Kiss of a Demon King - Kresley Cole

-Background-
Kiss of a Demon King is the sixth book in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark Series. In the Immortals After Dark Cole has created a rich world of paranormal creatures, all based on myths and legends. From the evil vampires to the noble fey, each race seems to have been carefully researched by Cole who has added her own unique perspective to the different races. All races that aren't human are known as the Lore and each race ...
...invaded and conquered Rydstrom's land. Kiss of a Demon King overlaps with the events of the previous book and although you could read this book as a stand alone I wouldn't recommend it.

-Plot-
Sabine has kidnapped Rydstrom and is keeping him prisoner in what was once his palace. Her plan is to become pregnant with his son and use that son to become Queen of Rothkalina but things become complicated when Rydstrom escapes and ... more

-Background-
Kiss of a Demon King is the sixth book in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark Series. In the Immortals After Dark Cole has created a rich world of paranormal creatures, all based on myths and legends. From the evil vampires to the noble fey, each race seems to have been carefully researched by Cole who has added her own unique perspective to the different races. All races that aren't human are known as the Lore and each race has it's own abilities, weaknesses and culture.

In the previous book Rydstrom, King of the Rage Demons is kidnapped by the Sorceri Sabine, Queen of Illussions, on a trip to get a sword that will kill the creature that has invaded and conquered Rydstrom's land. Kiss of a Demon King overlaps with the events of the previous book and although you could read this book as a stand alone I wouldn't recommend it.

-Plot-
Sabine has kidnapped Rydstrom and is keeping him prisoner in what was once his palace. Her plan is to become pregnant with his son and use that son to become Queen of Rothkalina but things become complicated when Rydstrom escapes and decides that he isn't willing to leave behind the sorceri that he knows is his rightful queen.

-Opinion-
When I pick up a book in this series I never know if I'm going to like it or not. The first book in the series was awful and I hated it, the books since then have varied from really enjoyable to very average so I'm never sure what to expect. I was very happy to discover that this is one of the good books in the series. I enjoyed it so much that when I finished reading I felt quite sad and wished that I had paced myself more (I just couldn't put it down, I even read it when we were driving even though it made me feel travel sick).

I have always really liked Cole's writing style, it's the reason why I continued reading the series even after her awful first novel. She has a really informal way of writing that makes me feel almost like I'm talking to a friend. Her style is very simple and easy to follow and I really like that. I like reading fiction that doesn't take much effort, the kind you can read before going to bed when you're too tired to concentrate on anything else and this novel is perfect for that.

One of the things that I love about this book and about the series in general is that there is a great balance between the fantasy side of the novel and the romance. This is something that I always look for in fantasy romance or paranormal romance and it is quite rare. Most romance writers who write in these genres tend to sacrifice building a believable world and being consistent with the facts in order to make a romance plot work. Kresley Cole does not do this at all. In all of the many fantasy romance and paranormal romance novels that I have read I have never read any other that has a world with such depth, consistency and believability. In Kiss of a Demon King Kresley Cole further develops the world that the reader has already been introduced to but she also introduces a lot of new races. I like the way that she has done this gradually over the series because it makes it easier to remember them all.

I loved the interaction between Rydstrom and Sabine. They are just so perfectly suited to each other. They're complete opposites, with Sabine being cruel and selfish and Rydstrom noble and selfless and this seems to work really well in the novel. Before reading this book I had thought that Rydstrom's book would be quite boring because he didn't seem very interesting but this book shows a completely different side to him and if it's possible I like him even more than I liked Cade, his brother and the hero of the last novel. Sabine was wonderful. I'm so sick of perfect, virginal, nice heroines in romance novels and Sabine is so far from that (even if she is a virgin). Sabine has attitude and if I had to describe her in one word it would be "bitch". As always the characters have a great depth that is explored throughout the novel and by the end of the book you can understand them both completely and the reasons for their behaviour (particularly Sabine's behaviour) becomes somewhat justified by their experiences.

For those of you who like your romance a bit kinkier there are elements of Domination/submission in this novel. Cole isn't the first paranormal romance author to flirt with this kind of romance but she seems to have a better grasp of the subject than others that I've read and doesn't try to make it fluffier than it is. I did think that she could have explored it further because it felt like she had only really introduced it and then not followed through with that part of the relationship.

This book gripped me from the beginning. It is really fast paced and action packed and although there is a lull halfway through, the book was a real page turner. Cole constantly had me needing, not just wanting, to know what happened next and I could not put this book down. I loved this book and can't recommend it highly enough.

 

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