Review: Where Demons Fear To Tread

(The Company of Angels #1)
By: Stephanie Chong
Publisher: MIRA
Release Date: Aug. 23, 2011
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 360
Source: NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: I liked it!

Fledging guardian angel and yoga teacher Serena St. Clair dares enter Devil's Paradise nightclub on a mission—to retrieve the wayward Hollywood "It Boy" she's assigned to protect. But she's ambushed by the club's owner, arch demon Julian Ascher. The most powerful demonic entity in Los Angeles, Julian is handsome as sin, a master of temptation who loves nothing more than corrupting pleasure–seeking humans. He won't release the lost soul Serena is supposed to guard. Unless she accepts his dangerous wager…

After the disastrous way his human life ended, Julian vowed that no woman would get the better of him again. Yet this sexy–sweet angel, smelling of fresh ocean air and happiness, triggers centuries–old feelings. Now, their high–stakes game of seduction, where angels fall from grace and where demons fear to tread, will lead them either to an eternity in hell.or a deliciously hot heaven.

My thoughts...

"Love is the place where demons fear to tread."

Serena is a new guardian angel to an out of control actor, Nick who enjoys his booze, drugs and paid companions. One evening Serena tracks Nick to a night club called Devil's Paradise where she gains the interest in an archdemon named Julian, who just so happens to be the owner of the club. He takes her to his office where he tries to seduce her, saying that he will swap out the actors soul for her soul. He lets her go after she begs him to release her. However, he is more interested in the chase itself. After bating Serena with Nick, Julian decides to go a little further and invited her human brother out to his estate to take photo's for his party. Serena goes to the party to run interference and save her brother from the evil clutches of Julian. However, he is not willing to give us so easily. He strikes a deal with her, if she will accompany him to Vegas for a week he will leave her brother alone. With no other choice Serena agrees and heads off to Vegas with Julian. Once in Vegas, they meet up with other demons who have not only an interest in Serena but in Julian as well.
"Only a demon could kill and angel."

There were a couple of things I had issues with in this story. One of which was Serena. In the middle of the night Julian pushes through their protective wards and materializes in Serena's bedroom while she is sleeping, gets into bed with her and starts to touch her. I get that he is a demon and demons aren't about rainbows and gumdrops but what I couldn't grasp is that she wakes up and tells him "no" and then when he disappears, she just rolls over and goes back to sleep. Personally, for me, I would have been in full freak out mode. I would have been running though that house screaming "the wards are down!!"
The other issue I had was the sticky sweet ending. It just didn't do it for me. The whole "love conquers all" talks that were being thrown around in the book was just too much for my sweet tooth to handle.

What I did enjoy about the book was reading as Julian changed and started developing feelings for Serena. What first started out as a conquest turned out to be more. He starts actually caring about what she thinks and tries to make her happy. Now that doesn't mean that I forgive him for his creepiness but he is a demon after all. I liked getting a glimpse into his mind and how he thinks and schemes.


Favorite quote...
"Somewhere along the line, although he didn't know where or when, this had stopped being a game of seeing whether he could seduce and angel. She was no longer just another passing conquest, or a challenge to alleviate his boredom. He was dangerously close to falling in love."