As a guardian, the hero knows that he's not 100% good. Inside, he still dwells on the pain of how me died and a thirst for revenge that's been eroding him. It's this darkness within that gave him his tattoos as the archangels deemed it necessary for him to be reminded that he's doing good-making a difference. And it worked. Though he isn't perfect, he is dedicated to his profession. He doesn't hate demons and doesn't welcome the idea of violence towards anyone, demons included, but he's driven by his need to help people. It's what made him a cop in the first place and now that he's stuck on earth after death, being a soldier in the Company of Angels is who is his. He is kind and not malicious but his is strong, stronger than anyone could ever predict, himself included. However, it seems he's met his match with the heroine. She's lived a life full of betrayal, torture and pain. She took a different path than the heroine as when he was drafted by the side of good, she was drafted by evil. She's lived the last 200 years seething with the desire for revenge against everyone who's wronged her. Though she doesn't seem to be 100% evil, she is not a particularly nice person-at least for the most part. There are those she secretly cares for. Her servants, her home. But she regularly commits murder and sacrifices woman to the devil. When she meets the hero, she becomes enthralled with him. They are mortal enemies and he looks to capture her to stop her from using her poisons. For the duration of the book, they are locked into a tug of war over who will succeed in luring the other to their side and who will finally give in to their feelings first. Passion burns hot between them but it's more than sex. She sees a good man when she looks at the hero, a man who gives her peace for the first time and makes her happy, even if she knows it'll only end in heartbreak. The hero sees a bad woman yet a vulnerable woman when he looks at the heroine and despite warnings from his piers and his own instincts he begins to fall for her. But as is fate, betrayal and their respective responsibilities end up breaking the bond threat had drawn them together. The story did a fantastic job of portraying the message that there is both good an bad in all of us. No one is perfect and though life experiences mold us into who we are, at the end of the day it's a choice. Do you want to do good, or do you want to do bad? I found this book to be a lot more character in depth than your run of the mill romance novel and as such I bonded quickly to the story and remained interested straight through to the end. There was times I felt the same desire for revenge as the heroine did. And there were times I felt the same need to offer forgiveness as the hero did. Together I found them to be a great pairing and they had mad chemistry between them regardless of the forbidden romance aspect of their relationship. The only thing that stopped me from rating it a 5 star was the fact that they do not end up together at the end of the story. On one hand I commend the author for the balls to write such an ending in a romance novel but on the other- I'm a romantic at heart and it just doesn't sit right with me to have all this build up without the satisfaction of a happy ending. Anyway, this is still a great book and a good read when you want someone a bit more thought provoking. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Brandon was once a human who was killed by a shot in the back. Now he helps capture rogue demons and save mankind. Luciana is one of the rogue demons that Brandon is sent to capture. There is instant chemistry between this angel and this demon. Will their story end with a happy ending or a tragic one?

Opening Sentence: Who will it be?

The Review:

This book was interesting but personally not one of my favorite books. Brandon Clarkson was once human and a cop until a gunshot to the back killed him. Now he is an angel still protecting the humans he swore to protect in life. The criminals he catches now are Rogue demons. His newest mission is a fierce demoness named Luciana Rossetti. She has perfected the art of poisoning and uses it to send sacrifices to the devil. It is up to Brandon to stop her before she harms anyone else. From the moment they meet there is an instant attraction that neither can deny. Unfortunately, no one wants to see them together. They will have to fight both angels and demons before they can ever be together.

I liked Brandon, he’s the perfect hero. He is an angel that as a human was a cop. As an angel things have not changed much. He stills protects humans from criminals. Brandon is extremely attractive. He has gray eyes, dark hair, muscular, and covered in tattoos from his different assignments as an angel. He is the lone wolf type though and prefers to work alone rather than with a team. This is not a problem though because he always gets his guy. This could be because he is good at his job or just because he is too stubborn to give up. Unfortunately for Brandon his human death still haunts him. There is something about how he died that wasn’t right and he can’t let it go. Now every time he falls asleep he relives the night he died and became an angel.

I have mixed feelings about Luciana. Sometimes I like her but most of the time I wanted to jump into the book and shake her. Luciana was born a rich girl as a human until her father lost everything. Things go from bad to worse for Luciana from then on. I understand that Luciana’s life was difficult, but I think she makes many stupid choices in her life and has only herself to blame for becoming a demon. Many people have a hard life but they find ways to make the best of it instead of making one bad mistake after another. At the same time I did find her story sad and wanted to see something go right in her life. In walks Brandon who could help do just that. What does she do? She keeps pushing him away and saying she can’t change and that he can’t help her. Right here I wanted to ask her what is wrong with her. She did have spunk though and I liked how loyal she was to those under her protection. She has a good heart underneath her bad girl demon exterior.

One of the things I truly enjoyed about the book was the setting. Venice is such a wonderful place to start a romance. The language, the water everywhere, and all the festivals and carnivals add up to a wonderful setting. The way that Stephanie Chong describes Venice makes me want to travel there and see it for myself. I want to explore all the places mentioned in her story. Also, I liked the language. She actually used Italian in the book and told us what it meant. I personally enjoy learning about other cultures and this was a fun way to learn about somewhere else.

Unfortunately, this book still fell flat for me. Especially the ending upset me. I cannot say too much without giving away the ending, but I was not impressed with the way Stephanie Chong ended this book. I thought it needed more than she gave us. There was still unfinished business left to do. I do have to say even though I was disappointed with the ending there were parts of this book that just made me say, wow I didn’t see that coming. I think that if you truly enjoy the angel and demon genre you may enjoy this book. If you are just starting with this type of story or are just looking for a paranormal romance story maybe this one would not work for you.

Notable Scene:

“Luciana Rossetti,” Michael said, “is no ordinary demoness. She’s fiercely independent and fiendishly clever, like all Rogues. But she is much more than that. She is a poisoner par excellence and a Mata Hari of the demon world. She escaped from the company a few days ago. She’s dangerous in her own right, but she has risen to the top of the Company’s Most Wanted list because she has a poison with which she killed another demon.”

If it can kill a demon… It can kill an angel.

FTC Advisory: Harlequin MIRA provided me with a copy of The Demoness of Waking Dreams. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

The story was ok. Predictable and there was no real resolution. I got the impression the author wrote herself into a corner with the relationship and didn't know how to get herself out, so she just ignored the problem and ended the book. ( )

This is the second book in the Company of Angels series by Chong. I did not read the first book in this series, but each book in the series is supposed to stand well on its own. This was an okay read, but pretty typical paranormal romance fare. I didn’t hate the book, but I was pretty ambivalent about it too. I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Luciana is a dangerous Rogue demoness and has been a demoness for centuries. Brendan is a relatively new Guardian Angel who is tasked with the mission of capturing her. As Luciana invades Brendan’s dreams both of them end up challenging their roles of good and evil.

This is pretty typical pararnormal romance fair. Both Luciana and Brendan have tortured pasts amd are drawn to each other. This pretty much turns into a man chases woman type of storyline. Luciana tries to seduce Brendan but finds that she is one one being seduced in turn. Brendan is trying to redeem Luciana but finds that the darkness in her matches the darkness in himself. Their love is star-crossed and doomed from the start.

The writing is okay; but the conversations between Brandon and Luciana sound a bit awkward at times and don't flow well. Most of the book is easy to read and flows well; it is just character conversations that are awkward. Also there is pretty much no humor in this book at all and it makes for a dry read at times.

I thought the chemistry between Luciana and Brendan was lackluster as well; there is some heat here but not much. I was never able to really care if they managed to make it as a couple. I was never on the edge of my seat desperate to know what would happen. Most of the sex scenes take place in their dreams, and to be honest they are pretty boring and unimaginative scenes.

There isn’t a ton of plot outside of Brendan hunting down Luciana for the Company of Angels. You learn a little about Brendan and Luciana’s past and about the past between the demons and angels...but it’s just enough to hold the story together and not very elaborate.

Overall this definitely wasn’t my favorite paranormal romance read. There are much better series out there. It’s not a horrible book, but I didn’t find it to be all that engaging either. The story is pretty much typical paranormal romance fare; there is some plot here but not much. The story mainly revolves around Brendan hunting down Luciana. I would tentatively recommend if you are a huge paranormal romance fan and enjoy angel/demon love stories. Mostly though I would say look elsewhere for your PNR fix. ( )

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Guest Reviewer - Jeannette M:

I LOVE Stephanie Chong, the girl can write a book.

This one had more action in it than the first one.

I love how I felt like I was actually in Venice.

She can describe a place like no one's business; I was actually there, I kid you not.

This isn't like any other Angel Vs. Demon story, there is actually a lot of interaction between the two, and that makes this story unique because we always tend to forget about the bad guys/girls in the story.

The message this book gave me was "There is good in everyone, no matter what horrors you committed or saw in life. There is always hope."

I can't wait to read the next installment because I know it will be just as good.

LITERAL ADDICTION's Guest Reviewer gives The Demoness of Waking Dreams 5 Skulls. ( )