Mary‘s review of A Brush of Darkness
The man of her dreams might be the cause of her nightmares.
Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts.
Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.
When a story starts out with the line “Cat piss and cabbages”, which totally made me giggle (yes, I can be a bit juvenile at times), I have a feeling I’m going to like it. And I was right. This book is filled with all the elements I love—great characters, hot sexual tension, some action and adventure, and a good dose of humor.
Abby is under Contract to a Fae as a TouchStone, a human who anchors creatures of the OtherWorld to the human world, allowing them to stay for long periods of time. Except Abby’s Fae is missing. And Abby doesn’t know enough about the OtherWorld to keep up the façade or what to do when she’s approached by a devastatingly handsome guy who tries to seduce her the first time he meets her.
Brystion, aka Ion, just wants to find his sister who’s gone missing along with several other succubi. He’s sure Abby knows more than she’s telling him so he’s determined to stick by her side until she tells the truth. The heat between these two is palpable and practically radiates off the page. Granted, he’s an incubus—total sex on a stick who oozes hottness—but Abby does her best not to give in (at least right away…).
I love how Abby fumbles her way through, completely clueless but still willing to do what she has to do because she said she would. She’s got a rough history, one of the reasons she Contracted with a Fae. Ion is a steaming hot guy who has some issues (don’t they all), and I really enjoyed the interaction and sparks between Abby and Ion. There’s some excellent interplay of words between the two like when they’re in the kitchen and Ion’s cooking, one of them says, “Oh, I’ll cook your bacon.” (I forgot to write down who said that or what page it was on—sorry!) I do enjoy a good sexual innuendo.
It’s not only the main characters who are well-constructed and intriguing. The other people who round out this world add spice in their own way. I particularly liked Melanie, a gifted violinist who can “see” music and open Doorways between the human world and the OtherWorld. While she had a reputation for not taking sides in the Fae-Angel-Daemon dynamic, she was a fierce friend to Abby.
I do wish there had been a bit more worldbuilding in the beginning third of the book. The necessary information trickled in and, while I appreciated the fact that there were no massive info-dumps like in some books, I just needed a tad more at the start.
Between the unicorn who behaves like a frat boy on spring break, a gorgeous succubi who’s part angel, and the Midnight Marketplace, A BRUSH OF DARKNESS creates an intriguing urban world filled with mystery and desire. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Abby and her friends in the next installment of this new series.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here
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