3 Urban Fantasy Reviews

Midnight’s Daughter by Karen Chance
The first book in the Dorina Basarab series, a spin-off of Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series.

Buy It Now: On Amazon.com

Description: Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Unlike most dhampirs, though, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity. Now Dory’s vampire father has come to her for help— again. Her Uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula), cruelest among vampires, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Although Dory prefers to work alone, Dracula is the only thing that truly scares her—and when she has to face him, she’ll take all the help she can get… (from amazon.com)

The Fangirl’s Review: B+

I enjoyed this book, but I have to say, I like the Cassie Palmer books better. This series is a spin-off of the Cassie series, in that it features characters from Cassie’s stories, such as Mircea (rowr) and Louis-Cesare. Some minor characters appear, too, though briefly (I absolutely love the idea of Kit Marlowe as a vampire), and a couple of new ones are introduced, such as Mircea and Dracula’s slightly nutty brother, Radu. Claire and Heidar, two characters featured in Chance’s short story contribution to On the Prowl, also appear. Lots of characters, right? Kind of confusing, right? It would probably help to have read the Cassie Palmer series as well as the short story so you’ll get all of the background for Dorina’s story.

It took a while for me to like the main character, Dory. She’s rude, abrasive, and runs on a hair-trigger temper, and while I did come to like her, for quite a while I found myself wishing she’d shut up with the snarky retorts. But Chance pulls the ace out of her sleeve late in the book and develops Dory into a much more complex and sympathetic character than I had expected.

The plot itself–Dory’s father Mircea charges her and Louis-Cesare with recapturing Dracula–it engaging, and I spent a good part of the book wishing Louis-Cesare would hurry up and get over his aversion to dhampirs so he and Dory could get it on, heh. The interaction with the Fey was also pretty interesting, though it sometimes felt like Chance was trying to cram too much into the story. I did like it, though, and will probably pick up the next book in the series when it comes out.

The Devil’s Due by Jenna Black
The third book in the Morgan Kingsley series.

Buy It Now: On Amazon.com

Description:
Trust me or die…That’s the choice Morgan Kingsley, exorcist, is given by the gorgeous rogue demon who’s gotten inside her. The truth is, Morgan has dozens of reasons not to trust anyone, from the violence that torched her house and killed her father to a love life that’s left her questioning her relationship with her erstwhile boyfriend, Brian. But Lugh, a king among demons, won’t take no for an answer. He’s prying into her body, her mind, even her sex life. And he’s just pulled Morgan into a power struggle that could have devastating consequences for both the human and demon worlds.

But Morgan still has a job to do: investigating the highly bizarre possession of the son of a wealthy Philadelphia couple. That hunt leads Morgan into a realm of sexual depravity, then a terrifying kidnapping.… Now a woman who makes her living prying demons from their hosts finds her day job colliding with the night: a darkness that is attracting demons of the damnedest sort, including the one who’s about to demand his ultimate due.… (from amazon.com)

The Fangirl’s Review: B+

This is another strong entry in the Morgan Kingsley series. The reason I give this a B+ instead of an A is simply because the story isn’t quite as engaging as the other two in the series. This story feels more like it’s building up the next book in the series, and while it stands on its own well enough, I was left wondering what’s going to come next, and not necessarily in that nail-biting, anticipatory kind of way. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t stick in my mind the way I’d have liked it to.

There were a couple of sexy scenes; Morgan’s lawyer boyfriend Brian is still hanging on, and thankfully he’s becoming more interesting now that he’s entered a morally grey area instead of being so black-and-white, wrong-and-right. I’m not a fan of boy scout characters, and I’m starting to like Brian more now that he’s abandoning that mantle. I’m also growing to like Adam more and more; he’s still a bit of a dick, but he and Morgan are both showing more empathy toward each other, which is a very nice step. Morgan herself is still stubbornly resisting her own resident demon, Lugh, but it was kind of cool to see how Morgan is growing and learning how to let Lugh take control without freaking out.

I’m definitely going to keep reading this series, but this book felt like a bit of a rest stop on the way to a much bigger story.

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

Buy It Now: On Amazon.com

Description: In a place where ecstasy can cost you your life . . .

She’s a demon-slayer who hungers for sensual pleasure-but fears it will always be denied her. Until Tayla Mancuso lands in a hospital run by demons in disguise, and the head doctor, Eidolon, makes her body burn with unslakable desire. But to prove her ultimate loyalty to her peers, she must betray the surgeon who saved her life.

Two lovers will dare to risk all.

Eidolon cannot resist this fiery, dangerous woman who fills him with both rage and passion. Not only is she his avowed enemy, but she could very well be the hunter who has been preying upon his people. Torn between his need for the truth and his quest to find his perfect mate before a horrific transformation claims him forever, Eidolon will dare the unthinkable-and let Tayla possess him, body and soul…

The Fangirl’s Review: A+

This book has been sitting in my to be read pile for a while now, and now I’m finding myself wishing I’d read it sooner. Holy cow, this is hot. Smoking hot. Panty-scorching hot.

Both leads are badasses, but it was kind of cool to have the usual fighter/healer stereotype reversed; Eidolon is the demon doctor and Tayla is the slayer. So often the female characters get stuck as the nurturers (Ladies, ever tried to get into a new Dungeons & Dragons group and get stuck playing the cleric? Yeah, me too.), so it was refreshing for Eidolon to be the one with the desire to heal.

Tayla has had a hard life. A child of rape, she was born to a drug-addicted mother and spent her childhood and adolescence either on the streets or being shunted from foster home to foster home. She was taken in by the Aegis, a group of fighters determined to destroy demons, and she bought into their doctrine hook, line, and sinker. Eidolon in a Seminus demon, an incubus who is near his final maturation phase after which he’ll turn into a ravening beast, obsessed with impregnating as many females as possible. He’s holding on by his fingernails, though, because he doesn’t want that; he wants to stay himself and stay with the hospital that he created to take care of his fellow demons.

They meet when Tayla is brought into his hospital, and he immediately realizes that all is not what it seems with the Aegis slayer. I won’t say any more, as I don’t want to spoil the book, but I had a hell of a good time reading this book. The mystery was twisty enough to keep me guessing, the growing relationship between Tayla and Eidolon was incredibly hot–I adore love-hate relationships, and Ione writes them very well.

The only complaint I have is that it was kind of difficult to sympathize with Tayla’s beliefs about demons, as the reader is introduced to Eidolon first. But overall, I thought this was an outstanding book, and I really hope the second book in the Demonica series is just as good.