Review: A new author to add to my favorites list...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 31, 2013
The Demon's Song is the first novel I've read from Kendra Leigh Castle. It is the beginning to her new Hearts of the Fallen series that appears to be centered around a group of fallen angels who've literally escaped Hell to start a new life. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into when I started reading this, but I will say I didn't set my kindle down until I'd finished it!This story is told from the points of view of Phenex, a fallen angel who'd once been the Angel of Song, and Sofia, a human nurse who stumbles into a scene out of a horror movie and quickly gets tossed into a world containing all sorts of creatures that go `bump' in the night.I liked Phenex from the start. Mulish and brooding, easily portraying the assumed nature of a fallen angel viewing humans as being little more than talking monkeys who spend too much time on those pesky things called feelings, and the ridiculous notion of mortal love. Until he haphazardly ran into a young woman who oddly caught his attention...and kept it.Sofia, on a mission to rescue her friend from herself, snuck into one of the hottest clubs in town and walked in on her friend being drained dry by a nasty vampire. She managed to defend herself from his initial attack, but the tall and gorgeous musician she'd ran into earlier in the evening managed to jump in and land the final blow finishing him off. This first glimpse we get of Sofia's character showed that she was strong and solid in the face of danger and chaos. Something that would appear to make her good at her occupation, being an emergency room nurse. The veil of her normal life was immediately ripped away from her as from that point on she discovered that so many of those creatures she'd believed to be myth were living all around her. Fallen angels, vampires, werewolves, demons...all real. And for those threatening the safety of Terra Noctem, an underground Vampire city called home by many of the aforementioned creatures, she had become bait.Phenex didn't want to pay Sofia any more mind, but upon realizing that the Vampire King and head of Terra Noctem where he had made his home, was planning to use the human woman to lure out his enemies he couldn't help but offer up his services as body guard. And while he watched and protected her something he hadn't felt for centuries began to stir inside him.Phenex and Sofia's story was a quick read full of action, well fleshed characters, and a beautifully described underground city that was a treat to envision as an escape from reality. The sexual tension between the pair was heavy and well played out in terms of their character and personalities. And once they gave into their attraction for each other? A very steamy romance that had me looking for my own set of black wings soaring through the night. The supporting characters were interesting and I found myself searching online to find the titles containing a few of their back stories. The fallen angel Raum having been the main character in KLC's Renegade Angel, and the Vampire King Justin's from the short story Vivi and the Vampire found in the Vacation with a Vampire romance anthology.I truly enjoyed reading this story and would highly recommend this title to anyone who enjoys a strong male lead (oh, and I did mention he's a musician right?) as well as a strong willed female lead. This was a great addition to my paranormal romance collection and I will be anxiously awaiting the next installment in this series, as well as adding several more previously written books from this author to my TBR list.