A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

Description

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair is the second book in the Hades x Persephone serial. It is an unflinching, sensual, and emotionally explosive story that goes even further into the characters’ darkness and weakness. This book picks up where A Touch of Darkness left off and takes readers to a world where gods live among mortals, love is both a weapon and a weakness, and even the strongest beings have to pay the price for their choices.

Persephone is no longer the secret goddess who lived under her mother’s strict control. She is now openly Hades’ girlfriend and future queen. Hades is the terrifying god of the dead. But when the press finds out about their affair, their connection, which is already scandalous to mortals, becomes the topic of cruel rumor and constant scrutiny. People are attracted by the gods who walk among people and eat up every dirty detail, turning Persephone’s love tale into something scandalous and disgusting.

People are angry, but that’s just the start. The gods of Olympus are keeping a close eye on her and are ready to take advantage of any weakness. Aphrodite, in particular, sees Persephone’s love for Hades as a weakness that she may use to her advantage. She makes a horrible deal: break Hades’s heart or pay the price. As Persephone fights back, she sees the price of disobedience, which makes her want to betray someone she can’t stand to do.

Things get even worse when tragedy strikes and Persephone’s world falls apart. She has to deal with loss that she can’t even imagine, and in her sadness, she blames Hades for all she has lost. Their once-passionate love is now full of blame, resentment, and worries that aren’t uttered. The feelings that bring them together are so strong that they could endanger the closeness they used to have. Hades, the always-grumpy god, struggles with his duty to protect her, even from things she doesn’t want to hear.

Their relationship becomes brutally real. St. Clair doesn’t shy away from the messy love lives of flawed, stubborn, and emotionally hurt characters. Hades’s yearning to own Persephone and his guilt clash with her need for independence and resistance. Their fights are as heated as the times they stole away to be together, showing how insecure they are because they have lost so much and don’t trust easily.

A Touch of Ruin is more than just a love story. It’s also about Persephone’s path to power, self-awareness, and hard-won freedom. She is no longer happy being anyone’s pawn—not Hades’s, her mother’s, or the gods’. She needs to learn to accept her magic, deal with the repercussions of her actions, and figure out what she is prepared to give up for love. The book deals with issues like loss, forgiveness, independence, and the painful but essential change that happens when you face your own darkness.

Scarlett St. Clair’s world-building is rich, vivid, and very modern. The Underworld is scary and beautiful at the same time, just like its master. New Athens is a metropolis of glamour, crime, and people who are desperate to know God. The gods are petty, spiteful, alluring, and terrifyingly real. Their old grudges play out in boardrooms and headlines.

Above all, A Touch of Ruin is a novel about how hard it is to love someone when the world and even your own anxieties are working against you. It talks about the pain of betrayal, the bitterness of regret, and the dilemma of whether forgiveness can fix what has been damaged. This book has a lot of romance that is both sensual and emotionally deep, which is what readers want.

About the Author

Scarlett St. Clair is a bestselling author of dark, seductive fantasy romance, known for her Hades x Persephone and Adrian x Isolde series. With degrees in English and library science, she brings a deep love of mythology and history to her storytelling. Her novels are celebrated for their immersive worlds, complex characters, and fearless exploration of love, power, and transformation.

Product Details

• Title: A Touch of Ruin

• Author: Scarlett St. Clair

• ISBN-13: 9781728258461

• Publisher: Sourcebooks Bloom Books

• Published: May 2021

• Pages: 448

• Binding: Paperback