A review by annieeditor
The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson

4.0

After enjoying the first book so much, I looked forward to this second one. And while I liked this one too, I have to give Hobson credit for not trying to stretch her story out into a trilogy. "The Hidden Goddess" picks up the story of Emily and Dreadnaught and gives it a very satisfying ending.

In the last book, both characters were dragging around luggage from a mysterious past. While they ended up engaged, things start going badly because they find themselves in new positions, and neither quite knows how to handle it.

Emily strikes out to learn about who her parents were, and in the process, she also finds out more sordid details about Dreadnaught's history. Despite everyone telling her not to, she has to open that luggage up and shake out all the dirty laundry to find out not only where she came from, but where she should be going.

Usually, it irks me when a series spends one or more books bringing together two characters, only to have them separated as soon as they're a couple. In this case, though, the characters got engaged too quickly and the drama isn't "are they going to stay together" but "should they stay together." Not because of being threatened by outside forces, but because of who they are.

Hobson does a good job with Dreadnaught, who is basically a decent man, but his ambitions and the power of his job at the institute bring out the worst in him. It's a believable struggle between him and Emily, because he'd have to give those things up for her.

Oh yeah, and the fate of the world is at stake, too. They have to prevent Armageddon, and it's all thrilling.