{Blog Tour} Interim Goddess of Love

I am so excited because this is my first time to join a blog tour but to be honest I am not really sure how these things go. Here is my review of the three books in Mina V. Esguerra's Interim Goddess of Love trilogy. Hope you like it and make sure to also join the giveaway! ;)

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Book 1 - Interim Goddess of Love
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College sophomore Hannah Maquiling doesn't know why everyone tells her their love problems. She's never even had a boyfriend, but that doesn't stop people from spilling their guts to her, and asking for advice. So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise when the cutest guy in school tells her that she's going to have to take on this responsibility -- but for all humanity.

The Goddess of Love has gone AWOL. It's a problem, because her job is to keep in check this world's obsession with love (and lack of it). The God of the Sun, for now an impossibly handsome senior at an exclusive college just outside of Metro Manila, thinks Hannah has what it takes to (temporarily) do the job.

While she's learning to do this goddess thing, she practices on the love troubles of shy Kathy, who's got a secret admirer on campus. Hannah's mission, should she choose to accept it, is to make sure that he's not a creepy stalker and they find their happily ever after -- or at least something that'll last until next semester. (As if she could refuse! The Sun God asked so nicely. And he's so, well, hot.)

Book 2 - Queen of the Clueless

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If you've been feeling neglected by the Goddess of Love lately, don't worry -- Hannah Maquiling, college sophomore, is in training to take over. The Original Goddess is missing, but Hannah is Interim Goddess now, and she should figure out how to solve humanity's love problems soon. Quin (God of the Sun) is still her mentor, still really hot, but apparently isn't as honest about his other earthly relationships as she thought. It's frustrating, and enough to make her check out possibilities with Diego (God of the Sea) and Robbie (Cute Human).

In the meantime, she's decided to spend some of her precious training time helping to break up a relationship, instead of putting one together. Why? Because the girl in question happens to be her best friend Sol, whose boyfriend is stealing not just from her, but from other people on campus. Sol didn't exactly summon the Goddess, but this is what power over Love is for, right? Surely it's not just about matchmaking, but ending doomed relationships too. (Even when it's not what people want.)

Book 3 - Icon of the Indecisive

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College student Hannah Maquiling, also temporarily working as the Goddess of Love, has had enough of everyone asking for her help when it comes to relationships. It's her turn to find romance! She deserves it, after serving as matchmaker and confidant to everyone else in Ford River College for the past year. She's had a crush on handsome senior (and God of the Sun) Quin forever, but he's destined to fall in love with an extraordinary mortal woman, so she's figured her chances with him have pretty much dropped to zero.

It's not like she doesn't have any options for a classic college romance though. There's Diego, God of the Sea and Quin's best friend/ enemy. And regular guy Robbie is stepping up, making sure she knows how he feels about her. How hard can it be for a goddess to find someone to love, and be loved in return?

As the {interim} goddess of love, Hannah took it upon herself to fulfill her mission: make the world less lonely. She intends to do that, one "project" at a time. As months pass by she is able to learn the full extent of her powers under the other gods' training, and she is able to grant multiple wishes - like learn if this love is unrequited or not, or if one's crush likes him or her back, or even if it's time to move on already or not - simultaneously. As far as these projects go, they go more complicated than the one before it; first there was only the case of pairing two people who like each other but can't seem to let the other know, next it was a case of stealing and abusing one's power over others, and then it was teenage pregnancy. But as expected, Hannah gets through them with as much grace as an {interim} goddess of love can muster, with a lot of lessons along the way.

The story is a bit confusing at first because of the shifting points of view and scenarios, but as I read it I found myself enjoying it more. I've always been fascinated by mythology in general (a huge chunk on my bookshelves are occupied by books on mythologies from different parts of the world) and I have always found fictional works with a healthy serving of gods and goddesses' mischief interesting. The Interim Goddess of Love trilogy demonstrates what will happen when gods and goddesses meddle with human lives, only with a lot less malevolence like in Iliad, Hercules, or Neil Gaiman's American Gods. You'd think these beings have more pressing matters to attend to than the love affairs of college students, but I guess one shouldn't question the omniscience of Bathala. 

I liked how the author wrote the characters because even though Hannah is the main character, I feel like the others can stand on their own. I share my friend Alex's sentiments when she said Diego should be given his own spin-off series. How about it, Mina? ;)

If anything, this trilogy makes you realize that love isn't really just black and white. There are a lot of intricacies involved, even without all these gods and goddesses intervening.

So who will Hannah end up with? Why did the Original Goddess of Love go missing? What is Quin really on about? Do the gods and goddesses feel human emotions like (gasp!) jealousy, too? Why doesn't Vida want Hannah to be the Goddess of Love? And the most important question of all, can I have my own Robbie please? It is not enough to read just one book out of the three - you have to read all of them to know. And if you join this giveaway, you might just win yourself free copies! Also, don't forget to check out the posts of the other participants in this blog tour by clicking here. ｡◕‿◕｡ 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mina V. Esguerra writes contemporary romance, young adult, and new adult novellas. Her young adult/fantasy trilogy Interim Goddess of Love is a college love story featuring gods from Philippine mythology. Her contemporary romance novella Fairy Tale Fail won the 2012 Filipino Readers' Choice award for Chick Lit. Through her blog Publishing in Pajamas, she documents her experiments in epublishing.

When not writing romance, she is president of communications firm Bronze Age Media, development communication consultant, indie publisher, professional editor, wife, and mother. She created the workshop series "Author at Once" and #romanceclass for writers and publishers.

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"Because, though I'd seen and felt just a fraction of all the love in the world,

I knew that when people thought of love they thought of moments. Whether or not a marriage worked out, or if they stayed together after graduation, or if they did go to the big dance together, the story's end mattered less, and the highlights in between mattered more. These are what lingered, and what people can go back to, even when they had nothing left."