Review: The Demon Lover

Reviewed by Jen
 

I'm going to start this review by telling you what I wish I knew when I started this book. It's the first in a series and the ending is horrible. It's a cliffhanger; there is no HEA; and frankly, as annoyed as I am, I am having a hard time remembering the things I actually liked about this book. But I'm going to try, because I really was pretty into it, until the last 25 pages or so.

Callie is a published author and is something of an expert in the folklore surrounding demon lovers and gothic literature. As the story begins, she is offered a job in a quaint little New York town, with a small private college. She's hesitant to accept at first, thinking she'd hold out for an offer from NYU, but she is drawn to an amazing old house. A famous author named Dahlia lived there before her death... and that, coupled with an intangible attraction, compel Callie to buy the place.

It's revealed that in her childhood, Callie would often be visited by a shadowy prince in her dreams. Well, now he's back and he wants to do more than talk. He visits her every night in her dreams and sexes her up. She spends her days at the college --and going through old papers that Dahlia left in the house. Now, even though Callie is an expert on the study of the incubus and Dahlia's journals detail her encounters with the same being... it takes forever for Callie to realize exactly what she's dealing with.

Once she does, the book really reeled me in. We find out all manner of supernatural beings inhabit the town. Callie is exposed to an entirely different world and learns alot about herself as well. She gets a new love interest whose identity is pretty transparent, but I found myself really drawn to him anyway. I enjoyed watching Callie grow into her new identity and fall in love (whether she acknowledges that's what's happening or not.) There's even a mystery that pops up as several members of the community grow ill.

I could forgive the ease is which I saw through Liam; I could even forgive the thoroughly obvious nature of the villain. What I couldn't forgive was the ending. I need a happy ending. This was not that. Will I read the second book? Yes. Am I still pissed? Yes. Would a different ending have given this book a higher rating? (Say it with me:) Yes. Grrr. 3 1/2 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

The Demon Lover

by Juliet Dark (Carol Goodman)

Release Date: December 27, 2011

Publisher: Random House