Kiss Of A Demon King
Kresley Cole
Poclet, Jan 20 2009, $7,99
ISBN: 9781416580942

Rydstrom Woede knows how far he has fallen when he rejects the human females' offer of a lap dance at the Tongue and Groove Strip Club in Louisiana. The former Demon King of the Rothkalina plane plots to regain his Castle Tornin throne lost to the sorcerer Omort the Deathless who cannot die. Hell he beheaded his foe nine centuries ago and instead of victory Rydstrom was fortunate to escape alive. His current ally Groot is Omort's brother who wants the Deathless one dead; Rydstrom's theory is simply your enemy's enemy, etc.
Omort's half-sister Sabine the Sorceress of Illusions is as evil as her siblings with one exception; her need especially when she was a tweener more than a century ago is to protect her younger sister Lanthe from their kin and the Vreckners. When she meets and captures Rydstrom, she makes him prisoner of her body. However, though she knows she needs to deliver his head on a silver platter to Omort, something strange occurs as he somehow conquers her heart: Likewise Rydstrom knows he must kill her before she betrays him, but somehow she has captured his heart and soul (though he doubts he has the latter as that is a human frailty). As they fall in love, both need to team up to survive her family especially Omort, but neither trusts the other; instead they make love, fight foes and anticipate duplicity.
The latest Immortals After Dark saga (See DARK NEEDS AT NIGHT'S EDGE, NO REST FOR WICKED and A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER) is a wonderful urban romantic fantasy starring two fascinating individuals whose respective morality differs radically from most Americans. The story line is fast-paced from the onset as the demon warrior and the sorceress queen compete for the top position in their relationship. Fans of the Cole mythos will relish this superb entry succinctly summed up at the beginning by Rydstrom: "This sorceress might be an evil *****, but she's my evil *****. And I'll have no other."
Harriet Klausner