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.

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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! ( )