I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
The Devil in Disguise
by
Cynthia Eden
It is part of the Bad Things series and is a paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Hocus Pocus Publishing on June 28, 2016 and has 226 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include When He Was Bad, Everlasting Bad BoysS, Howl for It
First in the Bad Things paranormal romance series and revolving around the Devil and his friends. This story is set in Key West, Florida. The couple focus is on Mina James and Luke Thorn.
My Take
This was fun. It’s rare for a cover to influence me, and I have to say I wanted to read this because the Devil on the cover reminded me of Tom Ellis’ character in Lucifer. Ooh là là…
It’s an obvious good vs evil using third person global subjective point-of-view primarily from Mina’s and Luke’s points-of-view but also including the special agents, Rayce, and Julian. Everyone has something they’re fleeing or pursuing.
It’s interesting that Luke becomes so quickly protective — and possessive — about Mina. Eden makes it a little too easy for Luke to fall for her. It certainly surprises his brother.
There are several conflicts in The Devil in Disguise: Mina’s desperation — that Eden stretches out forever!; the constriction Leo has put on Luke — their “truce”; Luke’s good vs bad rift with himself; and, Leo’s naive intransigence.
Of course there’s sex, with Mina wanting Luke and totally disturbed about that attraction. Luke is also surprised by his feelings. And both reactions feel too easy. The primary reason for the “4” rating.
The primary characters in the series are a combination of good and bad with Mina all good and the special agents amazingly bad. Garrick is the worst! Oy. Ahh, no, he’s not the worst…there is an unbelievable worse to come.
Hmmm, I’m curious about that pirate shop. There has to be a reason Eden brings it in…and I’m dying of curiosity!
It’ll be interesting to see how these changes will affect the world…
The Story
Desperate to change, Mina James intends to steal the Eye of Hell to make it happen. The hitch is that it belongs to the Devil himself.
The Characters
Minalynn “Mina” James has a gift she hates.
Lucien “Luke” Thorn is the bad twin, the Lord of the Dark, the Devil, born for darkness, ruling those creatures that hide in the night. His yacht is the Devil’s Prize. Julian Craig shapeshifts into a panther. Rayce Lovel is a werewolf. Both men act as Luke’s bodyguards. Marcos Mantez is retired Navy who wanted to vanish and now drives for Luke.
Leo is Luke’s twin, the good one, born for the light, and protecting humans.
Not the FBI
Special Agent Garrick McAdams is in charge of this mission, part of Operation Night Switch (ONS). Part of his immediate team are Special Agents Timothy Lang and Madeline Slate. The boat they use is the Seaman’s Journey.
Officer Wesley Strauss, a former homicide detective from Atlanta, escaped the traumas to Key West. Rose Kinley is the woman Julian fell in love with, the woman turned into a vampire. And there’s a mystery there. Michael is her brother.
Eli Nabb with his spider tattoos owns a bar. An Ori is a dark beast with a nasty stinger.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a red and black background, a room with Luke Thorn filling the cover and wearing a black suit and a white button-down shirt open at the neck. He’s staring at us from lowered brow, menacing, tattoos on his hands, buttoning his suit jacket. To the right of his head is an epigraph in white. The title is primarily centered across his chest in yellow and a gradated light turquoise with the series information beneath it on the right in yellow. Near the bottom is an info blurb in white with the author’s name at the bottom in yellow.
The title is all about Luke in his guise as a wealthy and sexy man, but truly The Devil in Disguise.
