Fury’s Bridge

Selene Perkton is a present-day college philosophy professor in Santa Monica, Calif. Alec Graves, aka Alecto, is one of the furies, 5,000-year-old Greek mythological beings whose depiction here is akin to avenging angels. The oracular fates have declared that Selene is the only one who can save the gods from fading into the mists of human unbelief, and it’s Alec’s job to get her to do it, even though Selene is an atheist and Alec is relatively low in the pantheon’s hierarchy. Willows’ debut paranormal romance is cute and friendly, though it starts slowly and the fate-of-worlds plot feels routine. Alec and Selene salvage some of the book with enjoyable banter and believable sparks, but that doesn’t make up for an overall impression of thinness and lack of detail; there’s no sense of why a romance between a human and a fury might present some unique challenges beyond an atheist’s general struggle to believe in gods. Those hoping for a deep dive into the nuances of Greek mythology will be disappointed. (Mar.)