Devon’s review of Duncan’s Descent (Ethereal Foes Series) by Marie Harte
Paranormal erotic romance eBook released by Samhain 5 Aug 08
Marie is a good first name for Samhain authors. Once upon a time, I thought I had read something by Bev(QB) about a new author she liked named Marie…something. This had previously led me to Gothic Dragon by Marie Treanor, which I enjoyed. But just in case I had the wrong Marie, I thought I’d give this one a try as well, and the blurb was fun and appealing. It was good. There was hot sex, intriguing worldbuilding, and entertaining characters, all within the length of a novella.
The world of this book reminded me a bit of Meljean Brook. There are three realms: the Upper (or Angelic), the Ordinary (comprised of humans), and the Lower or Abyss. The angels that inhabit the upper realm and the demons of the lower realm sway souls in the direction they should go. Together, they work to maintain the necessary balance between good and evil. Things aren’t black and white, there are a number of shades of grey, as both sides try to one up, out maneuver and generally mess with each other.
Harte has a lively, vivid writing style which really makes the characters pop–from the hero, the deliciously naughty Duncan, and heroine, confused yet fun Sapphira, to secondary characters like Duncan’s father, Sapphira’s mother and meddling angels. In another author’s hands, I might have gotten really sick of the mental lusting bit and the rather labored sexing up of everything. But I found the characters and story to be so entertaining that I was able to put my misgivings aside.
The story starts out with Duncan, the son of fallen angel Assael, in the Upper Realm being punished by angels. This punishment includes blow jobs. From angels. Oh, the torture. Oy. Then Duncan is partnered with Sapphira, an angel who doesn’t really like her job, to help her save some souls. They lust after each other, and there’s a silly sex scene in an alley, but once it’s established that this is a sex saturated erotic romance, the story settles down a bit. The romance develops nicely. Duncan and Sapphira actually have personalities, and they get to know each other.
This was a good find. It’s definitely worth a try if you like your paranormal on the lighter side, with plenty of sex. The setting was not merely a backdrop for sex, but rather had some depth. And the characterization was vivid as well. I’d definitely try the author again.
Grade: B-
The Summary:
As a demon of the Ethereal, it’s Duncan Sinclair’s job to sway humans toward the path to hell. Duncan is very good at his job-until a prank gone wrong lands him in the upper realm doing penance. Now he’s being bombarded with love, kindness, and affectionate sex…and it’s killing him. The only way out is to agree to sway souls for heaven, with an angel as his partner, by all that’s unholy!Sapphira may be an angel of the upper realm, but she chafes in a bland existence where everything is so pure. It’s hard to hide her secret yearning for sin. Even harder with Duncan, who’s everything the dark core of her soul craves: handsome, sexy and refreshingly naughty.
Confronted with an angel who drinks, swears, and takes him to bliss with her sinfully delightful body, Duncan finds himself at risk of losing his heart to the enemy.
Loving this angel could land him right where he doesn’t want to be-heaven. But what’s a demon to do when he’s falling?
Read an excerpt here
