Book 2, 2021
Demon Moon by Meljean Brook
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I brought home the book I'd been toiling on during lunch breaks at work, and I finally finished it. The book was Demon Moon, which is the second in the "Guardians" series by author Meljean Brook. I did not read the first book, and I must say I was disappointed that the author didn't do a better job of providing backstory in this one.
Vampire Colin Ames-Beaumont is stunningly beautiful and vain. However, he has not seen his own reflection in over 200 years, due to a curse that also makes his blood poison to any others who may try to drink from him. Savitri Murray is a human, curious and brilliant. She and Colin are drawn to one another, even though they are fated to be starcrossed lovers. Savi is mortal, while Colin is immortal. If Savi were to be turned, neither of them could share blood with the other, meaning they would be forced to drink from, and have sex with, others. Their dilemma is, do they reach for what happiness they can have now, or walk away before they become too involved with one another?
In the meantime, there is a demon impersonating Colin and trying to recruit vampires to do his bidding. Other creatures are drawn to Savi whenever she drops her psychic shields, endangering her and those around her. Will Colin be able to protect her when she's at her most vulnerable?
I'm having difficulty describing the plot. For one thing, there was a lot going on. A lot. And, since I hadn't read the first book in the series, I felt like I'd just started watching a long-running soap opera in the middle and had to flounder around while trying to figure out the storyline and the characters. Again, I felt the author could have done a much better job of providing backstory, rather than simply alluding to things that (presumably) happened in the first book. Did I like the story? Not especially. I found it to be engrossing, although not entertaining, if that makes sense. The author's writing is wonderful, the world building great, and the characters were very lifelike. Not helping matters is that it was a loooong book, and it took me a long time to read it, maybe getting in one chapter a day during my work weeks. The ending seemed a tad rushed and didn't make much sense to me.
Favorite lines:
♦ Nothing reminded a man of his price--or his place--as much as coming in his pants...
♦ "Beauty has always garnered far more invitations than virtue."
♦ "...a demon who was elected to human government office because of his performance on-camera."
This is disturbingly timely for a book written in 2007.
Again, I did not like this book, so much as I found it compelling. That being said, however, it's going in the donation pile, along with the other two I have in this series. I primarily read for entertainment, and this required a lot of concentration. Nevertheless, it earns 4 stars.