{Story Diary} Interim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra

Jan 23, 2018

YA set in college in the Philippines, featuring gods of Philippine mythology


interim goddess of love mina v. esguerra #romanceclassInterim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra
Older YA/College, Contemporary Romance, Philippine Mythological Element
April 21, 2012 from Createspace



College sophomore Hannah Maquiling doesn't know why everyone tells her their love problems. She's never even had a boyfriend, but that doesn't stop people from spilling their guts to her, and asking for advice. So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise when the cutest guy in school tells her that she's going to have to take on this responsibility -- but for all humanity.

The Goddess of Love has gone AWOL. It's a problem, because her job is to keep in check this world's obsession with love (and lack of it). The God of the Sun, for now an impossibly handsome senior at an exclusive college just outside of Metro Manila, thinks Hannah has what it takes to (temporarily) do the job.

While she's learning to do this goddess thing, she practices on the love troubles of shy Kathy, who's got a secret admirer on campus. Hannah's mission, should she choose to accept it, is to make sure that he's not a creepy stalker and they find their happily ever after -- or at least something that'll last until next semester. (As if she could refuse! The Sun God asked so nicely. And he's so, well, hot.)

Special edition containing the complete Interim Goddess of Love trilogy, a YA fantasy romance featuring gods of Philippine mythology.





Manila, Philippines

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Alabang, Philippines

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The original Goddess of Love went M.I.A., so Hannah is filling in as the interim goddess of love.


  • whenever someone summons her, and she chooses to honor them with her attention, they become hers (responsibility, I guess)

  • responsible for listening to people's romance woes, and her job is to make sure things happen as they should

  • has the ability to see people's memories


  • it's her duty to listen to people: receive requests, pleadings, demands, and her job was to decide what happens next

  • the goddess of love is called with a song

  • she could decide in your fate in less than a second

  • she could listen to the hearts of all the world's people and pass judgement on every request in the same moment, something the interim goddess of love (Hannah) is bound by the laws of time and space


Quin has magical abilities as the sun god of the Tagalogs, but his main focus here is to mentor Hannah in her newly appointed duties.



  • has the ability to levitate or mold objects, which also results in projection of lights from the palms of his hands

  • can multitask

  • probably other things that will be revealed in the second and third books


Diego is Quin's frienemy. Also the campus troublemaker.

  • abilities: unknown (as of yet)

  • has a hot temper, though


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Bathala is the Pantheon god of creation in ancient pre-colonial Philippine mythology. Also known as Abba, he is the highest-ranking deity, described as "may kapal sa lahat", the creator of everything. He is the caretaker of nature and the creatures of Earth. [more info]


He's only mentioned in this book, so we'll see if he has an appearance/role later in the trilogy.

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Filipino food



interim goddess of love food collage

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Tita = auntie
Ang Alamat ng Araw at Buwan = The Legend of the Sun and Moon
Barkada = group of friends; squad; gang

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[Learn about the Legend of the Sun and the Moon here]




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"Anything worth knowing is taught to kids first anyway."

--Mina V. Esguerra, Interim Goddess of Love (Loc 675)



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Mina V. Esguerra writes contemporary romance novels. Through her blog Publishing in Pajamas (minavesguerra.com), she documents her experiments in publishing.

When not writing romance, she is president of communications firm Bronze Age Media, development communication consultant, publisher, and publishing mentor. She created the workshop series “Author at Once” for writers and publishers, and #romanceclass for aspiring romance writers.

Her young adult/fantasy trilogy Interim Goddess of Love is a college love story featuring gods from Philippine mythology. Her contemporary romance novellas won the Filipino Readers’ Choice awards for Chick Lit in 2012 (Fairy Tale Fail) and 2013 (That Kind of Guy).

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 **Unfortunately I think this is only sold in the trilogy set now**



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