First, the cover…
Absolutely beautiful. I love the gothic romance favored art. I spend a lot of time browsing places like deviantART just because of it. So once I seen a cover teasing me with that sort of eye candy, of course I had to have it.
Second, the book itself . . .
This is probably the most difficult review I have written in a very long time. A writer myself, I haven’t picked up a book just to read it, in a very long time. Classics tempt me– having an eternal need not to let them slip through the fingers of time and technology — but rarely does a newly written book lure me in, because I am often left unsatisfied, let down, or unexpectedly cheated. And its not always the Author’s fault. Sometimes its the cookie cutter process many publishers, editors, or both, put a book through. Sadly, most books are starting to read like they were written by the same writer. They lack style, depth, originality, and flavor. And this depresses me.
A world of stories probably pass me by simply because slowly, I begin to give up on finding that story which will lift me away and take me to an unknown place. I am ever so glad that this book’s cover caught me up in it’s web. I’m ever so glad that this story entangled me and kept me in it. Now having read it, the thought of missing out, would have then depressed me.
Beautiful words portrayed in original strings of sentences and detailed descriptions led me down the footsteps and through the eyes of the main character, Professor and Author Callie McFay.
In short, and not to give too much away, Callie is haunted by what she calls a Fairy Prince. Although she hasn’t seen him since childhood, he and the stories her parents used to tell, fuels a bestseller written by Callie herself, called The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. Of course, he doesn’t show his face until Callie goes to Fairwick College for an interview and is drawn into buying an all too mysterious house. The hundred year old home, once owned by Callie’s favorite Author, the late Dahlia LaMotte, ends up being part of a town containing its share of many secrets. The home also triggers the return of Callie’s childhood prince, and her own face to face encounters with the demon lover. The reader is left to wonder… is he the same, or are they different? But believe me when I tell you, that’s not the only thing you will be wondering. Plenty of spectacular pieces of this book’s puzzle will hook and bait you.
Favorite tidbits of this book:
"Now the rose bushes were leggy and a strange-looking bush with feathery gray blooms–like a giant dust mop–had taken over the paths and flowerbeds."
"I could see it spilling across the wide pine planks, a white shaft carrying on its back the shadows of tree branches that quivered in the breeze, trembling to reach me."
"He stood on the threshold of shadow and moonlight–"
Author uses descriptive words or phrases that I loved: gingerly, willowy frame, haughty, etc.
At times I had to hit the dictionary option on my Kindle, and I know some people despise this, but I actually loved it. I loved being introduced to descriptions I had never read before and words I haven’t used in so long, I questioned the meaning of.
I also loved the fact that while there are sexual encounters in this book, the entire book wasn’t made up of them. There is an actual story here, that can independently support itself without the encounters and or romance–if you know what I mean.
I had lost hope that these books even existed or would ever be published again. I can’t tell you how many novels I have had rejected because the main focus wasn’t about her meeting him, him concurring her, and vice versa. I can’t tell you how many books I have tried to read but chucked to the side because it was the absolute same.
As if what and who the Demon lover is, isn’t enough, and the mystery surrounding the recluse and eccentric Dahlia LaMotte and her unknown writings, isn’t enough to keep you turning pages, the town of Fairwick and those who work and go to the college, has an entire collection of characters that keep you wondering and guessing.
And if that isn’t enough to tickle your fancy, reading something by a writer who has a refreshing, original style, should send you over a cliff of absolute excitement.
I highly recommend, DEMON LOVER, by Juliet Dark, and I highly applaud the Publisher and Agent who was wise enough to grab her. She has found a reader in me, and I will continue to follow her work. And if this book becomes a movie, then for once, I might peel myself away from the keyboard and actually hit a Cinema!
Casey Harris
Aka C.H. SCARLETT
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