Aphrodite's Blessing [Paperback]

The goddess Aphrodite was adored and feared by gods and mortals alike; none were immune to her power. Young lovers offered gifts and prayers to her, the goddess of love and beauty, in hopes of receiving her blessings....

Content as one of the best athletes in her father's kingdom, Atalanta rebels against attempts at an arranged marriage. What she doesn't know is that Aphrodite has given her blessing to a race that will change everything.

Then there is Andromeda whose beauty rivals that of any goddess. She is devastated by her father's choice of a husband but Aphrodite has another plan for her too.

Finally, nobody wants to marry the beautiful Psyche. A mysterious suitor is finally found, but Aprhrodite decrees that Psyche must descend into Hades to earn his love.

In three love stories spun from Greek myths, Clemence McLaren, author ofInside the Walls of TroyandWaiting for Odysseus,presents these new retellings -- with all their longing, hope, fear, and love -- from the woman's point of view.Clemence McLaren is the author of Aphrodite's Blessing, a Simon & Schuster book.Running from Love

Atalanta's Story

Chapter One

A marriage offer started the series of death races that have made me famous. I always tried to talk them out of running against me. Be reasonable, I would say. What you have to gain is not worth losing your life. But they were so sure they could outrun me, a mere girl. And after that first foolish challenge, no one could have stopped the athletes from coming to compete, as word spread throughout Greece of the ultimate running contest -- with a kingdom for a prize and death to the loser.

My father was too shrewd to turn away the young men willing to risk everything, or the thousands who came to see them race. On challenge days there were dancing bears, poets creating ballads, traders from the Orient with spices and precious stones. I would be watching from a high lÃÁ