Official Review: Olympian Passion by Andrya Bailey

Lovely_Ink · Post by **Lovely_Ink** » 27 Apr 2015, 14:05

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Olympian Passion" by Andrya Bailey.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Sabrina thought she’d hit the jackpot when she scored a coveted internship with the art museum. As a graduate student in classical studies, the possibility of working with the very Greek vases that were the subject of her thesis was more than she could hope for. That is, until she ran into the object of her desires at the preview party for the new collection. From the moment she spots him across the room it is obvious that the vases are not all that the Greek exhibit has to capture her attention. Sabrina is a hopeless romantic and the beautiful stranger across the room becomes as much of an obsession as the artwork on display.

Dr. Nikos Soulis is an archaeologist and scholar. As curator of the archaeological museum in Athens he has traveled to the states to oversee the installation. His very presence creates a stir among the young women who are fortunate enough to work with and around him. From the beginning, Nikos is hard to figure out. While friendly, his early interactions with Sabrina and the other students is strictly professional. He readily offers to share his knowledge with her for her thesis but deep down, there is so much more that Sabrina wishes that he would share with her.

The relationship between Nikos and Sabrina seems non-existent until the one fateful night when things between them change forever. Even though actual words weren’t exchanged, the communication between the two of them was enough to change the course of their relationship and set them on a path that neither of them expected to go down. Together Nikos and Sabrina have to find a way to define what’s growing between them all while dispelling the rumors flying around the museum about who’s dating whom. Sabrina’s emotional heart often overruns her sensibilities and the whole ordeal quickly becomes more than she can deal with. Nikos is in turn riddled with guilt over breaking his own vow to not mix business with pleasure.

There are so many ways that the story could go but doesn’t. One minute Sabrina is strong and in control; the next, she’s an emotional mess torn between fact and opinion. Nikos’ mysterious behavior does not help her confidence any and it seems as though all is lost. It looks as though sex before conversation may not be the recipe for the perfect relationship that Sabrina always fantasized about. She wants to be seduced and conquered like the delicate creatures in the Greek myths that she loves. Unfortunately reality and mythology do not play well together and the mess that is left behind creates a drama that no one seems to have the script for.

As a romance lover, I can definitely appreciate the strong desire that is shared between the two. My struggle in reading this was with the abrupt changes between Nikos and Sabrina. One minute they are discussing Greek art and the next, their entangled in this thing that is far more intimate than one would expect between two business associates. Maybe I missed the flirting and the subtle build of desire between the characters. Perhaps I got lost in the length of the book and the way that it seems to go on and on in parts. Whatever the case may be, there seems to be something missing in the telling of the story that draws everything together. Due to this, I have to give the book 2 out of 4 stars.

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Olympian Passion
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