Goddess of Partholon Series: Divine By Mistake

Posted by Saluki in Book Reviews, Fantasy, Mythology, Paranormal, Romance, Stray Thoughts with Saluki | 2 comments

Divine by Mistake, by PC Cast

reviewed by Saluki

Most of you have probably heard of P.C. Cast because of the House of Night series she writes with her daughter Kristin.   However, what many of you might not be aware of is an equally riveting series P.C. writes on her own.   I wasn’t aware of this series until a representative of P.C. Cast herself emailed MVF to ask if we would like a copy of the books.  Apparently she had come across SarahBella’s review of Immortal and was gracious enough to contact us.  So, instead of my normal column, I’m going to review Divine by Mistake, the first book in the Goddess of Partholon series for you today.

Shannon Parker is a thirty something high school English teacher.  Summer break has just started, and she is elated to have three months in front of her with no work to think about.  Sure, Oklahoma isn’t the most exciting of states, but there is plenty of antiquing, which besides reading is Shannon’s biggest passion.  June first starts out like any normal day, with Shannon jumping in her Mustang and heading to an estate sale.  However, this particular estate sale will prove to be anything but normal.

As Shannon walks along the carefully arranged items, she sees plenty of interesting things, just nothing that really catches her interest.  That is, until she sees it – “Reproduction – Celtic vase, original stood over graves in Scottish cemetery – Scene in color represents supplications being made to the High Priestess of Epona, Celtic Horse Goddess.”   Suddenly, she finds it hard to breathe and it feels like time is standing still.  As she draws closer, she recognizes the woman on the vase has hair identical to hers and a matching scar on the back of her right hand.

When Shannon reaches out to touch the vase, she pulls her hand back, stunned that it is hot.   She walks away to get a drink and immediately feels better.  Eventually she wanders back to the pottery section and immediately starts to feel weird again.  Whatever it is about the vase, Shannon knows that she wants it.  However, the bidding quickly surpasses her meager allowance.  She feels awful, but there is nothing she can do.  She was outbid.   She watched the winner gleefully examine his purchase.  His glee quickly turned to ire as he found a small crack in the vase.   When a second round of bidding turned up no interest, Shannon was able to buy the vase that had affected her so profoundly.  On her way home, the vase started to heat up and burst from the box it was stored in. Shannon lost control of her car, and just before she lost consciousness, she caught a glimpse of her mirror image rushing towards her, naked with her arms outstretched.

As you might have guessed, this is where things get interesting.  Shannon wakes up, not in a hospital bed, but in another world.   A world in which she is Rhiannon, High Priestess, Epona’s Beloved and Goddess of Partholon.  At first, Shannon thinks it is all a big joke because the woman at her side looks just like her best friend Suzanna.  Of course, in this world, Suzanna is actually her servant, Alanna.  Poor Shannon is totally confused and has no idea how to act in this new world.  Luckily, Alanna knows that the real Rhiannon had planned the switch, so she does her best to help Shannon navigate the unfamiliar customs and rituals of her role as Goddess.

If all this isn’t enough, Shannon she discovers that the reason her servants and guards are wary when she is near is that Rhiannon is a total bitch.  They tip toe around in an effort to avoid Rhiannon’s fiery temper.  If that isn’t enough she is told that she is to be handfasted to ClanFintan, High Shaman of the centaurs.  Needless to say, Shannon is shaken to her core by the new life she has been handed.  But, it turns out that becoming Rhiannon might turn out to be the best thing to happen to Shannon and her kingdom, at a time when it is facing it’s most daunting enemy in hundreds of years.

I don’t want to divulge much more of the plot, but I will say that there is plenty of action, but in and out of the bedroom *wink wink*  And, for those of you who are wondering, ClanFintan can shift into a human man for short periods of time.  Don’t worry, I was a little squicked out until this little piece of information was divulged too!

This book swept me up from the first chapter.  I love Shannon.  She is a tough, smart woman who doesn’t give up or back down when faced with what most of us would find an impossible situation.  She fights hard to change the opinion that her servants have of her by being kind and respectful.  She also finds a great friend in Alanna, and I love their interaction.  I also love the fact that Shannon throws around pop culture references, when those around her obviously don’t know what she’s talking about.  To her her explain colloquialisms, the news media, and other modern inventions had me cracking up.

Any teachers out there will truly appreciate this book and all the humor that evolves around comparing war against demonic creatures to teaching high school English.  Rhiannon is known as a great story teller, so is able Shannon to take advantage of all the books she has read to keep up the facade that she really IS Rhiannon.

Finally, I know you will all fall in love with ClanFintan.  Yes, he is very sexy, but his appeal runs far deeper than that.  He treats Shannon as a true equal, giving her the respect, but also being there for her as both her physical protector and emotional anchor.  He is now one of my new favorite men of fiction. Yes, ClinFintan and Shannon figure out their love for each other rather quickly. But it just fit in this story. They are two adults who know what they what, so it all felt real and not forced to me. It was so obvious that these two should be together that I was glad I didn’t have to wait around to see it.

If you enjoy fantasy, romance, epic battles , muscular Greek god-like men standing guard at your bed chamber, best friends helping you out and the world of Goddesses and Muses, you will really enjoy this book. It’s not one of those bodice ripping romance novels, but it has enough steam to keep you feeling warm and gooey on the inside while you’re reading it!

I give this book five out of five fangs; go out and buy your copy today!

MIRA, the UK company publishing this series asked that we promote the recent release of the Goddess of Partholon series there.  So, for all of you P.C. Cast fans in the UK, you can now purchase the books for £6.99.

Stay tuned for my review of the second book in the series, Divine by Choice.