Jessa Slade

First things first: this book is exceptionally well written. It's very lyrical and poetic, which might explain why it took me forever to read. I had to stop to look up words or admire a particularly evocative passage. Lovely, lovely prose. Having said that, the same stunning writing confused me numerous times while I was reading. The action became murky at times, and I had a difficult time figuring out what was happening. I also had some issues with the romance between the characters -- it never quite felt believable to me, even at the end. Despite that, the beautiful writing and the intriguing worldbuilding made this a fairly entertaining read. I will look for the next book in the series. (B )… (mais)

The heroine lives is a shadow of her old life. Crippled in a car accident when her mother kidnapped her and tried to drown them both in the lake she now lives with constant pain-both psychically and psychologically. So it's really no surprise when her lack of joy with the world attracts the attention of a demon. What is a surprise however is the beautiful and equally tortured man who comes to her in her darkest time of need. Demon possessed himself the hero stays with her-looking after her as she goes through the possession. Though he says his motivations are to kill her if the wrong demon comes through, he secretly grows attached to the tortured woman who manages to make him feel more alive in the few days he's known her than in the 200 years since his own possession. He's her guardian, her teacher and the one constant thing in her life of chaos and confusion. But he's own somber and depressed SOB. He's always quick to note the dark side to every positive she minds. But it actually helps her in a lot of ways. Firstly he's brutally honest-nothing sugar coated or frosted over with pleasantries. He tells it like it is-lays it out in the open. But his habit of spurting out melodramatic metaphors and overall being a Debbie downer allows the heroine to become a more positive person. No way can both of them be super depressed and emo. She's now become the first demon possessed female in recent memory and with that title comes the ability to not just drain the demons that they hunt but to actually banish them back across the void. Something that changes everything. Suddenly they feel a small sense of hope for a future where once they was none. I really really liked this story. I thought It to be super imaginative and dark and moody but charming and real. I loved the hero with his dark cloud and overall lack of positivity. I found it actually quite funny at times-as the heroine did. He was tortured but charming and extremely quick witted. In fact both of them were and their conversations were at times heavy and other times teasing with banter. I loved the heroine who could be stupid at times but smart enough to learn from her mistakes. I loved the fact that her becoming possessed and damned was just the thing she needed to feel alive again. As I said, it was a clever story with engaging story telling and character development. Highly recommend this author for anyone with a dark sense of humor.… (mais)

The heroine knows about the dark side of life but she's unprepared to discover she's inadvertently granted permission for a demon to possesses her. Though she's generally a content woman albeit more than a little tortured, she's had a very hard life. Being raped as a young woman and having no one believe her or do anything about it, she vowed to always be in control of her own body. She does this in a, I believe very empowering way. She strips for a living. She makes man desire her and want her but she knows that she holds all the body and all the cards. Until she meets the hero. Though he can't hide his attraction to her, she's not used o dealing with such a prudish and missionary man, especially not one possessed by his own demon. The hero is a study in contradictions and it's something that grates on her nerves, frustrates her to no end but also intrigues her. The hero's story is a sad one. Once a missionary in Africa, he was bitten by a spider and lay dying before his beloved wife commanded he live as she had nothing to live for if he wasn't with her. So, in his weakness, he was possessed by a demon and now lives in constantly misery of what he's become and the loss of his soul. On top of that, he's recently sacrificed his hand to save the life of a friend and now feels like he has nothing to offer to the demon fight and feels completely useless. Until the heroine. She makes him feel powerful an needed as he guides her through her own possession and controlling her new powers. She looks to him like a hero and his ego badly needed the encouragement. Though she's very frustrating and flippant about her new demon possession and has a tendency to strip off her clothes because she knows it bothers him, she's also loyal and, as it happens, a very capable warrior. In fact, he's almost threatened by her strength that makes him seem that much more pitiful. He was so unsure and very much an innocent in the ways of woman. I absolutely loved this story. I loved the heroine and hero with such a passion. They were both so completely different but at the same time they were so very much alike. Both had trauma in their lives and live with the daily struggle of their memories. Both used their words like a knife to hurt the other person to deflect the hurt off themselves but both needed the other with such a ferocity. I loved the way they spoke to each other, it was like poetry. I so freakin' recommend this story to paranormal romance readers and to those who doubt the genre can be anything other that smutty vampires. This book is amazing!!… (mais)

For as long as he can remember all the hero ever wanted in life was to be a BookKeeper. As the second born son. however, the secret world of the demon possessed should have remained just that-a secret. But his older brother was disillusioned with the inheritance so with an eager heart, the hero began to take over his training. He fought hard and worked hard to earn the respect of his father but knew that it would take something truly special to finally be accepted by the rest of the coven. Traveling to America, to Chicago to observe the group of demon possessed first hand and study their history and present, he is met with a cold welcome. Hard to blame the men and woman who fight every night battling evil demons from dismissing the geeky and rather weak hero as an annoyance. Still, on his first night in the big city, fate seems to smile upon him and tosses a rogue possessed female into his path. Unknown to the rest of his kind and completely ignorant of the world and about herself, the girl immediately clings to him. He in turn is a little disturbed by her sudden and consuming attachment and event though he desires her he treats her as nothing but a bug under his microscope. He's never harsh with her or mean but he has the BookKeeper's detachment. Meaning he sees everything through a filter, never truly experiencing the world as himself. Regardless, he fights hard to see her protected and safe among the other possessed when they start out mistrusting. They've never heard of a possessed individual surviving as long as the heroine did by herself and ignorant of what she's become. But all her life the heroine was surrounded by good and evil. As a servant in the days of witch burning, she knows that devil's truly exist and she knows that she harbors evil inside of her that compels her to kill other demons but she has no idea what to do with all her powers. As such, her presence causes a disturbance with her new companions and it can only be balanced out by her finding her mate. Too bad the only man she's ever loved, the only one she trust implicitly and with such fierce loyalty, doesn't feel the same about her. But as the story goes on, the hero finds himself drifting more and more from the role as BookKeeper and deeper into the role of warrior and lover. When he finds himself possessed, it's the final straw and he knows he can never return home, never see his father again. But deep inside he knows that none of this matters because he can never see himself leaving the heroine. Though he restricts his feelings until the very end, at the last he's finally able to admit to himself that all he ever wants to be is the man who loves her. Another stellar addition to the series and one that sees a different change of pace then the first 2 books i've read. The first major difference in this story is the fact that the hero isn't possessed at first, it's the heroine. And she's a bad ass, bare footed fighter but she's childlike both is her brilliant loving openness towards the hero but also in the fact that she does come across as a little crazy. The hero, even when he's taken over by his own demon is never truly a warrior in the sense of being like the other hero's but i enjoyed that. He was deeply flawed and rather cold at times. He was an outcast from the others because of his tendency to act superior to them and never taking the time to actually see them. He thought about himself and how the heroine could benefit his rank as a BookKeeper even when she obviously thinks the world of him. But he changes as the story goes on. He becomes less and less a bystander and more involved in the battle surrounding him. And the heroine learns that she's not helping him or herself by being so vulnerable and learns that a man must see what he'll lose if he doesn't step up. I will say that i didn't LOVE this book as much as i LOVED the first 2 of the series but i found this amazing in it's own right and still highly recommend this author to anyone looking for a more in depth romance novel.… (mais)