Death’s Lover: First Encounter (Death Dimension Series, Book 2) by Scarlett Reed | 1.5 Stars

Dark, twisted, and ultimately disappointing.

“Death’s Lover: First Encounter” takes on a blend of historical romance and supernatural intrigue, but despite its ambitions, it struggles to find solid ground. Set in colonial Virginia, the story centers on Avaline, a young bride whose sheltered life is disrupted by Niklaus, a mysterious, otherworldly visitor with a cold, magnetic presence. Niklaus’s supposed mission is to learn about humanity, but his arrival pushes Avaline into a relationship marked by manipulation and cruelty rather than meaningful growth.

The Story
While the premise promises an intriguing clash of ideologies and perspectives, the execution leaves much to be desired. Niklaus’s influence over Avaline feels less like a journey of enlightenment and more like a one-sided power play. Instead of thoughtful character development, the narrative often veers into scenes of gratuitous darkness that feel excessive and, at times, out of place. The historical backdrop doesn’t seem fully realized, either, with language and scenes that feel historically uncomfortable without adding much to the plot or character depth.

The Themes
While dark themes can often add gravity to a story, here they feel heavy-handed. There’s a line between exploring intense topics and glorifying them, and Death’s Lover too often crosses into the latter. Despite the author's intent to remain “historically accurate,” the portrayal of abuse and manipulation overshadows any deeper message, making it difficult to feel empathy for Avaline or invest in her connection with Niklaus.

Final Take
If you’re a fan of intense, dark romances, this may be worth a try, but be prepared for unsettling scenes that may be hard to move past. While I hoped for an epic tale of growth and resilience, Death’s Lover felt more like a story lost in its own shadows.

Approach with caution if you’re sensitive to dark themes, and don’t expect much beyond the darkness.

This is a story about Avaline Addams, who hailed from colonial Virginia and was promised to the Viscount Harmsworth-a man crossed with familial and financial expectation. Teetering on the cusp of entering the aristocracy, Avaline meets Niklaus Davenport: an enigma, really, and an Angel of Death on his maiden voyage into human life. That roadside meeting stirrups something in Avaline, subtly unbalancing her curiosity, while being an indication toward a deeper connection that is darker than societal norms would dare permit. But when she enters the arranged marriage, it becomes clear that Harmsworth's ambitions are transactional in a way that complicates Avaline's visions of love and partnership, in striking contrast to the enigmatic allure of Niklaus.

Though Avaline does her best to bend herself into the mold of a dutiful bride, she somehow finds herself irrepressibly drawn to the aura surrounding Niklaus-one that tells of calm yet intense intrigue. Meanwhile, Niklaus grapples with the sensual richness of mortal life-a world of beauty and darkness-pressing in upon him, ethereally, toward Avaline. As Avaline prepares to consummate her marriage, the multifaceted relationship of these three individuals unravels and forms a very strong foundation for a realistic study of fate, obligation, and longing.

Avaline at the outset is a woman of status, committed to the goals that have consumed her family. Her marrying Harmsworth is to benefit her family, though she herself desires love and regard from her future spouse. Throughout the book, her inner struggle rises, and this is because she has to constantly choose between societal pressures and personal desires, each time Niklaus is near. Her intentions have been carved out by her family expectations and wanting to be a "perfect" wife, but she needed more than what this transactional bond Harmsworth was offering her.

Niklaus is an Angel of Death in a human shell, and everything seems new and bright yet weighed down by emotions and weaknesses he has never known. His attraction toward Avaline seems to be sourced by fascination with the sphere of human life, especially since he now goes through a few complexities of attachment versus duty. This makes him inquisitive yet restrained; his attraction to Avaline balances with his role in the world as a supernaturally mechanical onlooker. Niklaus's nature as a bridge between life and death brought forth an unusually contemplative character, often weighty with thoughts of mortality and love.

Of the three, Harmsworth is probably the most tormented; he is wracked with debt and family obligation, yet attempts to cling to his aristocratic status through his engagement to Avaline. His motives revealed a man in contention between doing the proper thing and giving in to personal weakness. His relationship with Avaline is based on expectation rather than any affection; this shows his belief that marriage exists to help a person find a place socially and economically, rather than in fulfilling personal happiness.

Secondary Characters
Avaline's aunt, among other peripheral characters, adds to the social weave that surrounds Avaline, with each character reflecting facets of the societal values. The few relations she does have with these figures heighten her isolation and inner war all the more because she compares and contrasts the ambitions and priorities of the various characters against her own desires.

The Duty versus Desire theme is quite focused; a lot of Avaline's struggle lies in what her family demands of her versus what she desires for herself. This characterizes conflict between social duty and emotional fulfillment. With Niklaus's position as immortal, the existential perspective comes in and he pressures Avaline to seek meanings deeper than those from her mortal duties.

Harmsworth and Avaline's family took to the institution of marriage for consolidation of status. The power imbalances of their world are underlined, therefore. The increasing cognizance of agency within herself by Avaline, amidst transactional motivations for and around her person, suggests the possibility of personal growth beyond the constraints of societal expectations.

Where Niklaus was an Angel of Death, the brevity of life and the depth of human experience became a strange consideration. This subtlety weaves subtly into his interaction with Avaline, since through their bonding, she brings him closer to mortal emotions-an interplay between life and death, hauntingly beautiful.

Scarlett Reed ensures that her writing is immersive and evocative, fully packed with detail and atmosphere that pertains to its historical setting in Death's Lover: First Encounter. Reed's narrative method-embracing a close third-person point of view and associated slow and deliberating pacing-allows the reader participation in the inner worlds of the characters with great nuance. The formal, lyrical language, echoing the historical setting, gives the book one of its defining romantic and ethereal undercurrents.

Reed uses some of the most adept figurative languages, most especially when describing emotions and sensations that develop the atmosphere in this story. Since Niklaus is an Angel of Death having his first mortal experience with the world, this makes these descriptions very new and intense. His feelings of awe, juxtaposed with the inner turmoil in Avaline, created a counterpoint that amplified the romantic tension. It is through such judicious use of language and sensual detail that the reader can experience the story through the mindscape of the characters, especially in the longing of Avaline and the cautious fascination of Niklaus with her very humanness.

This pacing, while it contains some slowness, is a mirror of the gradual building up in Avaline and Niklaus's relationship attraction chiaroscuro and thereby reiterates the repression of tension between duty and desire. More importantly, Reed chooses to make the novel deep with regards to character relationships and social undertows affecting the era within which this novel is set. Such a contemplative nature in this book will go down great with those readers who love slower-paced introspective build-up romances where one lingers over the interactions and gestures.

Death's Lover: First Encounter by Scarlett Reed is something different for historical fantasy romance-classically otherworldly yet contemplative with regard to love, mortality, and free will. Reed develops well-rounded characters while considering themes of duty versus desire, social hierarchies of power, and what it is to live a life through the eyes of an outsider to the human experience. This the author conveys rather nicely, not making this story about romance per se but actually a reflection of various existential questions.

She does not fail to pay attention to history, using expressive sensory language and deeply exploring her character's psychological depths. The character dynamics are great, especially the relationships of Avaline and Niklaus, each relationship showing a deeper turmoil or want in the characters. Probably the greatest disappointment is found within the pacing of this story and may make those readers who enjoy fast action or immediate plot development just a little impatient.

The novel is contemplative, almost melancholic in tone, bringing forth a new perspective on rather familiar themes of romance, while the supernatural element does create an interesting twist in human connection and mortality. Comparatively, Death's Lover: First Encounter shares similarities with works of Gothic romance where dark atmospheres, psychological depth, and intense emotions stand in the foreground. Yet Reed's concern with existential motifs, with the otherworldliness of her protagonist, already signals that this is both homage and departure from traditional historical romance in another way.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
Writing Style: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★☆
World-Building: ★★★★☆

That would appeal most to any reader who relishes historical romance with dark supernatural twists and introspective character-driven stories. All lovers of Gothic romance, Victorian literature, and even authors like Daphne du Maurier and Anne Rice would likely find Death's Lover: First Encounter engrossing.

Thank you to Net Galley and the author for allowing me to read this novel for an honest review. I believe that the reader needs to thoroughly check out the trigger warnings for this book.I had a hard time getting through it for this reason. The graphic nature at which sexual assault happen are meant to act as a plot point, but I did not think it was worth the words that it took to write it. I won't be recommending this book to anyone, especially any person of color.

I really struggled with this book, I feel like there should be more trigger warnings and the genres it is put into should be changed. The themes were not good and I don’t even want to talk about it.
Sent by NetGalley to read and review

📚 Book Review 📚

I still have mixed feelings about this book, even though I finished it a couple of days ago.

This is about a fallen angel Niklaus, a being that can seek out those who are about to die and take them into the next realm, who uses human form to visit earth. He visits the United States during the time of colonial repression and slavery and adopts the guise of a nephew of a wealthy landowner. His ‘uncle’ is a vicious and nasty man who marries a young, beautiful woman named Avaline in a marriage arranged by the family in order to give their daughter position and to be part of a wealthy lineage. Niklaus falls in love with the young woman and Avaline feels the same way.

There should be trigger warnings here, as the book contains graphic scenes of rape and abuse. There are also descriptive passages about slavery and the effect this theft of liberty has on the human beings enslaved in the household.

Niklaus tries to educate Avaline and show her the effects of slavery, to initiate a change in her life-long held beliefs. With a supernatural twist, she starts to understand the reality of this life. A steamy romance ensues between the pair and they start a relationship.

This is where things didn’t gel too well for me because the first part of the book was quite slow, then it became interesting but contained very upsetting and sometimes shocking scenes and then, very quickly, it became very romantically explicit. I was still disturbed by previous descriptions of the treatment of one of the female slaves Rhonda and her family and friends; it almost felt that I had started to read another story. All in all, I’m glad that I read this story but won’t be reading another in this series unfortunately.

I’d like to thank BooksGoSocial, NetGalley and the author for the arc and the fantastic opportunity, in exchange for my honest feedback 😊

⭐️⭐️

Ich habe mich über das Buch sehr gefreut. Es ist nicht nur fließend zum lesen sondern auch sehr spannend.

"Death's Lover: First Encounter" presents a premise that is both intriguing and deeply problematic. The concept of a love story between a fallen angel and a young woman from antebellum Virginia holds potential, but the novel's execution is marred by significant flaws.

Central to the critique is the book's disturbing and insensitive portrayal of slavery. The graphic depiction of violence against enslaved individuals is not only offensive but also serves no meaningful purpose in the narrative. The casual use of racial slurs further compounds the issue. These elements are not only deeply troubling but also undermine the overall impact of the story.

The characters are equally problematic. The protagonist's journey towards empathy feels forced and unconvincing, while the character of Death is portrayed in a manner that is both cliché and insensitive. The narrative itself suffers from inconsistent pacing and a lack of coherence, making it difficult for the reader to engage with the story on a meaningful level.

While there may be moments of atmospheric writing, they are overshadowed by the novel's significant shortcomings. Ultimately, "Death's Lover: First Encounter" is a deeply flawed work that fails to justify its existence.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.

I really struggle with this norry - I do understand that some people like historical accuracy and I feel the slave situation was presented with a somewhat empathetic point of view - but I think it was a bit overdone.
In this remake of "Meet Joe Black" and fantasy romance, I think the author could have choose to create an alternative reality on other aspect of this historical novel and avoid some of the triggering point.
I think it was well written but I struggled to connect with the settings and some of the situations presented.
Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Disappointing, Disjointed, Offensive Racial Epitaths, and Severe Trigger Warnings

Death's Lover: First Encounter by Scarlett Reed, left me sorely disappointed. While the underlying plot itself could have been enthralling, the storyline of slavery, abuse of slaves, and use of the N-word felt disgusting, disjointed, and lacked depth and coherence that could have made the book captivating. The vernacular the author uses when the "house slaves" interact and speak amongst each other is highly offensive. This all seemed completely unnecessary and inappropriate especially from a white author regardless of the time period or setting of the book.

There should be a SEVERE TRIGGER WARNING upfront: There is a very graphic and demeaning sexual assault of an enslaved black woman by her "master" - all the while Death, himself stands in the corner and watches so he can see what kind of man his love (a white woman) is about to marry. This is not the first sexual assault she experiences in the book. There are also sexual assaults against the wife by the same man.

The main character is very unlikeable. She is horrible to the "house slaves", she is degrading to them in her words and behavior, and thinks of them as property, until her lover, Death, gives her this very odd epiphany into the past of how slavery started and then a look into the future of how it will end and informs her there's nothing she can do to end it. For the life of me, I can't understand why any of this was needed in the book. It's almost as if the author was trying to make up for the racism throughout the book. I'm not sure - just a guess.

Overall, "Death's Lover: First Encounter" failed to deliver. The reading experience left me feeling horrible and I could not finish the book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

The first half of the book was very hard to get into. The setting being based on the past with slavery and an old world feel was a little off putting in some parts. "Death's" knowledge and ignorance of humans seemed contradictory at times. Overall, once the story took off it changed my stance and I began to get sucked in, but maybe a little too late into the book. Definitely want to read the next one to see how it all plays out.

I really enjoyed this book. I have not read the first book but you can read either one as a standalone. I was invested in the characters and engulfed with the storyline. The author has a lovely way of creating a world that was written very well. For me it was a page turner. I felt the true love between Niklaus and Avaline. I can’t wait to see what more becomes of Niklaus

This book is a brilliant read for lovers of historical fiction and fantasy.
It is a unique story of love that will capture the reader from the very first page.
Some of its themes are dark but hold substance to the plot whilst the love that the two main characters have transgress time and dimensions.
Beautifully written
It is the second book in Scarlett Reeds the Death Dimension series byr can be read as a stand alone novel.
I can’t wait for the next

Death’s Lover: First Encounter
Scarlett Reed
I have mixed feelings about this story, it is not a book I would usually choose. It is a unique story, a love story about a fallen angel or perhaps a Greek myth type of angel and an antebellum girl from Virginia. There is a very realistic scene of rape and abuse of slaves. The scene demonstrates discrimination and inequality. This book makes the reader think. The plot is dark. Death’s Lover is told in the first-person point of view which doesn’t work well with this plot. The writing style of author Scarlett Reed brings the characters to life; they march off the pages daring you to close the book…there is always time for one more chapter. The descriptions are alluring. A girl marries a stranger adding a bizarre and encouraging dimension to the storyline. The characters are well fleshed out and multifaceted. Author Scarlett Reed has taken a cup of romance, and a cup of supernatural and vintage bits achieves an gripping read, extending a new perception on existence and passion.


Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

This book just didn't work for me. Some of the actions seemed to be very unlikely in that society and culture. I was looking forward to an interesting personification of Death, but didn't get it. He seemed rather dull, as was the writing style. It was too stilted and provided insufficient background to Virginia at that period.

️My favorite plot of all time is "Death, as a character, takes a lover." Very few books with this premise match up to the lofty ideal. In this gem of a novel, an angel of death, the titular love interest, is a bad boy who can't eat peas with a fork, and shouldn't be called "beautiful" because he's a man. If I could give this book negative stars, I would, for the following reason:

Trigger warning: ANYONE WHO READS THIS BOOK SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THERE IS ON-PAGE GRAPHIC SEXUAL ASSAULT OF AN ENSLAVED BLACK WOMAN BY THE MAN ENSLAVING HER. This sexual assault, a lived reality experienced by the relatives of people still alive today, is meant to serve as a plot device to show us how much more morally virtuous our white protagonists are than this man. I truly would not recommend this book to anyone, but I especially would warn black readers away from this vile mess. SPOILER: Our hero, the titular Death, literally watches this happen without intervening. This is where I stopped reading and elected to denounce this book entirely.


Below are my impressions upon reading this book, written in realtime during the reading process. There will be spoilers.
☠️We get a "not like the other girls" line on page one, which certainly endears one to the protagonist. I enjoy egotists and assholes, especially when they're women, but not so much when they are this way at the expense of other women specifically. The summary tells us to expect character growth, so let's see if Death can convince this woman not to be such a weird misogynist.
☠️Well, Death is a snickering bad boy with feisty one-liners, so my hopes are far lower than they were before coming upon this information.
☠️Oop! Death himself certainly has some interesting terminology for black enslaved people! There's definitely a reason for a primordial unstoppable force to use that sort of language, and it's probably a good one!!
☠️Ah, not Death himself, but an angel of death. It's as disappointing here as it was in Under the Whispering Door. But at least now it makes more sense for our love interest to have the downfalls that he does.
☠️And we have sexual dimorphism, level: Can't Call a Man "Beautiful".
☠️There is literally so much exposition, and with the constant POV jumps, it's all tell and rarely show.
☠️This book needs another round of editing for minor errors alone.
☠️The racism in this book and the plot device it serves is unreal. White saviorism to a degree that would be comical did it not reveal such an insane peek into the mind of the author.
☠️The slavery apologetics here will keep me up at night.
☠️The angel of death can't eat fucking peas without tossing a bunch off the plate.
☠️The perspective of a book's characters do not necessarily reflect the views of their author. But I would be willing to bet good money that this author believes there were "good" enslavers alongside the "bad".
☠️Our hero, the angel of death, invisibly watches the rape of a woman by the man who enslaves her, ponders it for a bit, and then leaves. Just lets it happen. This is where I tap out.