Demons of Desire

Half-Breed, Book 1

By: Debra Dunbar

Narrated by: Hollie Jackson

Amber's succubus desires are driving her, as well as every man within a five-mile radius, crazy and Irix, the sexy incubus sent to tutor her, isn't helping one bit. Determined to find some balance in her life, as well as get away from his tempting presence, she escapes to visit a college friend in New Orleans.

But the Big Easy is anything but peaceful. Two powerful witch covens are battling for control of the mighty river and the potent ley lines that run through the city. Amber discovers her half-elven heritage may just resolve their differences, but the covens have other, more lethal, ideas. She knows she can restore the elemental energy to balance, but it's not easy to play peacemaker when her succubus side wants to drown the whole city in a tide of lust.

The tensions between the covens aren't her only trouble. There's nowhere Amber can run to escape the siren-call of her demon nature, and nowhere she can run to escape the seductive incubus who won't seem to take no for an answer.

©2014 Debra Dunbar (P)2015 Debra Dunbar

Amber

Don't get why the change in characteristics of amber from the original series. I find quite a bit through out the story I was getting annoyed at how she reacted to situations. It pretty much made the story unlikable

Demons, and witches, and elves, oh my!

In general, I love Hollie's reading style: first, the tone and cadence of her voice is pleasant; overall, there is something in her delivery that has a sort of light and punchy sound (akin to tongue-in-cheek), which contributes wit, charm, and humor to the narrative, but she also excels at conveying deeper, more serious emotions. I believe she really brought these characters to life.

That being said, some of the peripheral characters felt a little flat to me, but this, of course, was due to the writing, not the narration. There were times the story felt hectic, too, and not in a way that served the mood, or plot; it just seemed a little off-kilter. I can't decide if it's the protagonist who has ADD, or if it's just the author who has ADD. Even though the story wasn't non-linear, I sometimes got the feeling of distraction, as if the protagonist could be on her way to the store for milk, and we would suddenly see her playing with goats in a petting zoo.

Also, her inner conflicts--both in regard to her identity/purpose, and in regard to her anxiety about her feelings for Irix--seemed a tad inconsistent. Sure, the purpose of inner conflicts is for the character to progress through an evolution of emotions, but this seemed less like a progression than a bipolar shift.

Overall, though, the author succeeded in piquing my interest enough that I may consider moving on in this series at some point, though, I must admit, I am not necessarily clamoring for the next book. I liked the characters enough to feel mild curiosity about what their futures hold, but I'm not on pins and needles, just dying to know what happens next.

great story and character's and narrator

I was hesitant to read a novel about Amber, as she was never my favorite character in Sam's stories (plus I'm really wanting to read more about Sam). That said, I was pleasantly surprised & very impressed by this novel. The relationship between Irix and Amber was written perfectly... i foundf myself constantly rooting for them and luckily there isn't so much angst that it's frustrating. it's just perfect. thanks Debra for writing another amazing novel

3 and a half stars

This is a pretty good story. The characters are engaging and the story is pretty good. However, I couldn't really get into it and I figured out the villain early on in the story.

Great

This was a great book I hope the rest of the series is as good as this, looking forward to finding out