THE GODDESS GETS HER GUY

A recently retired surgeon travels to Puerto Rico and falls in love with Gaia.

Dr. Aaron Samuels was widowed 20 years ago and is expecting his first grandchild soon. One day during surgery, he notices a tremor in his hand and chooses to retire rather than endanger his patients. Aaron decides that since one of his daughters lives in Puerto Rico, home to the only rainforest in the United States, he should travel there and search for plants that could be turned into medicine. Meanwhile, Gaia is on a tear. She has decided to put a group of shifters on trial for revealing themselves to humans, therefore breaking the laws she's made as Mother Nature. Gaia’s behavior is so out of control that her sisters, Fate and Karma, try to set her up on a date. Maybe if Gaia falls in love, she’ll be more forgiving of human foibles. The romance between Aaron and Gaia is a small subplot in a novel overwhelmed by point-of-view characters from 12 previous books over multiple series. The novel moves along frenetically, bouncing from character to character without any kind of main narrative arc. Chase (Immortally Yours, 2019, etc.) incorporates characters and mythologies from other cultures in a way that feels scattershot, such as mixing Greek and Roman gods together. But the book also whitewashes non-European cultures. Karma, an idea borrowed from Hinduism, is envisioned here as a beautiful redhead. Although large portions of the book take place on Puerto Rico, there are hardly any Puerto Rican characters and no hint of the Spanish language or Puerto Rican culture. Gaia glibly and cruelly explains that Hurricane Maria happened because she was busy preventing an earthquake in California, but, she says: “As soon as I was free, I grabbed hold of the tail of that hurricane and unwound it. You and the rest of the western Caribbean are welcome.”

Likely to appeal only to staunch fans of previous books.