This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Delene Vrey for Readers' Favorite
Leviathan: The Gift of Envy by JC Brown is a fantasy romance in the Sinful Seven series. The Prince of Sloth has a problem: he needs more souls, so he retrieves his Duke Astaroth from the Abyss. Astaroth is placed on the Envy, a ship under the guardianship of Leviathan, the Princess of Envy. Soon, Astaroth and Envy make a wager that could blow up in their faces, and in no time it attracts the attention of the King of Hell, Asmodeus. Since the bond cannot be canceled, he orders them to stop pursuing their wager. But Envy and Astaroth have their own idea of how things will go. In the process, Astaroth and Envy come to know each other by observing what the other does and does not do. Astaroth does what he wants, and Envy tries to protect her identity and true form. But Sloth can wear you down, and in a life older than creation, Envy has lost so much of herself that when Astaroth sacrifices himself for one piece of her, she makes a move that the players on both Heaven's and Hell's side of the treaty did not see coming. And who knows, maybe even demons can learn about love.
JC Brown has written a seemingly light fantasy romance, with the Princess of Envy and the Great Duke of Sloth as the main characters. The characters' metaphor for what drives people in daily life is nuanced, which makes the story's message even more poignant. In essence, the story is about the harm that we do to each other in the name of justice and prejudice. Envy is in the position she is because she avenged her sibling, and Heaven bound her to a life in Hell. She has lived for millennia as the Princess of Envy. Astaroth has spent centuries in the Abyss for his hand in the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah. Together, they learn how to trust again and what it means to be safe with someone after being hurt on a fundamental level. The story has humorous and emotional moments, and while the mature content is rare, it still plays a solid role in the storyline. Leviathan: The Gift of Envy is an entertaining, relationship-driven novel that will resonate with readers of paranormal and fantasy romance. If you like strong characters with questionable ethics and don't mind the Heaven-and-Hell frame of reference, you'll definitely enjoy it. It can be read as a standalone, but it's better read in sequence with the other Sinful Seven novels.
