This Immortal Heart by Jennifer Saint

This is the latest of Jennifer Saint’s novels telling the stories of female figures from Greek mythology. Previously she’s written about Ariadne, Elektra, Atalanta and Hera; now it’s the turn of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Beginning with the moment she’s born, the daughter of Uranus stepping fully formed from the sea, the novel takes us through many of the key events and myths associated with Aphrodite. Like the previous book, Hera, it has an episodic feel, but it’s all tied together by the overarching story of Aphrodite’s romance with Ares, the god of war. With love and war being opposites, Aphrodite and Ares seem an unlikely pairing, but maybe that’s why they’re attracted to each other – they represent the two sides of human nature, with passion the driving force behind both. Their relationship causes quite a stir on Mount Olympus, particularly when Aphrodite is forced into marriage with Ares’ brother Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmiths. The triangle of Aphrodite, Ares…