Review: Shadowfae by Erica Hayes

Title: Shadowfae
Author: Erica Hayes
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: 10/13/09
Summary:

Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their song, and big green trolls bust heads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape…

Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shapeshifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah—and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.

Plot: 3.5 Stars
I really liked the plot, although I felt it sometimes got drowned in all of the sex. If Jade wasn't having sex, she was almost having sex. And if she wasn't almost having sex, she was thinking about sex and her body was reacting to the possibility or thought of sex. Now, I don't dislike a good sex scene or two, but I don't need it around every corner. I think the only reason it didn't actually bother me was how tastefully it was all written. And once you get past all of the sex, the plot is actually a very creative puzzle that Jade needs to solve.

Pace: 3.5 Stars
Almost all of the action was in the last couple chapters. Except for a few scenes here and there, the first two-thirds of the book was mostly just sex, sex, almost sex, sex. Right when I would go to put the book down and take a break, the plot would come back around drag me back in.

Characters: 4 Stars
I really liked the faeries that the author brought to life. There was a lack of Celtic or Irish mythology of faeries that I found refreshing. They were brightly colored and a little wacky. Jade and Rajahni were very easy to understand and root for. And the villians were very easy to root against, as charming as some of them may have seemed.

Cover: 3.5 Stars
I loved the red, metallic design swirled around the title. It really stood out and grabbed my attention. But the title itself was a weird, slightly pale yellow that didn't quite blend with the rest of the cover. The cover model really gave you a succubus feel with the way she's dressed, but her face was cut off.

Overall: 3.5 Stars

Disclosure: I bought this book for my own enjoyment.