Amazing book with great charactization and a really amazing flow. Loved it and will certainly be reading more from this author

4 stars

Really loved this! It was a great break from all my ya! Although I did have a few things figured out, still an awesome story!

I won't be able to leave a review for this book; I requested it in a past lifetime of my NetGalley use (about ten years ago!) and it no longer fits with my reading interests. If I ever do end up reading it I'll come back and update this!

Callie McFay gets a lot more than she bargained with when she gets a job teaching at Fairwick College in the Folklore Department. She moves into a house that calls to her, which has a very interesting history, and finds out that the fairy tales and fables she grew up on may not be just stories.

I enjoyed this book very much. Given that "the demon lover" in question is an incubus, there was understandably lots of hot sex, but that wasn't all there was. The inhabitants of the town of Fairwick and the college itself were varied and interesting in their own right. I enjoyed getting to know all of them. I thought the story could have been streamlined a bit, but that didn't take away any of my enjoyment. As this is the first book in a trilogy, I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

If you're looking for a dark gothic paranormal story, you definitely need to check this one out.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and Juliet Dark for the opportunity to read and review this book.

For some very, very strange reason, The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark was incorrectly listed in the Young Adult category. I can tell you without a doubt that this book is not YA, not by a long shot. Did this take away from the book? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I can’t imagine The Demon Lover being done as YA and still being as good as it is.

When we first meet our main character, Callie McFay, she’s going through a bit of a transitional period in her life. Having just finished both her Ph.D. and a book based on her adaptation of her thesis, Callie is mulling over various job offers. She ends up turning down more prestigious job offers; accepting a job at Fairwick College where she begins teaching in her field of expertise; folklore. Callie soon finds herself more a part of the College and the town of Fairwick than she ever thought possible with a new house, new friends, and a new lover. It’s there in the town of Fairwick that Callie begins to learn things about herself and her family that she never knew.

The Demon Lover is hot. Hot without being smutty. It’s interesting and informative and introduces a paranormal world that is actually quite believable. The characters are well written and the interaction between them moves the story along at a reasonable pace. Quite honestly, The Demon Lover is the perfect beginning to a series. It sets up the back story really well and at the same time, it manages to leave you ready to read the next installment.

Unfortunately I did not get on with this book and therefore cannot rate it very highly. I really struggled to connect with the characters and storyline.

Couldn't download this so I can't really review it. Seems really interesting though, sounds like something I would check out.

Such a complicated book/rating. The Demon Lover takes a lover of Gothic fiction, books and old legends and lore and plants her in a small town where most of the residents and co-workers at the local college aren't what they seem. The slow-paced story lands Callie in interesting situations as she's drawn to a rambling, old house filled with the legend of an incubus, and by the end of the book the reader isn't sure who to trust. Truthfully Callie seems TOO trusting of some of the residents I don't particularly care, and not trusting enough of a particular incubus, but that aside - it's a unique story.

First, there's always instant kudos for main characters who are book lovers. Not only that, but she has her class watch gothic films like Rebecca, Dracula, and a few others. What a fun class that must be! There's some red herrings on who is who and what is what - I finally guessed one of them accurately, but it goes through my mind on several occasions that someone else may be a villain or friend in disguise. For example, hasn't she ever heard not to trust the fae? We shall see.

While the premise is strong and the plotline drew me in right away, the slow-paced story seemed to lose its direction a few times. The author could have combatted this by tying up some loose ends sooner, chopping down on small things that could have been left out of the story, or else adding in a little more steam. For a story that involves an incubus, it's disturbingly vague on intimate details, even if you do realize its going on quite a bit. But still...

Gothic vibes galore and paranormally rich, this would have been a four star had it not been for that ending. Depressing and slightly lackluster, it soured my enjoyment down a star, but I'm curious on the second and how much better I'm sure this series will keep getting.

And seriously, I want to be a literature professor of gothic literature! No Shakespeare needed for me, thanks. Is there even such a thing? Some fictional characters have all the luck.

I love retellings and this one is slightly unusual for a retelling, but it worked well. Really enjoyed all of the creatures and would love to learn more about them (maybe in the subsequent books?). I did get lost in all of the different stories, but it kept me enchanted with the book! If you are looking for more in your new adult romances, by which I mean a little more paranormal fantasy with your sexy times, then pick this up!

Those wishing a gothic and intricate plot with a few erotic elements will find plenty to like in this book. A great start to a series.

Sorry for the inconvenience in taking so long for my feedback, but I never finished this book and no longer have access to it.

*I didn't get around to reading and reviewing this title.*