Book Review: Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee

Title: Demon's Fall
Author: Karalynn Lee
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 10/25/2010
ISBN: 9781426890680








One thing I will have to warn people about is that this is a very short story, only taking up about 70 pages. For some the events in this story will happen a little too quickly & they'll long for just a little bit more detail, mostly because this is a rich world that Lee has spun & they want just a little more depth to everything.

Kenan is an incubus, a demon who seduces human women out of their souls, forgetting about them once the challenge is done & over with. When he comes across the angel Jahel in the marketplace at Hellsgate he has the unbearable urge to touch her. Sure that her soul would make an intriguing addition to his collection of souls, Kenan promptly purchases the angel with the intent on slowly seducing her our of her soul. He's sure that a little kindness, as well as helping Jahel find the soul she came almost all this way to find, will help his natural incubus seduction skills. What he didn't plan on was losing his heart.

As a short story this tale both works & doesn't work at times. What works in this story is that Lee has created an intriguing world full of possibilities. The idea of a stolen soul turning into a coin (leaving the former owner alive) & using it as currency in the demon world is something that many readers will find a nice touch. What also works is the heat that Lee has made between our two main characters- it's very tangible, very erotic, & for the most part comes across rather naturally (as natural as it can be for a demon & an angel).

What doesn't work is mostly due to the short length of the story. Jahel & Kenan have an almost instant attraction to each other & don't seem to fight it, something that might irk some readers. The plot for this story moves along at an almost lightening speed & while this is a good story, many will just wish that Lee had stretched the story out a little longer just so she could have explored more of the potential of this world & its inhabitants. Some parts of it just felt a little underdeveloped.

Overall though, this is a pretty decent story & one that will thrill many readers. I hope that this story is merely a setup for more stories to come, as developing all of this for one 70-ish page story would sort of be a bit of a waste. This was a fun story to read (especially with the Snow White references), so I would recommend this for most romance readers out there.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)