A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Apollo is half mortal and half deity, but the one thing he doesn’t wan to do is ascend and become a full deity and not just that, he would be the god of the sun, but he would rather spend time with mortals and avoid becoming anything like his father or siblings, but that isn’t what fate has in store for him. As he battles fate and his family, he spends time with his sister, or hiding his godlike nature in the local establishments drinking until he forgets his past and use the hangover as an excuse to avoid the responsibilities of his daily life.

All that changes when he is summoned before his father, so he dutifully travels to Olympus to find out what the almighty god wants this time, however, the last thing he expects is an ultimatum and the choice he has to make is whether to immediately ascend, or whether to spend a year with Prince Hyacinth of Niria being mentored and taught how to be the opposite of what he is now, a disappointment. Neither of the choices is brilliant for Apollo, but in the end, he plumbs for another year with the mortals, even if it means he has to spend time with Hyacinth, whom from past engagements, Apollo really doesn’t get on with. Meanwhile, Prince Hyacinth receives word that he is to have Apollo as a guest in his kingdom for the next year, that it is another chore on his current list is as annoying to him as it is to Apollo, but for different reasons.

From the first day, Apollo and Hyacinth cannot get on, the both think the other is obnoxious, annoying and arrogant and that they have no idea how this year is not going to drive them crazy, but as the weeks pass, things change and what was once frustration and annoyance, turns into something else, something more heated and personal. They find that as much as they try to deny it, there is a spark there, a spark which they both try and fight in order to save those they love, but will they succeed, or will the spark ignite into a fire neither of them can control? This is a fantasy retelling filled with intrigue, romance and gods, where complications are around every corner and pressure combines with duty to create situations with outcomes which are anything but sure as this story brings you into a mythological world and keeps you there as the story plays out on the pages in front of you.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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