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Friday, July 17, 2015

Review: Ascension by A.S. Fenichel


A while back (July 8th), A.S. Fenichel's Deception was featured on this blog. If you read the review and were wondering about the first book in the series, here it is!

Ascension, book 1 in The Demon Hunters series, combines historical and paranormal romance in an exiting and sexy story about a woman who battles demons.

Lady Belinda Carlisle trained to be a demon hunter while her betrothed, Lord Gabriel Thurston, was at war on the continent. When Gabriel returns and finds out what Belinda is up to, he is both concerned and fascinated.

Demons are alive and well and living in London. The good thing is they are not very smart. The bad thing is, there are a lot of them. And, by they way, they have a master that is trying to enter earth's dimension so he can take over the world.

As Belinda and Gabriel join to battle demons, they explore their relationship. Gabriel is determined that Belinda will marry him. Belinda loves him but she doesn't believe that Gabriel will want a demon hunting wife.

In the beginning of the story, the betrothal between Belinda and Gabriel is tenuous at best. Belinda's demon hunting has become very important to her. Gabriel is suspicious of Belinda's night time activities.

Speaking of which, early in the book, Gabriel was angry because he assumed that Belinda had been having an affair and was no longer pure. On the other hand, Belinda had no problem with Gabriel's premarital activities. After a particularly satisfying sexual encounter, Belinda asks “Are there other ways of doing this?” Not, “Where did you learn how to do that?”. Regardless of societal norms, Belinda is top notch demon hunter in an organization that treats men and women equally. With people that are close to her, she should expect equal treatment in other areas of her life and respond accordingly.

Okay, that was my only complaint. I loved the kick-ass demon hunters, especially the women. I liked how Gabriel's respect and love for his betrothed grew with each demon encounter. Likewise, Belinda's marriage issues seemed to fade as she and Gabriel fought evil together.

Lillian Dellacourt and Reece FoxJohn made interesting secondary demon hunter characters. (Lillian's story is in book 2, Deception). Thor Strumm, Gabriel's hired man, is also of interest. He seemed to always show up when extra muscle was needed. Everyone ought to have someone like that in their lives.

The combination of a historical setting, romance and paranormal beings makes for a fun adventure! The verdict - I enjoyed Ascension and I may be hooked on a new series.

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes |


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