The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

Succubi and Incubi have been rather popular lately thanks to the recent demand for supernatural fiction.  Several series, such as Richelle Mead’s Georgia Kincaid series, Allison Pang’s Abby Sinclair series and J.K. Beck’s When Pleasure Rules feature succubi and incubi.  So jumping in on this trend is Juliet Dark (aka Carol Goodman) with The Demon Lover.

What appealed to me about this book is that the incubus in question is exactly what an incubus should be: he is sexy and he will steal the soul of the woman he desires.  This soul stealing isn’t instantaneous, but takes place over time if the woman cannot banish him.  And this time he’s set his sights on Cailleach McFay (Callie for short).  Callie was orphaned as a young girl and at the time her distress brought the attention of a man she called her fairytale prince; he would appear in her dreams and tell her fairy tales.  But after accepting a teaching position at Fairwick College, she makes the alarming discovery that her fairy tale prince is very real.  Not only that, he is an incubus.  He will pleasure her while also sucking the life from her, killing her as he himself becomes more solid.

Not long after that, Callie discovers that Fairwick has much more than the incubus; the faculty is made up of all kinds of supernatural creatures and is located near one of the last remaining doors to Fairy.  This is all extremely lucky for Callie for she will need her new friends’ help in banishing her demon lover from her house.  But her friends can only help her so much, for Callie must be the one to deny him her heart.

Overall I really enjoyed The Demon Lover.  Sure, I found it to be somewhat predictable but it was still a lot of fun.  I was a bit worried when I first picked it up because it has a romance sticker on the spine; I thought I’d be in for a story a la Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series (where the plot gets waylaid by all the sex) but luckily this wasn’t the case.  Sure there is some sex (what else would you expect from a book called The Demon Lover?) but it is much more urban fantasy than romance.  So if you’re looking for a quick and fun read, why not give Juliet Dark’s The Demon Lover a shot?