Ashlyn Mathews

After Adam and Eve were sent to Earth in punishment for defying God, demons followed them. Since then, demons pray on humans and Shadow Watchers hunt demons and protect humans.

As a shadow watcher, Sophie’s duty is to watch over humans. But there is demon blood in her, blood from a monster who killed her parents, blood that brought her back from the dead. Not too long ago the monster’s blood took over her will, driving her into a killing spree and a suicide attempt.

Now she is back to her senses trying desperately to atone for her past mistakes. She has sworn to kill twenty five demons and trade their lives for his ex-human boy-friend’s life. But her brother, the shadow watcher’s leader, wants the human dead and orders Ryan to kill him.
Fate has it that Ryan and Sophie meet and fall in love before they know who they really are. Now they must decide between love and duty unless the demons Sophie hunts kill them first.

Romance and sword fight intertwine in this intricate paranormal story where secrets are hidden in layers of deception and half-truths. A scintillating world I challenge you to enter at your own risk.
… (meer)

Well, the description says that this book is Sensual and that is no exaggeration. You could cut the sexual tension (read: strong mutual attraction) between Ryan and Sophie with a knife! But that's not all that this paranormal/steampunk romance novel offers. It also has amazing character development, great and very vivid descriptions (I could really picture the places and people, as I read), and Ashlyn also has a great writing voice. By the time I was done with this, I felt like I knew all the main characters personally!

The story is about a young shadow watcher Sophie Sinclair whose job is protecting humanity from daemons that were released into the world thousands of years ago. Mistakes of her youth have made Sophie take a vow to protect all humans, no matter if they deserve it or not. One such undeserving individual is Sophie's ex boyfriend, who had nearly killed her once.

Ryan Campbell is also a shadow watcher, though neither know this yet. He's a former cop who was there the night Sophie almost died, and who has now returned into her life quite by accident. They have a short fling, sparks fly, both know they're meant for each other, yet neither wants to acknowledge it. Talk about sexual tension!

Sophie and Ryan are working towards different goals. To resolve their issues, they will ultimately have to make the age old choice between love and duty. Which will they follow, the heart or the mind?

Although I do not usually read paranormal romance, this book really hooked me. I might need to look for more books of similar quality in the genre. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast paced, well written paranormal romance.… (meer)