The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow

The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow

published by Imajinn books
Genre: Adult paranormal

$14 (paperback)

FTC: I bought this book blah blah blah, not getting money for my review, blah blah blah.

What it's about from the back of the book:

Demons are preying on schoolchildren in her city, so Francesca Barnes does what any red-blooded librarian would do--she does some research and goes hunting. But the books she finds in a secret cache don't tell her the whole story. Chess has no idea what she's just stepped into or just how special she is.

Orion is Drakul, part demon, and a loyal servant of the Order. he doesn't expect a motorcycle-riding librarian to be messing around with demonic forces, and he doesn't expect her to smell so damn good. But Ryan's got bigger problems. His partner has disappeared, and the forces of Darkness are rising.

Now Chess is Ryan's only hope of finding his partner, and Ryan is Chess's only hope of survival because the demons now know Chess exists and that she is the heir to a long-lost power that could push back their dark tide. If Ryan can keep her alive long enough, she just might be the key to destroying the demons completely. But Ryan doesn't know he's been betrayed by the very Order he serves. And if Chess does, by some miracle survive, he won't ever be able to touch her again...

My Thoughts:

After typing up what the book is about, I just realized it gives away almost everything.

The last thing I thought I'd say about this book is that it is cute, but it really is. It was totally adorable. The way Chess and Ryan are so protective of each other is gut renchingly cute. Their relationship is an odd one born from fear and forbiddenness.

I have read Lilith Saintcrow's YA series, Strange Angels, and had a hard time following what was going on. She would jump around and all the sudden a character would be somewhere and you'd be going "wait, I thought they were still at the mall?" and would have to reread the whole section. That was not a problem in this book. For the most part it was pretty easy to follow. I did have some trouble understanding why the Inkani wanted her, and why the Order doesn't want Drakul to be around women, but it wasn't that bad and I could still move on with the story. I think my not fully understanding those things was due to me reading the book too fast and not from the writing itself.

I loved the inner monologes the characters would say and the fact that the story was both from Ryan's and Chess's point of views. It would not have worked as well if it had only been from one of the characters point of views. After being in Ryan's head and moving to Chess's, it was hard not to yell at her character and say "what are you doing? He obviously loves you! kiss him for god's sake!"

I really enjoyed this book and wish that it was a series, but alas, it is not.

My rating: 9/10