Review: Sin & Chocolate by K.F. Breene

Posted June 19, 2019 by Holly in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Sin & Chocolate by K.F. BreeneReviewer: Holly
Sin & Chocolate by K.F. Breene
Series: Demigods of San Francisco #1
Also in this series: Sin & Magic , Sin & Salvation, Sin & Spirit, Sin & Surrender
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 10, 2018
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Alternating First and Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 439
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Some people are ordained for greatness…

Those people usually have a lot of drama in their life. Drama I happily do without. I live in a forgotten corner of nowhere for a reason: there is safety in anonymity. I have enough problems just trying to get by.

But when Kieran, a sinfully sexy demigod at the pinnacle of power, crashes into my life, suddenly my whole world is turned upside down.

He’s harboring a deadly secret, one that could destroy all he holds dear. He thinks I’m the key to his salvation, and he wants me to help him claim vengeance.

He also wants me with a passion that burns my body from the inside out.

To ignore him is impossible, but to give in to my desires, even for a night, would thrust me into danger I might not survive.

Can I resist the temptation?

Sin & Chocolate is the first book in the Demigods of San Francisco series by K.F. Breene. I really like Breene’s writing and look forward to each new book.

Alexis is living under the radar in the dual-society zone between the magical and non-magical lands of San Francisco. She’s raising two teenage wards, Mordecai and Daisy. She’s just trying to get by. Though she has magic and can talk to spirits, she isn’t very powerful and therefore can’t make a lot of money. Mordecai is a shifter, but he’s unable to shift and it’s slowly killing him. There’s a magical proceedure he can have done to fix it, but it’s extremely expensive and Lexi can’t afford it. Not to mention that would bring Mordecai the unwanted attention of the local Pack alpha. Daisy had a rough childhood and is struggling to feel safe. Lexi is all either of them have, so she tries to keep under the radar as much as possible and do what she can to bring in cash.

Every so often she sets up a tent at the local fair, known as the Freak Show – a gathering of lesser magic users similar to a swap meet – and helps exercise ghosts. All is going well until she catches the notices of the Demigod Keiran. Keiran is searching for someone to help lay his mother to rest. She’s a selkie and his father stole her skin, trapping her in this world so she can’t cross over the line to the after life. Alexis is the first person he’s talked to who actually has the power to help him. He’ll do anything to free his mother, even manipulate Alexis by using her wards if he must.

This moved pretty slow for me in the first half, but it picked up in the second. There’s a lot of world-building early on, and the story felt bogged down because of it. A lot of Lexi’s actions frustrated me. She kept doing all these things that made no sense considering her situation. It wasn’t something that killed the story for me, but there were definitely times I shook my head at her. I loved her relationship with her wards. Heck, I just loved them, period. They provided much comic relief. I also loved how practical they all were. She wasn’t afraid to accept a handout if it meant keeping her kids fed, or a hand-up if it meant giving them a better life. Though some of her actions frustrated me, I can’t deny I liked her from the outset.

This is the start of a multi-book storyarc, so it ends in a cliffhanger. Nothing is really resolved and we’re left with a lot of unanswered questions. The cliffhanger ending frustrated me. I’d have waited until the other books were out if I’d known (all three parts are out now). Still, I can’t deny this was an intriguing read and I really look forward to the next book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Demigods of San Francisco

three-half-stars


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