Sunday, February 04, 2007
Demon Angel
****½ Demon Angel by Meljean Brook. Epic paranormal romance.
I say "epic" because wow... this is not your usual paranormal romance. It spans centuries. My head is still spinning. Others have done a much better job of reviewing this, so maybe I should just say "What Bam said" and let it go at that.
Nah, I'll try to explain my own reactions to this book.
Lilith is a demon, Lucifer's daughter. Hugh was a young knight escorting his lord's equally young wife home, when he discovers Lilith engaged in a bit of BDSM with said lord, who's, fortunately, blindfolded. Lilith is startled into giving Hugh her real name, and agrees not to reveal that he witnessed the man's humiliation in exchange for Hugh owing her a favor later on.
That doesn't save Hugh for long, though, because she tricks him into appearing to betray his lord with the young wife (she's a demon--it's what she does), and the lord kills him.
Lilith realizes too late that she has feelings for Hugh, so she begins the process of turning him into a demon, but stops and instead allows archangel Michael to do the honors, turning Hugh into a Guardian, and basically her enemy.
We follow the two of them through the centuries, and it's an intense, complicated relationship the two of them have, with nothing nearly as simple as good and evil, heaven and hell between them. The dark complexity of their relationship has a feel not unlike Kinsale's For My Lady's Heart or Shadowheart. There's love and pain and sacrifice and despair and longing and betrayal and redemption.
My only complaint, and it's not a very big one, is that Demon Angel was confusing in spots. That might change on a re-read, and this is definitely a book that I'll re-read. Not too soon, though--it's too intense for that. I think I'll go back instead and re-read "Falling for Anthony" in Hot Spell (#16). I'd found that too confusing to enjoy very thoroughly at the time--I'll bet it'll make more sense now.
...more
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, ParanormalRomance
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, ParanormalRomance
