Eve Silver - Sins of the Heart

Half human, half god, Dagan Krayl is the Underworld's most powerful soul reaper. When one of his
brothers is murdered, Dagan must use every ounce of his power to hunt down those responsible for his brutal death. But he must move swiftly—and carefully—if he's to have any chance of resurrecting his brother.
Yet that resurrection could wreak havoc on the mortal world. As an Otherkin, Roxy Tam has sworn to protect the human race, and it's her mission to stop Dagan. But when she sees him face-to-face, she realizes that she has seen him once before—a meeting that changed her life forever.
Neither Dagan nor Roxy expect to join forces for the sake of mankind. Or to have their loyalties tested as they struggle against the potent desire that threatens to consume them both….

Comment: I had this book in the pile for years. One of those PNRs I have "collected" when my addiction to the genre was in full swing. Now I have several first books in a series to get to and in the case of this one, the plot was interesting enough to make me want to read more, but probably not with priority.

In this world where the underworld is divided into several areas, all managed by the many gods associated with the notion of "hell" in the also many religions/beliefs out there, the mightiest of them all is Seth, from the Ancient Egypt tradition. He has four biological sons who "work" as soul eaters, and they grab the vilest of the souls which is what their father uses to increase his power. However, one of the sons was killed and now Dagan, the oldest brother, decided to investigate and get revenge. In order to do that, he follows the clues which lead him to Roxy, someone he helped years ago, when she had been prey of two human killers. His help made Roxy change and now she belongs to a secret sisterhood who helps innocents...she has never forgotten Dagan but she is no longer a teenager, will they be able to solve the mystery and find happiness?

I started reading this with no idea about what it was about, except it was PNR. I gladly found that, unlike many other PNR or urban fantasy stories, this was not written in first person. I like this because when well done, third person can convey a lot more than first and I ended up immersed in this interesting world.

The plot pretty much follows what I wrote above but the more detailed elements the author has imagined to support the plot did seem to suit what I was reading. The tone is slightly dark but not to the point where I couldn't find willingness to keep reading. There are some extra issues which we can glimpse through little details here and there, but the biggest part of the novel is about the investigation of who killed Dagan's brother. This does occupy a lot of the development and although some things weren't as exciting to me, I kept being interested in what would happen next.

I'd say the weakest link, to me, were the protagonists themselves. Dagan is one of those aloof guys who seem to maintain their intransigency in disguise for lack of ...well, hobbies. He works, he investigates, he worries, he wants to get revenge but he doesn't really have a personality. Apart from his care for his siblings and a certain sense of honor, he could be any guy. I understand this might be a norm and love changes him (right....) but he wasn't such an intriguing guy to read about. Ah, I remember, he does like lollipops.

Roxy is a woman bent on helping those in need even if that means going through methods which one would not describe as "by the book". She also wants to know why the fact Dagan rescued her years ago has made her a different person but she hasn't been able to find him, except now he is the one who finds her again. I liked Roxy for her agenda - rescuing/helping people in danger, as she had been one day too - but we also don't have a lot about her besides the basics one wants in these books. 

I can rationalize that in action driven plots there might not be enough time to fully develop a character, but it is possible! I also can't see why these two are such a great couple except due to the bond that united them when Dagan saved Roxy years ago...we are certainly not here to be convinced of that, I felt.

The secondary characters have enough presence to be interesting or to inspire curiosity over why are they mysterious. The villain is caught but the mastermind is not, so I can imagine the big mystery carries on though the next books. I wish we had more on the siblings' relationship. We do see Dagan interact with one of his brothers and there is a lot of talk of getting revenge on the dead one but there aren't that many scenes to reinforce whatever relationship they have. Same for Roxy and her closer circle of secondary characters.

All things considered, this wasn't a bad story, there were enough elements which compel me to read the others but assuming the tone/style are the same, I'm not that desperate to know what happens next. But one day, I'll read the second one for sure.

Grade: 6/10

Eve Silver - Dark Desires

Betrayed by those she trusted, penniless and alone, Darcie Finch is forced to accept a position that no one else dares, as assistant to dangerously attractive Dr. Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate, where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances ... and the murders.
With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely on her instincts as she confronts the man she falling in love with. Is he an innocent and misunderstood man ... or a remorseless killer who prowls the East End streets?

Comment: This book had been in the pile for some time. Recently (meaning, months) I saw it was a freebie on some online retailers and I took the opportunity to finally get it.

In this book we meet Darcie Finch, a poor woman, down on her luck, who is about to let go of her pride and do whatever necessary to get food but at the final chance, her sister sends her to a doctor to become a maid in his house. She accidentally meets him on her way to his house to seek employment, though, and there is something about him that is very mysterious. Still, she talks to him and starts working in his house but between the weird things about his work as a doctor and Darcie's growing feelings for him, he discovers her talent as an artist and that is the beginning of a new path for Darcie...

Sometimes blurbs are perfect summaries of the premise of a book. Sometimes they aren't and some other times they are even deceiving. I can't understand why some are well done and others are not, it's one of those mysteries but when it comes to this book, when I read the expressions "penniless and alone, Darcie Finch is forced to accept a position that no one else dares" I immediately imagined a romance where the heroine would face some adversity but finally be"rewarded" with the eternal love of a man feared by some but who would be perfect for her.

The premise and the blur led me to imagine a story where the differences between them would be more obvious. Yes, I also read the gothic descriptions part but I didn't consider it to be such an important item. Sadly, I wanted more of the romance and less of the gothic...

I wouldn't go as far to say the blurb is deceiving n this case; I do think there are far worse examples of this. However, I did expect something slightly different and I slowly lost hope I'd have the elements I looked for. This is not a bad story and the gothic details were well incorporated overall but.. everything relies a little too much on certain details and not on a plot that makes sense all the time. I can understand why the author chose to hide some things, or to let them not be too obvious for the reader but at the same time that was annoying and when we are revealed some truths or explanations, it feels... meh. Not as huge as we are led to believe. (Especially from a behavior POV).

The romance is a let down as well, for me.

Darcie is a sweet heroine, very strong and she becomes more and more amazing as the plot moves along but despite this being a third person narrator, the POV is always on her alone and her steps and not in the couple. I found that the choice to "hide" doctor Cole's thoughts was understandable but limitative and so much was lost, I'd say, in terms of character development, because if we only have the focus on her, he always feels as an "under done" character.

In the end, they get together but it just doesn't seem as romantic as it could but yes, I was glad they found common ground somehow even if not that in an obvious way.

The plot has some situations depicted which I think were well led. The author did a good job in letting us follow some clues towards a certain destination but the final effect is that for such a huge amount of secrecy and wrong clues, the outcome isn't that amazing...

All in all, this had enough elements to be a god story and some things do work out well. From a purely romantic POV, I did like how the end happened, especially in relation to secondary characters. The main couple, of course finds happiness but apart from that, my impressions don't go past average so I doubt I'll read more in this series...

Grade: 6/10