Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Review: Shifters & Demons

Author submission in exchange for an honest review.


Title: 
Shifters & Demons
Author: 
H.C. Brown
Release Date:
January 3, 2011
Publisher:
Noble Romance
Word Count:
approx. 51,000
Purchase Links:  
Author's Website:



Description:

When bad boy alpha, Prince Dallin and his lover, Stryker, go 2000 years into the past to rescue Lailii, a Spellweaver, they didn't plan on being captivated by the petite, delicate female.


Strong willed and determined to survive, Lailii has no option but to go with the two stunningly handsome men. Within hours, she finds herself in a world of big cat shifters and sizzling, uninhibited sex. Betrayed by a king to whom she owes no loyalty, she struggles to survive and acclimate herself in a strange, new land. And when a demon follows Lailii into the future, Dallin and Stryker must work together to keep their new lover safe.

Laura’s Review:


I’m the first to admit that paranormal romances are not my thing.  I think it’s mostly because I prefer to read about things that could possibly happen.  That said, I also don’t read a lot of paranormals, but I opted to review Shifters & Demons, so I went into uncharted territory.

There was so much going on at the beginning of this story that it was hard to keep it all straight.  It opens with a prologue about Lailii, a Spellweaver.  Two full chapters into the story, I still had no idea what Lailii had to do with the actual plot.  I knew that the majority of the book takes place 3000 years after the prologue, but how Prince Dallin and his lover, Stryker, fit into that was a mystery.  All I really knew was that there was an awful lot of sex going on.  In any possible way or pairing that you could imagine it.  There’s even a sexual coming of age ceremony, where everyone watches two young men take their pleasure from a man and woman at the same time.  

Dallin and Stryker are given a mission by The Lady – to travel 3000 years into the past and rescue Lailli from the Butcher of Anwyn.  And now the point of the prologue becomes clear.  When Dallin met with The Lady, she had instructed him to bite Lailli in order to restore her power.  Then both he and Stryker would need to bite her again in order for her to transform and be effectively disguised so that she can return with them to the future.  Dallin and Stryker are a little confused about the instructions to bite Lailli.  Usually biting is reserved only for the person who will become your lifelong mate.  And wouldn’t you know it, all three characters are ridiculously affected by the biting, causing all kinds of lusty feelings.

What follows is a minimal account of the battle with the Butcher and more accounts of ménage sex than you can possibly imagine.  I was completely exhausted just reading it, but the characters were insatiable.  

At any rate, Dallin and Stryker finally get Lailii back to their own time, where they complete what is basically a wedding, before presenting Lailli to Dallin’s father, the King.  The King is not at all pleased at Dallin marrying against his wishes and very clearly expresses his displeasure.  The King send Dallin and Stryker and an army off to fight a group of mutants and demons who are attacking the land.  Once they are gone, the King starts his mistreatment of a pregnant Lailii, treating her about as well as the Butcher did.  Of course, whenever Dallin checks in with his father, the King assures him that all is well with Lailii.

But then the trouble really starts.  Through a few cruel twists of fate, the King exchanges Lailii for Dallin with Passio, the Demon of the Underworld.  Dallin must rescue her for the sake of The Lady and his Kingdom.  What follows is suspense and intrigue and very real anguish.

I went from absolutely hating this story to really liking it.  It was a little bit difficult for me to wrap my head around a love triangle that was so evenly balanced, but it ended up reminding me a little bit of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot.  And I suppose you could draw several parallels to the Camelot story, but they didn’t really become apparent to me until after I finished reading.  

At times all of the sex was a little much – sometimes it just seemed to be there as filler, but the plot ended up being a little bit twisted and a little bit complex.  The paranormal stuff was a little too much for me, but I’d be willing to be that someone who actually enjoys paranormal stories would like this.

Laura's Rating:



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