Right up front, I’m going to explain why the title isn’t bad grammar. Because for some reason it was throwing me every time I saw it, until I started reading and went ‘oh!’
The Gods Defense is what someone dubbed the excuse a criminal could use when the gods made them commit a crime. Sort of like the ‘I was out of my mind’ defense. And I suppose at this point you realize I’m not talking about your ordinary legal thriller courtroom drama. There is some courtroom in the book, and the main character is a lawyer, but…
Amie Gibbons’ Gods Defense is set in our world with a twist. Magic has returned after a 5000 year absence, and the gods of myth have awoken. People are finding that they suddenly have powers, and animals can talk (well, some of them. But I really love the flying kitten Mira with her hoverboard minigun. Yeah, some things are just too cute for words.) Speaking of cute, this book is a fun, frothy romp with subtly underlying questions of philosophy, personal freedom, and free will. The main character is a young lawyer who is determined not to become the personal lawyer (and more) of the newly-returned god Apollo. He is equally determined to have her, for reasons she isn’t entirely sure of.
Rounding out the cast of characters are her two best friends, also lawyers and also newly magical, Hades and Persephone (rather fun, in this story), and the grumpy but flirty senior god Zeus. All together, they are trying to maintain a fragile alliance that could be all that stands between humans and extinction – or worse, slavery. This is straight-up paranormal romance, complete with real sparks flying, so don’t expect anything heavy. It’s a light read, for all that it does touch on serious topics.
Oh, and the main character is armed and dangerous, in addition to being a magic user. It’s one of the really fun things about this book, the sheer practicality of the heroine (when she isn’t falling victim to her hormones around Apollo) and her friends, too. Coming from Amie, it was no surprise to me, but I suspect my readers will enjoy it even if they don’t usually read this genre.