Promises and Pomegranates is a standalone, dark contemporary romance inspired by Hades and Persephone. If you are not a reader or enjoy dark contemporary literature, this book and series may not suit you. Some triggers may include: age-gap, forced marriage, and knife/blood play. Read at your own discretion.

Elena Ricci, daughter of a Mafia Don, is to wed the son of a rival family. However, Kallum Anderson comes to the ‘rescue’ by forcing her to marry him in an effort to ‘save her family’, while also having a hidden agenda.

I have heard of Hades and Persephone but never put the effort into learning more about the myths. I cannot confirm if Promises and Pomegranates is a worthy retelling of their story, but I will say that this book was not exactly my cup of tea. While I enjoyed the growing plot, it definitely needed more building to leave the reader satisfied. This novel was hard to push through due to wanting and needing more ‘meat’ but instead got nothing but spicy scenes. Don’t get me wrong; I love spicy scenes as much as the next; however, I feel there was an unnecessary amount in this novel, in addition to being unnecessarily long and sometimes cringe-worthy with some of the dialects.

I give this book a 3/5 - and that’s being generous.

Again, please read at your own discretion if you choose to read this book and/or series.