PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: March 7, 2017
FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 9 hrs and 42 mins
GENRE: Paranormal Romance
Lily O'Connell, a succubus, has put her unique talents to work. She owns Lily Bound, an elite sex salon in the Blood Night District of Seattle. When a client turns up dead in her club, and she hears the news that the Souljacker - an old tattoo-artist friend-turned-vampire, who was institutionalized years before - has escaped to reclaim his "artwork", Lily knows she's next on his list.
With one of his tattoos on her thigh and nowhere else to turn, Lily hires Archer Desmond, a chaos demon and PI, to track the vampire down before he tracks her. But she didn't expect to fall for Archer - and they say a succubus who falls in love will destroy the heart of the one she seeks to claim....
MY REVIEW:
I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook for voluntary review consideration.
The main character is Lily Marlene O’Connell, a succubus, who runs a private sex salon called Lily Bound. By servicing her clients from the paranormal world, she gets the added benefit of feeding off their chi. As long as she remains in control of her hunger, she can drink their chi with no detrimental effect to them. She runs the salon out of her home, which is protected by magical wards. Yet, somehow, a vampire was able to get past them and break into her home, attacking one of her clients, Tygur Jones (a weretiger), draining him of blood while she was in another room. She was heading back to the room when she saw a black mist exit the room. It came towards her, and then vanished through one of the exterior walls.
Upon closer inspection, Lily notices that a strip of skin has been removed from Tygur’s chest. It doesn’t occur to Lily right away why that is relevant. It isn't until after another woman, Rebecca, is murdered and a part of her skin was removed as well. She was a member of her best friend Dani’s coven, and then the pieces fall into place for Lily. The skin removed from Tygur’s chest and Rebecca’s shoulder each contained a tattoo that was inked by a man named Charles, also known as the Souljacker. That’s when Lily realizes the danger that she and all her closest friends are in, because a group of them all got inked by the Souljacker to celebrate the political victory of Dani’s husband. The reason why they chose the Souljacker is because he is extremely skilled with his art, tapping into the essence of someone’s soul and bringing it to life in his tattoos.
After Charles was bit by a vampire, he turned and murdered a family. That would normally be a death sentence, but Charles’ father paid people off and that is why he was locked up in an insane asylum for nonhumans. Charles has now escaped and is targeting his former clients.
Lily’s friend recommends that she hire Archer Desmond, a chaos demon who is a private investigator. When Lily is forced to shut down her salon, Archer offers himself up to her to feed from. For a book that is marketed as Paranormal Romance, I expected to see more emotional attachment and feelings between Lily and Archer so that part was disappointing.
I have to admit that I have never read a book about a succubus before, so I actually did not realize that they are actually fae! I enjoyed learning about these creatures, and I wasn’t sure at the beginning that I liked Lily very much and admit that I was glad when she had to close her sex salon. I actually liked her better then, even though she fed from Archer out of hunger and not out of love. Lily was not a kick-ass heroine, but I enjoyed the fantasy world that Galenorn created. She gave some backstory on how it took about a decade for the humans to accept the Fae and Weres after they came out of hiding. Then the vampires came out, and everything was thrown into chaos again. Vampire attacks, known as Vampire Executions, started to climb. Unfortunately, the cases usually remain unsolved. Police encourage people to abide by the midnight curfew for their own safety, to never go out alone at night, and to protect their homes with wards.
I also enjoyed the interesting secondary characters, including: Nate Winston, her human neighbor; Dani Halloran, her witchy best friend; and Wynter, a fae queen. There’s even a ghost! I love the mix of different paranormal creatures. I think the book is a good series opener, and it introduces a lot of the world and characters to the reader. I’m very interested to see where Galnorn takes us in the next book in the series, and I’m especially interested to see how Lily’s relationship with Archer develops and her arrangement with Wynter.
I enjoyed Cassandra Campbell’s narration. Her pace was good, and her voice suited the characters. Here’s a sample of the narration:
I love paranormal books, and I was immediately intrigued with this one that featured a succubus which is a nice change from the usual vampire and werewolf fare.
The main character is Lily Marlene O’Connell, a succubus, who runs a private sex salon called Lily Bound. By servicing her clients from the paranormal world, she gets the added benefit of feeding off their chi. As long as she remains in control of her hunger, she can drink their chi with no detrimental effect to them. She runs the salon out of her home, which is protected by magical wards. Yet, somehow, a vampire was able to get past them and break into her home, attacking one of her clients, Tygur Jones (a weretiger), draining him of blood while she was in another room. She was heading back to the room when she saw a black mist exit the room. It came towards her, and then vanished through one of the exterior walls.
Upon closer inspection, Lily notices that a strip of skin has been removed from Tygur’s chest. It doesn’t occur to Lily right away why that is relevant. It isn't until after another woman, Rebecca, is murdered and a part of her skin was removed as well. She was a member of her best friend Dani’s coven, and then the pieces fall into place for Lily. The skin removed from Tygur’s chest and Rebecca’s shoulder each contained a tattoo that was inked by a man named Charles, also known as the Souljacker. That’s when Lily realizes the danger that she and all her closest friends are in, because a group of them all got inked by the Souljacker to celebrate the political victory of Dani’s husband. The reason why they chose the Souljacker is because he is extremely skilled with his art, tapping into the essence of someone’s soul and bringing it to life in his tattoos.
After Charles was bit by a vampire, he turned and murdered a family. That would normally be a death sentence, but Charles’ father paid people off and that is why he was locked up in an insane asylum for nonhumans. Charles has now escaped and is targeting his former clients.
Lily’s friend recommends that she hire Archer Desmond, a chaos demon who is a private investigator. When Lily is forced to shut down her salon, Archer offers himself up to her to
I have to admit that I have never read a book about a succubus before, so I actually did not realize that they are actually fae! I enjoyed learning about these creatures, and I wasn’t sure at the beginning that I liked Lily very much and admit that I was glad when she had to close her sex salon. I actually liked her better then, even though she fed from Archer out of hunger and not out of love. Lily was not a kick-ass heroine, but I enjoyed the fantasy world that Galenorn created. She gave some backstory on how it took about a decade for the humans to accept the Fae and Weres after they came out of hiding. Then the vampires came out, and everything was thrown into chaos again. Vampire attacks, known as Vampire Executions, started to climb. Unfortunately, the cases usually remain unsolved. Police encourage people to abide by the midnight curfew for their own safety, to never go out alone at night, and to protect their homes with wards.
I also enjoyed the interesting secondary characters, including: Nate Winston, her human neighbor; Dani Halloran, her witchy best friend; and Wynter, a fae queen. There’s even a ghost! I love the mix of different paranormal creatures. I think the book is a good series opener, and it introduces a lot of the world and characters to the reader. I’m very interested to see where Galnorn takes us in the next book in the series, and I’m especially interested to see how Lily’s relationship with Archer develops and her arrangement with Wynter.
I enjoyed Cassandra Campbell’s narration. Her pace was good, and her voice suited the characters. Here’s a sample of the narration:
MY RATING:
3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it! Thanks again to Tantor Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook!
This book qualifies as:
Design by Parajunkee Design
I enjoy her Autumn series, and love the cover for this.
ReplyDelete