I really like Kara. She always come across as a normal person (aside from demon summoning) so I really enjoy reading her stories. This was an interesting mystery that wasn't bogged down with too much romance/relationship stuff. There was still some love triangle but it's not the main focus, and that's how I like it in my paranormal books.

Definitely going to pick up the next one. ( )

... am I still supposed to be liking the demon lord? Because he is still MAJORLY CREEPY REGARDING SEX. GAH. ( )

Engaging Police Procedural mystery amplified by the involvement of the demon realms and a well thought through system of magic.

'Blood Of The Demon' is the second book in Diana Rowland’s series about Kara Gillian, a Police Detective in Beaulac, Louisiana who has a talent for summoning demons. The novels are a mix of police procedural and a magic system involving summoning demons, beings from a parallel plane of existence, spiced a little bit of sexual frisson.


I read the first book. ‘Mark of the Demon’ back in 2014 and, although I enjoyed it, it didn’t light me up the way the Angel Crawford books did and it's taken me a while to get to the second book.


I thought this book was stronger than the first, mostly because there's a fairly complicated and engaging murder mystery to solve. Most of the book is straight police procedural made more complex by the involvement of demons of various kinds who Kara Gillian can't even tell anyone about.
The magic system is original and well thought through and there are hints that it will continue to evolve with the series.


The action scenes are very well done. The scene where Kara is in danger of drowning which was very vivid. The police procedural things are very down to earth and believable and the plot was complicated enough that it took quite a while to work out who had done what.


The only thing that didn't work for me was the scene where Kara has sex with the Demon Lord. It was so badly written, it made me reach for the fast forward on my audiobook. The sex wasn't gratuitous, it made sense both for the story and for the characters, but it read like amateur erotica. It was supposed to be a power exchange scene with the Demon Lord as the Dom and Kara as the willing Sub, except none of the participants, including the writer, seemed to have their hearts in it. If we'd had had the lead-up and the analysis afterwards with only a few words in between, not only would we not have mussed anything but I wouldn't have felt as if I'd wandered into a different novel for a while.
( )

I see character development on the rise.

I mean, sure, it's fun and all to come back from the dead, deal with a co-worker's murder/suicide, get courted by one the kings of hell (or whatever PC version you want to call it since demons aren't really evil, they're just morality-challenged), or just try to live your life without having to use the arcane version of Google because the price is just too high.

Or is it?

Despite everything, Kara seems to be hanging on by her fingernails as she explores the wide world of human and demon politics. Honestly, I don't really see that much difference. It *IS* a shame that she isn't getting a few unexpected powerups other than the occasional help from her demon lover's yes men, but she's still trying to find her way. A few tidbits of skills from hell does seem to be helping her a bit.... oh wait... she's on the arc I expected. :)

Fun stuff! Demons and Detectives for the romantic win! Now if only we could get rid of that third wheel Ryan... :)

( )

Blood of the Demon
4 Stars

When a fellow detective at the Beaulac PD is found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Kara Gillian, demon summoner, is the only one to see that her friend’s essence has been ripped from his body. And so begins a series of disturbing murders linked to the upper echelons of Beaulac society and perhaps to Kara’s personal life as well…

Once again, Rowland has successfully merged the suspense elements with the paranormal to create engaging characters and a gripping story.

The murder mystery is well-written with an interesting pool of suspects and motivations. The resolution is satisfying, although I did manage to guess the culprit a few minutes in advance, and the final confrontation is somewhat Deus Ex Machina.

The demonology of Gillian’s world is detailed and fascinating. One thing that is a little unbelievable is the fact that several secondary characters suddenly have connections to the Arcane - how convenient!

Despite the fact that she is completely clueless about men and needs to brush up on her police procedure what kind of cop leaves their gun in the car?, Kara is a very appealing heroine and it is fun seeing her slowly opening up to people and allowing them to get closer to her, as she is a rather lonely person.

There are also developments in Kara’s relationships with the two men in her life. Although he has one or two judgmental jerk moments, Ryan is turning into a very compelling character and I look forward to learning more about his mysterious identity. I’m more conflicted about Rhyzkahl as he obviously has ulterior motives when it comes to Kara. Moreover, the fact that Kara had sex with him just to spite Ryan feels wrong even though they are not technically together.

On a final note, there is still an excessive use of vulgarity, but perhaps I’m getting used to it as it doesn’t bother me as much as in the first book. Lastly, Liv Andersen’s narration remains slow but this is easily solved with 1.25 speed.

All in all, this series is an entertaining combination of mystery, humor and romance. ( )