Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A love to last a lifetime...or at least a week.
Opening Sentence: He struggled out of the darkness, confused, disoriented... recalling fire and pain and the soothing voices of men he couldn't see.
The Review:
Ok, so I will let my notable scene explain to you the generic plotline of this book, part one of a series, and I will tell you all about the main characters, for there are more than just the hero and heroine.
First our hero, Dax, the yummy fallen-demon-turned-human who has been tasked with ridding the small town of Evergreen of all its demons that have escaped from the Abyss, or what we would call Hell. Armed with some of his demon powers, in the form of a snake tattoo, Dax is anxious to serve his purpose, and possibly gain entrance into Eden, the paradise most of us would call Heaven. This not so small task seems like a precursor for the much larger one that is saving the world, and I imagine that is what must be done in the following books. But, anyway, Dax shows up on Earth and is immediately attacked by another demon, this one is wearing the body of a stone gargoyle and is tossing curses about. Dax takes one to the chest that causes him some serious issues during the rest of the book.
In comes our heroine, Eddy, who finds Dax in a garden shed being attacked by a garden gnome wielding a pitchfork. So, of course, she brings him home with her, and patches him up. Upon learning that he is in fact a once demon turned human who needs help fighting the unexplainable, she takes him to meet the one other person she trusts with this kind of thing, who is also a believer in the supernatural - her father, Ed.
Ed has long been a subscriber to the "we are not alone" theory, believing that there is a real civilization hidden inside the neighboring mountain. When a man shows up in his daughter's life who is living proof, well he is ecstatic. However, his enthusiasm is somewhat diminished when he finds out the reason for Dax's presence. So, he reluctantly drives the couple to the mountain to find this mystical race, The Lemurians, and anxiously awaits their call saying the mission was successful. Dax and Eddy do indeed find Lemuria in a cavern in the mountain where also exists a portal to the Abyss and Atlantis. So, upon entering the portal to Lemuria the duo is taken prisoner by some guards, and are met by none other than the high prince, Alton.
The immortal race of Lemurians have been hidden away for thousands of years, enjoying their peace and quiet. Alton, however, has been craving some action for a few centuries and jumps at the chance to aid in the completion of the demon slaying mission. Abandoning his friends, family and entire race, he breaks Dax and Eddy out of prison and goes with them back to Earth. Also accompanying Alton is his magical talking sword, which for now chooses to remain mute, but has every intention of killing Dax, for killing demons is what it was made to do. Oh, and I forgot to mention Alton's ability to bend the memories of humans. Seriously cool when you want to keep flying statues from scaring the masses.
So, this motley crew, complete with a pit bull/poodle stray dog named Bumper and a pixie, or will o' the wisp, named Willow, head out to complete the mission of ridding the world of all the excess evil in Evergreen. There is just a couple of small catches. One, Dax has been given only seven days in this form. Two, the curse he was hit with in the beginning is causing his snake tattoo to try to leave his body, thus taking his demon powers away while causing him a bunch load of pain. Three, that gargoyle is no regular demon and taking it down is going to be almost impossible. But try they must, and they do eventually succeed, but at what cost.
Also continuing throughout the book, is the blooming relationship between Eddy and Dax. The two quickly fall madly in love with one another, despite the limitations on their time together, both deciding that a lifetime of love may be lived in only a few days, and the memories shall be enough to leave with at the end. It's so sad, really. But as I said, this is a romance book, and an HEA in inevitable, so read the book to see how it all shakes down.
I know I say this too often, but I really liked this book. I am just a huge fan of the genre as a whole. But really, I'd rank this up there with some of my favorites, well at least I will if I enjoy the next couple books like I did this one. The characters are fun and loveable (who wouldn't fall in love with a pit that has a perm) the writing style and storyline makes it easy to convince yourself to just finish reading that next chapter, then you will go to bed, promise.
The DemonSlayers Series:
1. DemonFire
2. HellFire
3. StarFire
4. CrystalFire
FTC Advisory: Kensington/Zebra provided me with a copy of DemonFire. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.