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snoopydoo77's review
4.0
Since I loved her other series, I thought i give this a try and I’m glad I did.
I really did enjoy this book.
If you are a fan of urban fantasy and like books like The hollows series, Jane Yellowrock or the
Charley Davidson Series, you will like this.
This was your typical first book in the series with lots of world building and characters introductions. Plus we get all ( or maybe so far) paranormal groups and a little look into each of the politics.
I'm really interested in the overall story arc and can't wait to find out more. I have my theories and I'm excited to see how right or wrong I am.
heabooknerd's review
4.0
SPEAK OF THE DEMON was a fast paced, slow burn paranormal romance and I'm really curious to see what happens next. I love books that feature a world where paranormal beings are known to humans and this one was even more fun because it's a world that was basically invaded by paranormals after a bunch of portals opened. Now almost 100 years later people are still learning how to live together and tensions between varying groups still exist.
Danica, our narrator and heroine, had a great "voice" that made reading this super easy. She's a bounty hunter for the Mage Council and technically a witch, though her magic is small and hard to use. When her hunt for her mother's killer lands her in the crosshairs of the city's ruling Demon, she finds herself contracted to Samael -- she has 2 weeks to find out who is killing Samael's demons or she'll be bound to him forever.
I liked Danica and Samael together, they certainly set off a lot of sparks between Samael's alpha personality and Danica's take no prisoners attitude. Of course things are complicated by the fact that Danica has been raised to believe demons are evil and she has no desire to lose her freedom to Samael's bond. Danica does go back and forth quite a bit over her feelings for Samael and while she doens't put up much resistance to her attraction she's definitely conflicted over it. Especially toward the end of SPEAK OF THE DEMON when she learns some new information about her mother's death. Information that was introduced and then basically dropped and never answered so that was frustrating. Hopefully it's brought back up in the next book.
While I loved the world building, the action, and the determined and fiery Danica, I have to say that Samael is right on the line of what I enjoy in a romance. He's absolutely in the morally gray category as a dangerous, controlling, possessive demon who's willing to kill anyone in his way. Samael has tons of charm and it's obvious he cares deeply about his people and those under his protection so there was actually a lot to like about him when he's showing his slightly softer side; but then he'd come out swinging with a alphahole move and have me questioning how I could like him. Because of this I'll be going into book 2 with some caution and we'll see if this series can work for me in the long run.
Content Warning: past death of a parent
Danica, our narrator and heroine, had a great "voice" that made reading this super easy. She's a bounty hunter for the Mage Council and technically a witch, though her magic is small and hard to use. When her hunt for her mother's killer lands her in the crosshairs of the city's ruling Demon, she finds herself contracted to Samael -- she has 2 weeks to find out who is killing Samael's demons or she'll be bound to him forever.
I liked Danica and Samael together, they certainly set off a lot of sparks between Samael's alpha personality and Danica's take no prisoners attitude. Of course things are complicated by the fact that Danica has been raised to believe demons are evil and she has no desire to lose her freedom to Samael's bond. Danica does go back and forth quite a bit over her feelings for Samael and while she doens't put up much resistance to her attraction she's definitely conflicted over it. Especially toward the end of SPEAK OF THE DEMON when she learns some new information about her mother's death. Information that was introduced and then basically dropped and never answered so that was frustrating. Hopefully it's brought back up in the next book.
While I loved the world building, the action, and the determined and fiery Danica, I have to say that Samael is right on the line of what I enjoy in a romance. He's absolutely in the morally gray category as a dangerous, controlling, possessive demon who's willing to kill anyone in his way. Samael has tons of charm and it's obvious he cares deeply about his people and those under his protection so there was actually a lot to like about him when he's showing his slightly softer side; but then he'd come out swinging with a alphahole move and have me questioning how I could like him. Because of this I'll be going into book 2 with some caution and we'll see if this series can work for me in the long run.
Content Warning: past death of a parent
fmcfranny's review
4.0
This review is for the entire series
Initially, I was rooting for Danica and wanted to smack the rude out of Samael. However the more you read the more you realize why he is the way he is. The more he, and all the characters grow. That is by far my fave part of the entire series. The individual growth and the growth of relationships between characters. Not Just the two MCs but also their relationships with friends and family. the development of the world, careers, the complexity of the witching grading system from white to black, and all the grey in between. It was terrific. Hard to believe the writer is fairly new.
Initially, I was rooting for Danica and wanted to smack the rude out of Samael. However the more you read the more you realize why he is the way he is. The more he, and all the characters grow. That is by far my fave part of the entire series. The individual growth and the growth of relationships between characters. Not Just the two MCs but also their relationships with friends and family. the development of the world, careers, the complexity of the witching grading system from white to black, and all the grey in between. It was terrific. Hard to believe the writer is fairly new.
navicular's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
katyanaish's review
4.0
I enjoyed it. Something about it reminds me a lot of early Kate Daniels, but not in any overt copying way. I don't know, maybe tone? Style?
Samael is walking a tricky line. He's a hardcore alpha-hole, and it is right on the verge of going too far. It's saved only by two things, imo. Firstly, he only uses the bond to take care of her. He's never used it to force her to do something she wouldn't choose to do herself if she weren't just being stubborn. Basically, in this book he uses it once, to make her go to sleep when she's literally dead on her feet and it would be a huge risk of her life to go out again. And not necessary - she didn't need to zip out to save a life in imminent danger, she was still investigating. So I can live with that, even if it sets my teeth on edge.
Second saving grace is that we get Samael's POV. It keeps him from being this RAWR YOU WILL OBEY ME, SLAVE guy when in his head we get to see "aaaugh, this woman, why won't she let me help her, I can't stand the thought of her being hurt" narrative.
It's an interesting world, good characters, and so far the alpha-hole is managing to straddle a line I can live with. YMMV though.
Samael is walking a tricky line. He's a hardcore alpha-hole, and it is right on the verge of going too far. It's saved only by two things, imo. Firstly, he only uses the bond to take care of her. He's never used it to force her to do something she wouldn't choose to do herself if she weren't just being stubborn. Basically, in this book he uses it once, to make her go to sleep when she's literally dead on her feet and it would be a huge risk of her life to go out again. And not necessary - she didn't need to zip out to save a life in imminent danger, she was still investigating. So I can live with that, even if it sets my teeth on edge.
Second saving grace is that we get Samael's POV. It keeps him from being this RAWR YOU WILL OBEY ME, SLAVE guy when in his head we get to see "aaaugh, this woman, why won't she let me help her, I can't stand the thought of her being hurt" narrative.
It's an interesting world, good characters, and so far the alpha-hole is managing to straddle a line I can live with. YMMV though.
wzr013's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
suleika's review
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
noetical's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore