The world erupted into war, and the only way for it to end was when the daemons announced their presence and wiped out the World leaders. The remaining governments had to scramble to set up a hierarchy with the daemons in it and that was when the Consul developed, a neutral ground for negotiations ran by haemons, half human half daemon hybrids. Piper is an apprentice Consul, which is much harder for her than anyone since she has no magic. When a magical artifact gets stolen and her father, the current Consul, is missing, Piper is the main suspect. With her life on the line and two allies she never trusted, Piper needs to clear her name and find out what is really going on.
Oh my God, I loved this book! I had no real expectations when I started reading and I got all wrapped up in the story. This was such a good Urban Fantasy, and I would put it up there with my two favorite authors Ilona Andrews and Karen Chance. The world building was amazing, from the history of the world, the types of daemons, to the hierarchy, and the fighting. The descriptions were so well done I could picture these otherworldly beast so easily. I ate up every moment of this book and I can’t wait to read more.
Piper was so incredibly kick butt. She lacks any magic, which puts her in a disadvantage in the world, especially with the job she longs to do. But instead of admitting defeat, she learns any and all forms of physical fighting to help her handicap. This entire book was her jumping from one mess to another, never having a moment to breathe. Even when her world is falling apart around her, she only had a breakdown once. I rooted for her to stay strong, and even when she made poor judgment calls and missed subtle things from others emotions, I still liked her. Way to make a tough female character who may have been repeatedly saved by her male companions, but she saved them right back.

Lyre was fun, but I could not really get a handle on his true feelings. I was really confused if he had a thing for Piper or if he is just an incubus and was flirty with all females period. He brushed off his more severe reactions, but just under the surface a few times he slipped. Ash. Sigh, Ash. I don’t care if his true form is a big scary demon who terrifies all. I loved him. I was already sold on him in the beginning when I 1)Read his name (I am a sucker for a boy named Ash) 2) he was described as uncaring and dangerous, and 3) he had a pet dragon thing. He was my absolute favorite character even though he is still surrounded by mystery and deceit. I think that Ash is the boogeyman for so many, yet he was a marshmallow for his pet and would risk his own life (a lot) to save Piper. My favorite scene in the book was when Piper was fighting in the club and the end to her fighting was the best! I never saw it coming but man was that a sneaky smart move on her part with Ash.
This is my current favorite book and the best book I have read so far this year. I would recommend this to any and everyone who likes urban fantasy full of monsters and action. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book and see what kind of mess Piper gets into next.

This book was stunning! I could get lost in this world for hours. I was lucky enough to get the first 3 books, Chase the Dark, Bind the Soul and Yield the Night, on NetGalley for free and I binge read them so fast.

A quick run down of the steel and stone world: First of all, daemons! Which are not demons. As said in the book “There were three ‘worlds’, for lack of a better term: Earth, where humans lived, the Underworld, and the Overworld. Daemons came from the latter two and Earth was stuck inter-dimensionally between them. The Underworld wasn’t Hell any more than the Overworld was Heaven. They were simply opposites.” Daemons aren’t evil demons come to steal human souls, although their morality was at times questionable. Both the two main guys Ash and Lyre are Underworld daemons who are scary and freaking badass when they take their glamour away and shade. Glamour is a type of illusion used by daemons to appear human, born from the magic of Earth. Shading is when you should really be afraid of daemons though. Shading is a shift in daemons where they become more instinct driven than logic driven, resulting in a predatory mindset that can be unpredictable and violent. Haemons are half-human half-daemon. They look completely human and they inherit magic from their daemon parent.

I loved the main character Piper and how determined and strong she is. Her dream is to become a consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. She is a Haemon but she doesn’t have any magic which makes her dream that much harder because you need magic to counter magic. Most of the other Haemons perceive her has weak and don’t believe she should be allowed to become a consul. But Piper just ignores them and strives to reach her dream. But that all crashes down when the most powerful weapon in all three worlds goes missing and all the evidence points to Piper. Piper goes on the run along with Ash and Lyre when they are found at the scene of the crime, so she can find out the truth and set her and her friend’s names free. But that’s easy said then done because finding an ally is hard when every daemon in the three worlds want them dead. Even though Piper doesn’t possess any magic of her own, just her fists themselves are forces of the reckoned with. That girl has some serious badass skills!

Ash, Ash, Ash, where do I start? I freaking love Ash to bits! He is an Underworld daemon, but not any daemon, a draconian, which is one of the rarest and most powerful daemon castes. His reputation is off the charts and he is feared by most other daemons. Although he may seem all dark and dangerous, when he lets his guard slip (which although isn’t every often) he is compassionate, kind, protective and fiercely loyal. He and most of his kind are slaves to Samuel, the warlord of the most powerful family in the Underworld. For years he has been tortured and sent around the three worlds as Samuel’s hit man which makes me so sad and all I want to do is cuddle and protect him. I love the colour of his hair and how he always wears a red ribbon braided into it to remember a promise he once made. Lyre is also a Underworld daemon and he is a incubus. He is such a flirt and always teases Piper which I found hilarious but cute. His daemon caste specialises in lust and suduction magic and although there are a couple of Piper and Lyre scenes, I will forever and always ship Piper and Ash because they are always saving/protecting each other and if they let their love for each other free nothing could stand in their way. Seriously, they need to get together and stop being all brooding and ‘I want to be a consul so I can’t be with a daemon’ shush Piper and just accept that you are in love so you can go and live happily ever after. HA! As if that would happen because after reading the next two books in the series, I am seriously wondering if they are both going to make it to the end alive. But I can always hope.

Such an amazing paranormal book with so many twists and turns! I seriously recommend, especially if you are into The Dark Elements trilogy by Jennifer L Armentrout!