Anna J. Evans

I first heard about Shadow Marked as part of Dark Faerie Tales’ debut urban fantasy authors challenge. (You probably thought I’d stop talking about that now that it’s 2011 but you were wrong.) I didn’t read this as part of the challenge because I was more interested in some of the other books but I decided to purchase it the other day when I was at the bookstore.

Shadow Marked is a paranormal romance set in a New York City that has been partially overrun by demons. Our heroine, Samantha Quinn, has been blind almost all of her life but she’s fairly content with how things are. She has a business and a brother in the neighbourhood but longs for something more. Jace Lu is a bounty hunter, keeping the demons under control in the neighbourhood. They’re drawn together when their paths cross one night, and Sam’s visions of death are stronger than ever.

One of the things I liked most about Shadow Marked is the unusual protagonist. Sam is blind as a result of her parents sacrificing her sight to demons when she was six-years-old. About 15 years later, she’s living in New York, near where the demons came through, so property values are low and risks are high. Sam has made a name for herself as a florist in the area. I love that she’s resilient and determined and does her best not to be affected by her disability, her bad neighbourhood, or the visions she has of people who are about to die.

I’m not so fussy on Jace. He comes off extremely one-dimensional at the start of the book and his darkness seems a bit affected. He eventually develops some depth but he’s not my idea of a great leading man. I like that he doesn’t have any crazy super powers but I wasn’t all that into him.

I thought the idea of where the demons come from and how they live in the modern world was rather neat. I also enjoyed the general plot of Shadow Marked but I was a bit surprised by the BDSM nature of Sam and Jace’s relationship. There was nothing in the back blurb that made me think the book was heading in that direction, so it was a bit of a surprise when it popped up but, as it turns out, Anna J. Evans specializes in erotic romance so I suppose it’s not a shock to readers familiar with her writing.

The next book in the Demon Bound series is out now but I’m undecided about whether or not I’ll pick it up right now. I think it’ll depend on the general release schedule and what else is available at the time. My To Be Read pile is quite daunting right now so I will probably hold off for a bit, and then make my decision.

http://ireadgood.wordpress.com… (meer)

I recently discovered the first book in this adult paranormal series Shadow Marked, which I reviewed here, http://abookwormshaven.com/2010/12/20/book-review-for-shadow-marked-by-anna-j-ev..., and really fell in love with the idea of this world. Therefore I was really excited, and grateful, when the publisher mailed me this book which is the second book in the series. I think it is a good idea to read Shadow Marked first, so you will have a back story to everything going on in this world, but if you just read Demon Marked alone you would be fine. Enough is explained to you that you would not be lost, but I would suggest reading Shadow Marked first.

Onto the story, I have grown to love the mystery elements that weave through this series. Anna does a wonderful job of keeping the reader engaged and always wondering what awaits you around the corner. I have never liked being able to tell right away how a book is going to end and with this novel what you see is definitely not what you get. There are some elements to it that you will be able to guess at, of course, but the ones you can’t make the story that much more exciting. I really thought I had a couple of elements nailed, but nope, Anna surprised me again. Which just made me love this book that much more.

As for the main characters, I really liked Emma. She is a feisty girl who has seen the dark side of life on more than one occasion. It is actually the more sinister nature of her personality that has helped to keep her alive all these years. She has a demon dwelling in her, just like her sister Sam did, but her demon feeds off evil. Therefore her morals need to be a little more pliable than the average person. Andre on the other hand would fall under the softer side of life category. His family is the mob, but he has kept his hands relatively clean by being a lawyer and just bending the law a little here and there to help them out. The term I would use to describe this man would be “metro-sexual.” He gets his eyebrows waxed people! I had to laugh out loud when I read that in the book, sorry Andre. Not really a guy I would normally get into, but somehow Andre makes it work. I don’t even know if I can describe how he manages to win you over, but he accomplishes that task quite nicely. You soon forget that the man has perfectly groomed eyebrows and just focus on his general hotness.

I have to admit, this book captivated me a little more than the first one did. Just means they are getting better as they go right? I prefer Jace (the guy in the first one) to Andre , but the story line of Demon Marked held onto my interest a tad tighter then Shadow Marked did. Overall both books are awesome though and definitely worth reading. I am not sure where this world is going to go from here and I have not heard word of a future book, but I know I would really like to see more. I hope Anna has more story swirling around in her brain and writes it down so we can visit the demon filled streets of New York once again.… (meer)

This is a book I actually found by accident. My friend Susan, from Wastepaper Prose, and I were in Pennsylvania for an author event being held in a book store, so naturally we wandered around and browsed through the books. We eventually got back to the YA section, where we saw two copies of this book. Neither of us had seen it before, so we read the back cover. We were both intrigued and decided to get it. I had another book to finish before I could start this one, but I was anxious to see what this book had to offer.

After reading the first three chapters, I was pretty sure this book had been put in the wrong section of the store. If you read the first couple of chapters you will definitely see what I am talking about. The heat between the two main characters practically burns the pages. Peaked your curiosity yet? Well mine certainly was, but I had to know if this was really a YA title. I looked up the book and discovered that it is actually an adult paranormal romance. So, if you happen to have bookstores that for some weird reason thinks this is YA too, do not be fooled. It is very much adult, in a good way of course ;)

As for the content, I really enjoyed a paranormal angle I had not seen before. Demons walking the earth, reeking havoc, causing all sorts of problems for the human population. There is a catch here though, everyone knows about them. Actually, they not only know about them, but the government does not want to kill them off and uses them as tourist attractions. Weird right? I thought so too, but it completely worked.

The chemistry between the Jace and Samantha is explosive , especially in the beginning! Towards the end of the book it did fizzle just a little bit, but to be fair they were in the middle of a pretty major battle which tends to get in the way of alone moments. Watching Jace struggle to make sense of his feelings for Samantha throughout the story was beyond entertaining. He does not easily give into his emotions, but Samantha did a great job of pulling them out of him, willing or not. My favorite parts of the book were always inside Jace’s head and watching to his walls slowly crumble and give into Samantha.

The twists and turns the plot takes you through were fantastic! The book was like a big puzzle with all the pieces jumbled up leaving me scrambling to try and make my brain work to put it all together. I thought I had almost everything pieced together, but Anna did a great job of keeping me guessing and wondering who the enemy really was. The element of surprise in the book was alive and well, which made me very happy.

Overall I am glad I stumbled across this book, even if it was in the wrong section. It was a new spin on the paranormal, which is always refreshing and it left me wanting to read more in this world. Which is why I am looking forward to the next book which is called Demon Marked, due out January 4th, so I don’t have to wait long, yay!… (meer)