Review: And so it begins
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 13, 2013
4.5 StarsReaders of Sharon Mamolo's House of DeDe series may have wondered "how did it all begin?" Wonder no more, in Lord Malachi background is given and all questions are answered.Lord Aleksander, known as the Dark Elf to most didn't come by his nickname by chance, he lives his life with hedonistic delight and complete disregard as to what others think. Malachi, Alek's brother/shadow knows him as Sasha, the brother he loves and who shares the other half of his soul. Both are obligated to the demon Sigmund who holds their souls and refuses to give them back until he thinks they have earned it. Mix in a curse from a dying witch, a court full of intrigue, a search for the woman who will save one of them and set it in the steamy, lusty city of New Orleans and you have an epic tale of deceit, hate, betrayal, lust and love.Ms. Mamolo has hypnotized us with her series from the first book, now she gives us a little break by telling us how it all began. Starting with a prologue in 2005 before the boys faithful meeting with Bethany and seguing into 1795 New Orleans Lord Malachi gives us the back story of the boys' lives and how the curse came about and takes us right up the point the last book ended. Told by Malachi we watch him through the years as he manipulates everyone to do things his way, all along trying to keep Sasha from self-destructing.All of the books in this series are a little dark, this one is by far the darkest, showing us that Sasha earned his title of Dark Elf; we get into his head and end up going right up to the edge with him. He is beautiful to look at and lethal to cross, he doesn't hesitate to use whoever he needs to in order to get what he wants. Malachi is just as lethal and just as beautiful but uses a mix of self-restraint and intelligence to achieve his goals. Together they are a force to be reckoned with, they can speak to each other telepathically and feel each other's pain and emotions. They truly are each other's soul mate; they live for each other and no one else. That is until Bethany came into their lives.We know from the other books in the series that Bethany is the reincarnation of a cursed witch from their past. This book shows us how the curse came about and we meet her many other incarnations. While she does make short appearances this is very much Malachi and Sasha's story so even though we meet her previous incarnations, we don't spend a lot of time with any of them. Sigmund also makes appearances throughout the story, giving us more background as to why the boys are so subservient to him and what kind of hold he has on them. I have to admit, he has always been one of my favorite characters in this series, I'm not really sure why.I have been a fan of this series from the very first book, each time I've finished a book I immediately start asking when the next is coming out. My only little niggle with this one is I'm not a fan of the pre-quell, but given the complicated world Ms. Mamolo has built I can almost understand why she chose to wait as I'm not sure it would have made sense at the beginning. Other than that little issue, I loved this book, it was dark and gritty and full of lust and violence and sex and intrigue and sex and humor and sex. The first books in the series should definitely be read first or one might get lost, but it such a good series you won't regret it.Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Dual Review Team