[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Child of War: A God is Born

Lisa Beth Darling has been married for the last 25 years to her wonderful husband, Roy. The two live in New London, CT where they raised two (now adult) daughters.

Her latest full-length novel The Heart of War blends timeless Greek Mythology with Erotica, Romance, and Suspense as Ares God of War falls in love with Alena, a seemingly fragile Fey. The lovely Alena is on the run from Cernunnos, Celtic God of the Forest and Death. The peace and quiet of Ares' secluded Greek isle is interrupted when the Olympians demand he turned her over to them. Glorious battles, hot romance, and dark passions combine in "The Heart of War".

On December 31, 2011 A God is Born when Ares and Alena and welcome their son, Raven into the world in Child of War

Lisa proudly boasts that her writing career began in her junior high school years, around the 7th grade. A fact which her fellow students adored but often got her called down to the Guidance Counselor's Office to discuss her stories. Not deterred by the counselors but instead spurred onward by them, her teachers, and her classmates, Lisa continued to hone her craft throughout those formative years.

Today, Lisa brings conflict, passion, love, and suspense to unique couples through her full length novels. Never one to shy away from the less pleasant things in life, and instead believing it is in the Darkness where Character is created, determined, and defined, her heroes and heroines have their love tested by demons from within and without.

Child of War:  A God is Born, OF WAR series Book #2

Author:  Lisa Beth Darling

Synopsis:  Do you know 'Damien'? Raven makes that kid look like an angel.

The "Of War"-series picks up in part I of this II-part sequel when Ares and Alena try to settle down on Olympus and await the birth of their son, Raven.

Haunted by prophetic visions along with a body and mind that are starting to betray her, Alena struggles to enjoy what should be a happy and blessed occasion. The relentless hostility from the other Olympians make her yearn to be back on their cozy island home, far away from all the bickering and backstabbing that makes up Life on mighty Mount Olympus.

Knowing of Zeus' unabashed hatred for Alena and the Celts, Ares becomes convinced Zeus is causing these visions and the breakdown of Alena's mind. To appease his Father, the God of Gods, Ares enters into a wicked blood pact ensuring the safety of his wife and unborn son. A pact that could cost the God of War everything he holds dear.

However, once the boy arrives, it quickly becomes clear Raven may be the most powerful and cunning Olympian ever born. Outwardly despised by Zeus for his Fey blood and his filthy Celtic mother the seeds of rage and doubt are planted in the Raven's mind by a very willing Apollo.

As Zeus, Apollo, and Aphrodite plot against the new family, bit by bit the true pasts of the Olympians and Celts comes to light, the battle begins for Raven’s mind and soul and for the ultimate control of Olympus
Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:

Lisa Beth Darling’s 2^nd book in the Of War series was everything I expected it to be – dark, sexy, vicious, and absolutely gripping.   

Child of War picks up where Heart of War left off, with Alena pregnant and she and Ares living on Mt. Olympus as a happily married couple (well as happy as a married couple on Olympus can be anyway).  The pregnancy is tough on her though and she’s experiencing a lot of things that are downright scary - all of which are compounded by Ares’s completely dysfunctional Olympian family and their inability to accept her heritage.

Once Raven enters the world things get even more, um… interesting…

Alena and Ares’s love, one that has dumfounded the rest of the Olympians because of its strength and purity, is tested to its limits by the stressors of parenthood, life on Olympus, the interference of Ares’s family and by their child himself. 

Raven is something else.  As the synopsis states, he is definitely no angel, and he is Ares’s son (as Ares was before Alena) through and through with an added dose of wicked thrown in.  Highly advanced, even for an Olympian, this child is a force of nature and then some and had me gasping and shaking my head more than once.

There were so many moments in this book where I was mumbling profanities at one character or the other or being aghast at something that happened, that had anyone been around to witness it, I probably would be institutionalized!  It was simply that moving.

I will say again, however, that Lisa’s books are not for the faint of heart.  If you want a fluffy paranormal romance this is not the place to look.  If you want a dark erotic romance with enough thriller to be captivating and intriguing, then this series is definitely for you.  Anyone who has read any actual history books on the Gods and Goddesses knows that times were not like they are now and that things were different, they were more brutal.  Lisa brings back that dark reality in her Of War series and it simply wouldn’t be the same without it.

An amazing second installment to a wonderful series, this one ends on one heck of a cliff-hanger and had me very upset that the 3^rd book was not available yet because I didn’t want the thrill ride to end. 

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Child of War:  A God is Born 4 ½  Skulls and would recommend it for anyone who loves mythology and is looking for an edgy, gritty, erotic paranormal romance.  We highly recommend  reading Heart of War before settling in with Child of War though, there’s just too much history and story that you’d be missing and you’ll enjoy Child of War so much more if you’ve read Heart of War first. 

I cannot wait to see what Lisa has in store for us with Child of War:  Rising Son.  The way things progressed and her writing evolved just from book #1 to book #2, I can only imagine that great things are in store. 

Child of War:  A God is Born: