Jana Downs

There are lots of stories about temptation, the vast majority deal with what happens if a good person is tempted to sin or do something bad. What I loved about this book is that it turns this around, and asks what happens if a bad guy (or supposed bad guy) like, say, a demon, is tempted into being good? A very interesting and fun twist on the morals of Heaven and Hell, and one that is written with lots of humor to boot.

Dante is a human rock musician who is tempting enough to have the demons of hell after him – literally. They wish to ‘recruit’ him and, in the tried and proven way well-known since ‘The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus’ (by Christopher Marlowe, later reworked by Goethe), all they need to do is get Dante to sell his soul.

Eroc is the lust demon entrusted with this mission. He is in deep trouble before the story even begins. Being on probation because he was too nice is not a good place to be, and he is willing to do anything to prove that he is a worthy demon. Until he meets Dante in the flesh and discovers there is more to life than having a good time in Hell. His road isn’t easy, his decisions are tough, but the reward, if he can make it work, is true love.

This book made me laugh about the ‘upside-down’ morality which had a logic all its own, I loved the characters and how they interacted, and watching them struggle with the realization of what they really wanted was very entertaining. If you like books about demons, if a slightly different perspective on good and evil doesn’t bother you, and if you think you can stand, maybe even enjoy, the heat a lust demon and his new favorite human can create between each other, you will probably like his book.
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Interesting idea for a new series, sort of a mix between paranormal/horror (the zombie threat) and sci-fi. There is a variety of zombies, and the explanation for how they originated is quite interesting. The fact is that this is story set in a post-apocalyptic America and as such has a different set of rules people live by. Part of the fascination of this first book is finding out how it all hangs together and what some of the pitfalls are.

The characters are definitely fun and while not too deeply developed, were interesting enough to keep me reading. The married couple and company owners, Jason and Jim, taking an interest in one of their employees, Ager, as a third for their relationship added some spice and made for a few very hot scenes as hey got to know each other. Adding the sense of danger as they go on a mission to fight zombies provided the tension, while the idea of 'zombie insurance' and the way people deal with this new threat made me laugh. It is so typical of how corporate America would deal with it, seeing it almost overdone to this degree made it humorous for me.

If you're looking for a 'light horror read' with some hot men and lots of 'sexy distractions' in-between all the shooting and adventure, you may like this novel.… (más)

The second book in the "Owned" series was slightly different from the first, and I liked that we get to meet the mysterious Eoeans. They are, after all, behind the removal of human males from Earth in the lottery set up to provide them with potential concubines and other species with mates in exchange for keeping Earth virus-free and what remains of the human population healthy and alive.

Alexis is the chosen "sacrifice" in this book, and yes, that is what he sees himself as. His home town handles the lottery quite differently than the one in the first book, and everyone is proud of him for being so lucky. Even his parents, despite the fact he is their only son and heir to the family company. I found that more than weird, but then, it isn’t as if they can do anything to stop the aliens, so maybe it is better that way. Alexis is scared of being a slave (after having survived an abusive boyfriend) and does an admirable job standing up for himself, despite the odds.

Elia is one of many sons of an Eoean prince, and has just come into maturity, He needs a "first concubine" and his father snags him a rare human. Elia isn’t sure what to expect, other than obedience, but that isn’t quite what he gets. From the very beginning he is a lot more understanding than he could have been, and it gradually becomes clear why: his father is a tyrant and Elia has sworn never to become like him. The problem is that this will not be easy, and soon, both Elia an Alexis are in for the fight of their lives.

Much like in the first book, the discovery of the differences and similarities between the Eoeans and humans was fascinating. The descriptions of the alien physiology and mating habits were great, and made for some eyebrow-raising reading.

If you like your science fiction to come with a large helping of cross-cultural differences that need to be explored and figured out, if you enjoy reading about two men who are pretty much made for each other despite coming from different species, and you're looking for a read with lots of imaginative action between the sheets, then you will probably like this novella as much as I did. It's a great continuation for this new series.
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