Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. In my previous post, I promised I would post something on Substack, but I am feeling creatively bankrupt at the moment. More than likely, I’ll start with a book review and go from there. For now, I’m sticking with this blog because I have been posting about this series for a bit now. Before you read this review, feel free to read all of my other reviews for this series. I’m unnecessarily committed to seeing the Dark Olympus series through. I figured that I’m in this deep, so I might as well talk about it. Dark romance and/or erotica is a tricky genre to navigate in general. I, however, believe in exploring all genres. I hope that this post resonates to someone in some capacity. It’s important to read for fun, even if its spicy. With that being said, let’s talk about the latest entry in this ongoing series.

Content Warning: Explicit Sexual Content, Violence, Strong Language

Olympus’ barrier has finally fallen. Circe’s people have breached the city and forced the citizens to evacuate their homes. The Thirteen are struggling to protect themselves and, in doing so, are tearing each other apart. Hera knows that she must kill her husband, Zeus, if she wants to survive this war. Zeus, however, finds himself drawn to Hera’s fiery personality. The two are forced to set aside their differences if they want to defeat their mutual enemies. As the city begins to crumble, Zeus and Hera find unlikely allies in each other. There might be something real in their arranged marriage after all. This might be the beginning of something new, or it could be the end of everything they have ever known.

After nine books, we are finally getting to the “war” part that Katee Robert has promised us. With that being said, Tender Cruelty has been one of the more engaging entries in this ongoing series. As for the romance aspect of this novel, I found Zeus and Hera to be much more compelling than I had initially thought. While the plot went where I thought it would, I appreciated that there was a slight element of uncertainty sprinkled throughout the novel. This book was significantly more tense than its predecessors in more ways than one, which made it all the more entertaining. As for the erotica elements, it was a tiny bit more on the tame side, but still immensely enjoyable. I liked the “will they, won’t they” element that Katee Robert adds to this particular relationship. Overall, I am happy to say that Tender Cruelty is one of the stronger novels in the Dark Olympus series. I hopelessly hooked to this series and have no intention of quitting any time soon.