Review: A fun, sexy, and surprisingly complex tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 9, 2011
Lynn Hagen has previously released a few series of books based on werewolf shifters. Her Brac Pack series is centered on M/M romances, and her Zeus Pack series centered on M/M/M relationships. In those tales, there are occasional visits from Panahasi, the leader of demon warriors from the demon realm. Here, we see the beginning of a new series taking place in the demon realm and pairing up the various demon warriors with their mates. What's nice is that there's a suspensful mystery occuring that keeps the reader guessing.The story takes place in Serenity City. It's a good-sized city in the demon realm. This realm is a counterpart to our own world, with the main difference being that the realm is in eternal night. Demons "fade" in sunlight, so they only enter our world in the evening through the use of portals. In their realm, they can be out at all hours with no worries. This realm has its stores and shops and coffee shops and supermarkets, and even gets TV from our world (though there are no cars, everything is done on foot). To keep peace, the Demon Warriors patrol the city, and they're led by Panahasi, an ancient egyptian demon. Each demon has a different power, their powers are strengthened by special spells placed on their apartment complex (they all live in the same complex, with spells in place to keep everyone else out and protect them), and they're all interesting and unique people, er... demons. Hondo is a large, thick-headed demon who can can generate fire, tossing fireballs and flames at will, and even engulf himself in flames.Chris is a small demon with superspeed who has been friends with the warriors for a hundred years now. He's had a crush on Hondo since they met, but Hondo is too thick to realize it. And since he doesn't want to jeopardize their friendship, he never acts on his own attraction to Chris. Unlike other paranormals, demons don't know their mate when they see them. Should they engage in sex and intercourse, they'll realize they're with their mate when they feel their souls binding. Because demons desperately want to find their mate, they engage in a lot of sex with different people in the hopes of one day finding their mate. I don't think it's a spoiler to point out that Hondo and Chris are mates and discover as much when they finally engage in sex.The mystery and suspense comes from the introduction of a new friend of Chris named Snooke. Hondo does not trust him as he too conveniently appeared during a critical period, and has a habit of disappearing and being very secretive. Also, someone other demon is after Chris, and an very powerful and unique artifact was stolen from the bank. The very safety of the demon realm rests on finding this artifact, except that as the warriors delve deeper into its disappearance, things get more confusing.All of this combines into a nicely-written story. There's romance, erotica, suspense, action, and a lot of intrigue. Lynn Hagen explains enough about the demon realm to give it character and leave you with few questions, and it's very fun to see all of the unique entities. While the romance is self-contained, the suspense and mystery are only introduced here, and it's written well enough that you want to read the next book in the series to find out how the mystery progresses. I have to say I enjoyed this very much and have been having a very good time reading the series. If you enjoy paranormal romances, it's a fun tale.