Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole

KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER !!!!

Woohoo!!

Today's number is S-I-X!

As you can see, I have just read my first KEEPER of 2009 AND it's a 2009 release.

Super Cool!

Not only that, I read this book (which is part of a series) out of order (I think there are 3 previous to this one I haven't read) and completely understood everything.

I'm telling you, Kresley Cole must have a room in her house where she can write shit on the walls because her books cover similar time spans which means that while the characters in this book were falling in love, there were other characters falling in love elsewhere (and whose books were probably before this one). There has to be a flow chart somewhere in the world to keep track of the time line and events and I can't see it being contained on a measly piece of paper.

Cindy Blurb: Uh.

Okay, the world building is really intricate and there are vamps and demons and sorceri and well, anything you can imagine I'm guessing so yeah, it's a paranormal.

We have Sabine The Queen of Illusions as the heroine and what a character she is. I loved her and her 'plotting' ways. Sabine is a sorceri who has died a few times, (her sister had the magic of commanding - and every time Sabine died her sister 'commanded' her to live - seriously, that's tricky stuff!), loves and trusts only her sister and is constantly being hunted by creatures that wish to kill her. Add to this a half brother who can't be killed and is extreme evil as Sabine's protector and you get a woman who knows nothing but trickery, illusion and survival of the fittest.

Rydstrom is a Demon King who was de-throned by Sabine's half brother and barely escaped with his life. For 500 years he has tried to find a way to kill the imposter and he finally learns of a sword that should do the trick. Rydstom is all that is loyal, true and good.

His fated mate is Sabine and what won't kill you, can only make you - well, fall in love?

I have to break this story down to just the relationship between Rydstrom and Sabine. It took me about a chapter or two before I was able to settle into this book and I think most of that was because there is so much that needs to be told to the reader about the world and the characters they are about to meet.

That said, I read this book out of order and I understood every thing. So if you are itching to read a great story and are many books behind in this series, no worries, this book is stand alone. Although you'll get glimpses of other characters and want to know about their stories also.

Let's get to the story.

Sabine captures Rydstrom and imprisons him because she knows she is Rydstrom's fated mate and in order to defeat her brother (this is her side of the story) she must become pregnant with Rydstrom's heir.

Rydstrom is obviously furious and is further enraged to discover the woman given to him by fate is not even remotely what he bargained for.

I loved the way Sabine always managed to keep control. She knew what she needed and went after it with no small amount of pleasure. She, however, didn't expect to fall in love with Rydstrom as he was just a means to an end. Sabine is not a heroine I've come across often. Maybe not at all. She is not afraid to welch on deals and is always a few steps ahead of those around her. The great news is that love doesn't change who Sabine is. She's a thief, a liar and a manipulator and Rydstrom better learn to love her as she is or all hell will break loose.

Rydstrom meanwhile, was not hard to like. I did start to have problems with him when he believed that only he could save Sabine. Sabine is a fierce warrior and Rydstrom can't seem to come to grips with this. Midway through the story the tables turn on Sabine and she becomes Rydstrom's prisoner. What drove me nuts was that Rydstrom would rather leave her defenseless (if you tie Sabine's arms behind her back she can't create illusions - she can make you see your worst nightmares, make herself invisible so she can slit your throat or create distractions by having things seem to blow up) than allow her to protect herself. When she ends up being attacked Rydstrom finds her but just in the nick of time. Even after seeing that Sabine can fall into danger Rydstrom still won't allow her her magic.

I can see his point. He knew Sabine would escape him the first chance she got but somehow leaving his mate defenseless made more sense to him than making sure she was safe. I found the whole thing a bit 'neandrathol' and annoying as he never really changed in this respect.

That would be the one 'pain' for me with this story. Rydstrom couldn't back up enough to allow Sabine her due. Yes, he acknowledges her power and strength and abilities but he still has this need to protect her. Hey, you can have the need all you want, but respecting the person you love is also way up there and needs to be part of a relationship.

So I could see Rydstrom driving Sabine crazy after a few hundred years with his over protective ways.

Other than that though I loved the banter and trick for trick between these characters. Each had an agenda and each tried every thing they could to get their needs met. All this while falling in love with their so called enemy.

There were also passages that had me laughing out loud and that is always a wonderful surprise with a book.

I'm going with an A- because of that one pain that became more noticeable as the story progressed. Still, Sabine was a thrill to watch and her reactions to life were fun and different from many romance heroines.

All in all, if you want to try something different I would highly recommend this book!

Anybody else read this one yet? Other opinions? Cause you know they are always welcomed.