Sandy M’s review of Lucinda, Darkly (Demon Princess Chronicles) by Sunny Chen
Paranormal romance published 7 Aug 07 by Berkley Trade 

Blurb:

For centuries, Lucinda has endured her agonizing reality. As daughter of the High Lord of Hell, she rules over nothing, retrieving the occasional wayward demon and feeding off of the savage Monére—of whom she was a member before she died.

Then she encounters the Monére warrior Stefan, who offers himself to her. She is moved beyond measure by her desire for him –and soon finds herself drawn back into the heady eroticism of the Monére. There, she must carve out a home between the jealousy of the dead and the violence of the living, if she is to keep her newfound love—and life…

Read an excerpt.

I was positively taken with this book. Taken on a pleasure trip, a fantastic voyage. Normally I’m not taken when an author gives me sex and erotic goings-on early in a book, but when Lucinda and Stefan meet, you feel it immediately and they show you they feel it too. I was very taken with Stefan, his dignity, his protectiveness, his capacity to love completely. I was even taken with the warriors who are minor characters and who are entrusted with Lucinda’s care. Those are some great scenes when they fight for her (and their) life and even when one warrior gives Lucinda what-for when she decides to help in the fight. There are little jewels like this throughout the book.

I also enjoyed the different species of characters, especially the Monére, children of the moon. The characters are so diverse from one another, but they’re all looking for the same thing. And when Lucinda’s rag-tag group comes together, even though she knows she’s found what she needs, she’s the only one of the group who refuses to believe it, to embrace it, to live it. The different realms where each character originates from or resides in are all quite imaginative and foreboding, especially Hell where Lucinda must visit to replenish herself every so often.

The twists and turns are unexpected and take you in a new direction each time, to either sensation-heightened pleasure or mind-numbing pain or even death. I love an author who has imagination such as this, imagination that keeps you guessing and then makes you gasp in a deep breath at the next scene. This book is full of imagination.

I am happy this is the first book of the series. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series if and when I can get my hands on them.

Grade: A-