her heart. Perhaps rough hands on soft skin are exactly what she needs to forget her heartbreak once and for all? Charon Ariti has been Hades's right-hand man for years. He's given everything to the lower city, but now he's ready to take something for himself. He's only too happy to give Eurydice a special kind of education…but is her heart really free enough to be claimed? Orpheus Makos will do whatever it takes to make things right. Once the golden boy of the upper city, he's now a shadow of his former self. He'll do anything to get Eurydice back…even if it means she's not coming into his arms alone. Three hearts. Three futures. Countless ways to get it wrong. But with enemies slipping through Olympus's faltering barrier to lay siege on the lower city, a trio of broken hearts will be the least of these would-be lovers' worries…

Katee Robert never goes in the direction I expect her to go in. Especially in “Midnight Ruin”, Robert has me on the edge of my seat.

Dark Olympus the Series

If you’re new to Katee Robert, I would encourage you to go back and start this series at the beginning with “Neon Gods“. Being the first book in the Dark Olympus series, it sets the stage for the drama and fallout that takes place throughout all of the subsequent interconnected stories.

Modern Olympus is run by the Thirteen, group of power-hungry, backstabbing, entitled Houses filled with people who would do almost anything to keep their status. The political intrigue abounds as titles shift, alliances change, and the boundaries that keep Olympus safe from outsiders are threatened.

The Plot Thickens

One of my favorite parts of following this series from the beginning is the layered drama of the Olympus politics. Relationships change, creating new some new alliances and pulling on the fraying strands that tether others. Finally, finally, readers learn who is responsible for the wards falling around the city, and who is the puppet master behind the chaos in the streets. Katee Robert weaves small details throughout her sexy, steamy romances. Pay attention to every conversation, and every interaction. If not, you might miss something.

Romantic Ruin

Fans of open door romance will love a Katee Robert book. She doesn’t shy away from the spice. She embraces it.

The Dark Olympus series covers a range of sexual content, from multiple romantic partners and polygamous relationships, to BDSM and kink. If you’re worried about the explicit content in her stories please check for content warnings, which can be found on her website Kateerobert.com.

“Midnight Ruin” is told from three separate points of view.

Katee Robert builds a brilliant triad. Her talent for writing distinct character voices, and being able to cleanly separate their motivations and movements is clearly evident through every chapter and point of view.

Eurydice and Orpheus’ story takes place before “this “Midnight Ruin” begins. Eurydice was brutally harmed in a previous novel, helped in part by actions of Orpheus, her ex-boyfriend. She escaped, and has spent the last year living with her sister in the lower city, protected by Hades and his right-hand man, Charon. Since then, Eurydice and Charon have grown closer, building a friendship while she healed and he had to watch. Charon realizes that Eurydice will never be able to move on (and he hopes she’ll move on to him) without the closure of her relationship with Orpheus.

Orpheus, on the other hand, has been suffering due to his previous actions and has been hoping to make amends ever since. With Charon’s invitation, Orpheus crosses into the lower city with the intention of begging forgiveness. Little did he realize that his begging would be taken verbally and physically. His amends come in the form of degradation and role-play, and their relationships mend and blend in the bedroom.

I didn’t have any plans for seduction when I came home this morning. After a night of fruitless searching, my frustration was riding me hard. All I wanted was to see Eurydice and let her presence sooth me.

Then I walked in to find Orpheus kneeling on the ground at her feet.

Keeping It Real

I wish Katee Robert would push her writing limits and go just a little bit harder, both on the plot development and leaning into the character’s kinks in the bedroom. I’ve been in love with her stories since I cracked the cover of Neon Gods, especially after reading the throne room scene. The promise of consensual sex without the conventional boundaries of a ‘typical’ romance novel was alluring. It just feels like Robert sees the edge of her comfort zone and stops short.

Additionally,” Midnight Ruin” addresses one major plot point in the series story arc, but I assumed there would have been more on-page action. Ultimately, the novel feels like a placeholder for readers while waiting for the next installment. Eurydice, Orpheus, and Charon’s story doesn’t really advance the plot of the series story arc as a whole.

Katee Robert proves over and over again that she’s not afraid to write about topics that others never would. I hope that in her future stories, when she sees that invisible line in the sand, that she laughs as she puts her big toe right over it. Dive in to the deep end, baby. The readers are here for it.

Bring on “Dark Restraint”. I can’t wait for Ariadne and the Minotaur.

This book was provided in exchance for an honest review graphic