Oklahoma – Present Day, and Partholon – Under the Mystic Rule of Epona

Under the great divinity of Epona, her Chosen, Rhiannon, is the new mother of a baby daughter, Myrna, and she and her beloved mate, ClanFintan, a centaur, are proud parents indeed. All of Partholon rejoices in the celebration of Epona’s beloved Chosen’s new bundle of joy.

Meanwhile, in Okla-Yokee-homa, Morrigan Christine Parker is about to begin her first year at Oklahoma State. We’ll omit the Yokee-inserted adjective because, well, because this is Morgie’s first step into adulthood, and despite her home state’s countrified vernacular, she truly does love where she comes from, and her family, which includes G-Pa and G-Ma, her grandparents, the Parkers.

However, all is not as it seems in Partholon. Rhiannon is not the person she, ClinFintan, or her beloved Epona claim she is. Rhiannon is actually Shannon Parker, daughter of the Parkers of the Realm of Oklahoma. In a twist of fate, Shannon and Rhiannon exchanged places, and where once Rhiannon was the beloved subject of Epona, now Shannon has taken her place (DIVINE BY MISTAKE). With no choice but to fend for herself after being cast from Partholon, Shannon was banished to a tree and left to die in its trunk,(DIVINE BY CHOICE). It’s there that Pyredi, the god of three faces, saved her soul, only to abandon her after the true Rhiannon promised her soul and that of her daughter, Morrigan, in exchange.

As Morrigan celebrates her last hurrah before college and journeys to the Alabaster Caverns with her best girlfriends, she cannot ignore her sense of displacement, a feeling that she just doesn’t belong. But once she arrives at the caves and meets yummy tour guide Kyle, Morrigan feels a true communion with the darkness, dampness, and the rocks that comprise the caverns. They fairly sing to her, and for the first time in her life, Morrigan feels the oneness with the spirits and mythological world she has been brought up to revere. Literally, at her fingertips, the rocks and crystals glow and call to her!

All of her life, Morrigan has been told that her mother, Shannon Parker, was dead. Once G-Pa and G-Ma realize that their granddaughter is questioning these strange powers, they feel total truth is needed. Solemnly, they sit Morrigan down to explain that her mother was never truly Shannon Parker, but Rhiannon, once Epona’s Chosen, who had been cast out from Partholon. In a fit of disquiet and upset, Morrigan does the only thing she knows to do -- runs. Before she has her head settled on straight or has even come to terms with her own mind, Morrigan is thrown back to a time where gods and goddesses were not just legends, but real people. The Alabaster Caverns have not only become a refuge, but a place between two worlds -- present day Oklahoma, and the parallel world of Partholon. Just what is a young teenager to do when she realizes she’s come to the goddess’s world?

A vast, rich, enlightening tale, DIVINE BY BLOOD is P.C. Cast’s final story in the Divine By trilogy. Many fans know that Ms. Cast’s first book, GODDESS BY MISTAKE, later renamed and revised, DIVINE BY MISTAKE, could be considered an underground hit. The book became so popular that it was re-released by Luna, and that’s where the madness started for Shannon Parker. In DIVINE BY BLOOD, all loose ends are tied in a glorious, sizzling, heart-wrenching wrap-up. With respectful homage to the gods and goddesses that P.C. Cast so obviously adores, it’s very difficult to not get sucked into her stories and fall head over heels in love. All characters, immortal and human, are beautifully rendered and richly portrayed.

Ten years ago, I was definitely not a fantasy reader. But it’s authors like P.C. Cast and publishers such as Luna (Harlequin) that continue to up the magnitude of this genre. DIVINE BY BLOOD is not only material for a Perfect 10 rating from Romance Reviews Today, but a standard by which I think many fantasy fiction novels can be held up to. Mythological in nature, Morrigan’s journey also contains a great deal of romance that will appeal to many readers. To quote a friend, I simply lurved it, and definitely have room on my keeper shelf for it.

To get the full gist of the series, by all means, pick up DIVINE BY MISTAKE and DIVINE BY CHOICE to get in on the action from the bottom rung. However, Ms. Cast does such a fine job of telling backstory, that DIVINE BY BLOOD can actually be considered a stand-alone read. But where’s the fun in that? Grab the whole trilogy, which, in order are DIVINE BY MISTAKE, DIVINE BY CHOICE and DIVINE BY BLOOD! They’re all quite simply...Divine...

Amy Cunningham