Stained (YA Paranormal Romance) (Stained Series) [Kindle Edition]

When a fire set by a half-demon destroys her home and kills her foster parents, Julia finds herself alone and scared. Whilst hiding, she meets Cayne. Cayne is a hunter and has been chasing the half-demon down for his own reasons. They join forces and begin hunting the half-demon together.

I loved reading this story. Julia's character has been through the wars. She is an orphan who has been in a lot of foster homes. She finds a family worth staying with, only to have them cruelly ripped away by a fire. Cayne is a mysterious, enigmatic character. He is a bit of a loner and is not happy to take Julia with him, but he knows that the half-demon will not let Julia live.
Ella James has created a world that is scary, but believable. Her characters go through a gamut of emotions; and I went through the emotions with them.
I recommend this book to everyone who likes to read YA paranormal adventure/romance. I'm definitely reading the next book in the series, Stolen, which is due for release in February this year.

What to say? . . . I always seem to start reviews with I liked it or I really liked it but I can't help it because I did . . . I really liked it!

We find 17 year old Julia watching her house turn into an inferno with her latest set of foster parents inside and what she believes is `the angel of death' hovering nearby, she doesn't know what to do, she was meant to be in that house too and there's no way she's going back into care so she decides to let them believe she is dead and makes a run for it, it's not like she has anything left in this life. As she takes refuge in an abandoned warehouse a man literally crashes into her life, he's in a bad way and she tries to help him but hot on his heals is `the angel of death' who is not happy to see that Julia is still alive. The stranger defends her from this evil man and they come to realise that they have a mutual enemy in common and make it their mission to find him and kill him and find out just why he is hunting Julia.

I loved the two main characters in this, Julia is a bit `orphan Annie' with losing her parents when she was a baby and being put through the foster care system all her life, never truly belonging anywhere and when she does finally gel with one set of foster parents they are cruelly ripped away from her leaving her all alone again. She is determined she isn't going back into the system so it's understandable how she clings to her knight in shining armour when he drops in and saves her from the hands of death. Cayne is just as lost as Julia but he seems to prefer being alone and doesn't really want anything to do with her until he realises he can use her to his own advantage. He has the tall, dark, handsome, brooding hero act down to a T and I enjoyed Julia chipping away at him, trying to find out his hidden depths. He is packed full of secrets that Julia is just dying to discover but then again, so has she and none of them have any answers to their own questions. So this is a journey of self-discovery for them both. I wouldn't say we see a huge change in Julia, we touch on her background and childhood but that left me with more questions than answers, we do see a lot of change in Cayne however. He sort of unravels throughout the book and we get a look under that tough exterior.
I enjoyed their relationship and how it developed through the book and how the mysteries were revealed. I liked the idea of the Nephellim, which is a slightly different concept to the usual version and these were more sinister and were a very fitting bad guy, you really felt the threat they posed and the brutality they had. The book pretty much centres on a road trip as they try to find the one who is hunting Julia; we have a few stops along the way to show what they're up against and a lot of self-discovery. The thing I loved about the journey was that it didn't focus on scenery and describing where they were etc. it was a getting to know you part (which usually drags) but there was tons of dialogue between them. It was like reading a conversation and I love that, the banter, the teasing out of information and the developing relationship as a result of it, it turned it into a really easy read that flowed well. I could read a whole book like that.
Even though main thread is to find out why Julia is being hunted I feel like we only touched on that and I would have liked a bit more but I suppose we are probably going to get more from her as the books go on and she makes her own discoveries. I have to say that the travelling was getting a tad too much towards the end so I was glad when the finale came about because it gave the book a good lift and what a finale it was with that cliff-hanger, I can't believe we're left hanging like that until the next book!

So, If you like a good, revenge seeking road trip that stops along the way for some car chases, murders, fights and prophetic dreams and visions all wrapped up with a couple of lost souls trying to find themselves - look no further, this is for you.