Book Review: Demon's Curse (Imnada Brotherhood #1) by Alexa Egan

Demon's Curse (Imnada Brotherhood #1) 

by Alexa Egan

Release Date: December 26th, 2012

Format: Ebook (ARC)

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

Blurb from Goodreads:

A fast-paced and captivating debut—the first in the dark and sexy Imnada Brotherhood series about shape shifters in Regency-era England.

A rising star on the Covent Garden stage, Bianca Parrino believes she has everything she wants. Independence. Wealth. And a life finally free of her violent, abusive husband. But when her close friend, Adam, is murdered, and Bianca is suspected in his death, she is unwittingly drawn into the search for his killer, and soon must question everything she believes—about her friend, about herself, and about a world she never knew existed.

A member of the mysterious race of shape-shifting Imnada and part of an elite military unit, Captain Mac Flannery gathered intelligence during the Napoleonic wars. As a result of a savage massacre, Mac and the men he served with are cursed. Now one of them has been found murdered, and Mac suspects the existence of the Imnada has been discovered at last. His only link to unearthing the truth is the beautiful actress who turns up unexpectedly at Adam’s funeral.

Before long, Mac has more to contend with than Bianca’s overt mistrust, his ill-fated attraction to the haughty and beautiful actress, and his ongoing search for an end to the curse. Because Adam’s killer is back, and Mac is next on his list.

My Review:

A very big thank you to Edelweiss and Pocket Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Demon's Curse by Alexa Egan was brought to my attention when my fellow book buddy Maria did her weekly meme, Stacking the Shelves. I saw the sexy and gorgeous cover and was attracted to it. I further went to investigate by browsing Goodreads. I was further pulled in by the blurb and premise of the story. I was really exhilarated when my request for a copy of it was approved by Edelweiss. It was like Christmas. LOL. 

The fey and shapeshifter mythology and ideas surrounding the story were actually really good and great. I always had a penchant for historical settings and was intrigued that Demon's Curse will be set in this Regency era. The prologue was interesting and mysterious. Surprisingly, I had to slow down a bit while reading the prologue because all the information and jargon were being revealed. I was really intrigued by all of it.

I enjoyed reading about Mac, David, Gray and even Adam. Mac was the typical hero. Handsome, brooding, dangerous, brave and cloaked in mystery and pain. Who could ask for a better hero?

Bianca was a interesting heroine. One who survived a terrible marriage but came out with her spine of steel; masking herself in a cool and arrogant facade to avoid from further pain and hurt.

Unfortunately, the pacing was kind of slow. Even though many things were revealed rather quickly, I still felt like it was hardly moving at all. There was no excitement and anticipation while reading. I applaud the author for her unique idea but I thought the execution was rather dull. 

I was rather disappointed by Adam's murder. I was expecting it to be one of the main arcs of the story but it was obvious who murdered him. The villains were introduced and unmasked right from the beginning. There goes the suspense. The characters were actually pretty good but at times they appeared kind of stiff and I really couldn't be bothered by Renata's repetitive "I will have my revenge!" mantra. That is just my opinion anyway.

Although I did not enjoy it as I wanted to, I will still recommend this title to anyone who loves a historical suspense and romance in the supernatural setting.