Having no memory of who she is but living in constant fear of the shadowy man who's been tracking her for years, the heroine is finally ready to have it settled one way or another. The man staking her feels the same way and has made his move, kidnapping her. Grieving the loss of his wife, the hero is fighting the prophecy that he's to be mated to the demon Lilith with everything inside of him. The woman he's kidnapped claims to have no memory of who she is or what she is but he doubts her claims. She's evil incarnate, a sexual deviant who seduces man to their deaths, smothers babies and kills for sport. But the heroine knows deep inside her that she can't possibly be capable of the things he's accusing her of. The hero doesn't care and he ruthless and blind in his ignorance to the lies that have been fed to him and he's willing to kill her to end the prophecy. But he finds it hard to do the deed. He changes his mind at the first attempt, saving her from being eaten alive by the zombies. But it's decided that he's to take her to the Dead City and have her memories be tortured out of her. He sleeps with her because he must prove to the master of the realm that he has the ability to stay her charms and when the time comes he willingly gives her up to the creatures who will torture her until the whereabouts of Lucifer are uncovered. But he once again has a change of heart and recuses her from death and takes her back to Shoel to be healed. I had a very hard time with this story because of the hero and his unrelenting coldness and ruthlessness. He was a giant asshole for almost the entire book and the things he said and did to the heroine honesty were unforgivable. He willingly turned her over to be tortured. Not just being smacked around a bit but honest to god tortured to the point of almost death before he rescues her. I have never read a book that's categorized as a romance and have the hero abuse and betray the woman he's supposed to love to the level that this hero did. In disturbed me and given the fact the hero was heartless and cruel to the heroine from the start of the book made the romantic ending of this story unbelievable. How could a woman love the man who's honest to god tried to kill her? Just because he rescued you from that death, he still fucked you than turned you over. He still made it clear he thinks you're nothing but a worthless demon and just because he's sexually attracted to you that does not equal love. That was another reason I didn't much care for this book. I think is was all sexual. I never felt the love or even like from the hero to the heroine. All in all it was a dark book and had a hero I didn't care for at all and a heroine who was a punishing bag who accepted the abuse with little fight. ( )

I wanted to love this book, I love Anne Stuart and her dark heroes, but something just wasn't right. I liked Rachael, she was dealt a rough hand but she didn't wallow and did the best she could. Azazal was interesting too, it was fun watching him struggle against himself when it came to dealing with Rachael. The Dark City, that was introduced, was creative and interesting. What irritated me was the narrative shift, first person then third person, it pulled me from the story. Then there was the sudden grand moments, like when Rachael says 'I love you'. All he did was make her cry and try to kill her and she says 'I love you', I was totally mystified as to why. Then he betrayed her and in the span of a few pages he's forgiven. Then the forced seduction, I never take that well. She had a history of rape and he forced her into a position she was very uncomfortable with, and she struggled while they were having sex but he didn't stop. There were so many issues the characters had to deal with and I felt they were glossed over. And what about the prophesy? The story just ended after a big fight. This could have been great, and yet I'm looking forward to Michael's story. ( )

Bought for Myself
Overall Rating 4.25 Wine Glasses
Character Rating 3.75 Wine Glasses
Story Rating 4.50 Wine Glasses
Creativity Rating 5.00 Wine Glasses


NOTE: I am going to be upfront and say this story will not work for everyone. It is dark, the hero is an *ss, and it takes major liberties with the Angel/Demon Mythology. In my opinion, Kristina Douglas has woven a fantastic world with a bit of creative brilliance that really, to steal a saying from a friend of mine, rocked my world!

What I Loved: I won't give anything away so this section is going to be short but know that I can talk about The Fallen Series for hours. The world that Kristina built is on one hand very familiar, filled with angels/demons names that we know and may have preconceived notions of. On the other hand, Kristina has taken that world and made it her own in a way that quite frankly floored me.

What I Liked: The light hearted moments were few and far between in this book but they were much needed. There were a few times I laughed out loud and was cheering at Rachel as she/said thought things. In fact, it was the character of Rachel/Lilith that I felt connected to from the beginning. She was who I cheered for, cried for, and really rallied for the whole story.

Complaints: I didn't like Azazel, not even a little bit, until the very end. Even then, I only gave him a pass because Rachel did. I will say that there are a few times where that line of forced vs choice come up in this book just like the first book. It is a matter of perspective but it does happen again---this is my warning mostly for Melissa :)

Why I gave it a 4.25: I absolutely love Kristina Douglas' story telling capability. This story kept me interested from beginning to end even though I didn't like the hero! I can't wait for Micheal's book!

Quotes:
I was facing death with what I considered a fair amount of noble equanimity, but he was getting beyond frustrating, ruining the whole Joan of Arc bit. “I don’t know. I told you, I don’t even know who I am, and even though you came swooping down on me like a bat out of hell, I’m having a hard time processing the idea that you’re anything but a crazy stalker who’s probably going to dismember my body and gnaw on my bones.”


“God,” I muttered. “As if this weren’t crazy enough, we get vampires too.” “Blood-eaters,” Allie said gently. “From the Bible.” “Seriously?” For a moment I was genuinely distracted, wondering where in the Old Testament the vampires lurked. Where was the Book of Twilight, between Proverbs and Psalms? ( )

Bought for Myself
Overall Rating 4.25 Wine Glasses
Character Rating 3.75 Wine Glasses
Story Rating 4.50 Wine Glasses
Creativity Rating 5.00 Wine Glasses

NOTE: I am going to be upfront and say this story will not work for everyone. It is dark, the hero is an *ss, and it takes major liberties with the Angel/Demon Mythology. In my opinion, Kristina Douglas has woven a fantastic world with a bit of creative brilliance that really, to steal a saying from a friend of mine, rocked my world!

What I Loved: I won't give anything away so this section is going to be short but know that I can talk about The Fallen Series for hours. The world that Kristina built is on one hand very familiar, filled with angels/demons names that we know and may have preconceived notions of. On the other hand, Kristina has taken that world and made it her own in a way that quite frankly floored me.

What I Liked: The light hearted moments were few and far between in this book but they were much needed. There were a few times I laughed out loud and was cheering at Rachel as she/said thought things. In fact, it was the character of Rachel/Lilith that I felt connected to from the beginning. She was who I cheered for, cried for, and really rallied for the whole story.

Complaints: I didn't like Azazel, not even a little bit, until the very end. Even then, I only gave him a pass because Rachel did. I will say that there are a few times where that line of forced vs choice come up in this book just like the first book. It is a matter of perspective but it does happen again---this is my warning mostly for Melissa :)

Why I gave it a 4.25: I absolutely love Kristina Douglas' story telling capability. This story kept me interested from beginning to end even though I didn't like the hero! I can't wait for Micheal's book! ( )