Series: DEMONS OF INFERNUM
Plot Type: SMR
Ratings: V4; S4; H2
Publisher and Titles: Entangled Publishing
Blood of the Demon (7/2012)
Mark of the Sylph (3/2013)
Touch of the Angel (TBA)
Heart of the Incubus (novella,TBA)
Call of the Siren (TBA)
According to the author's web site, the first four books and the novella have all been previously published, but some of them appear to be out of print. This post includes an overview of the world-building and a review of book 1. Book 2 is being reprinted with a March, 2013 publishing date. I am not sure of the status of the other titles.
WORLD-BUILDING
In this multiverse, supernatural beings live on other planets, or dimensions. Demons live in Infernum; Greek gods and goddesses live in Olympia; shifters live in Enevora; and water creatures live in their own undersea dimension. Together, these dimensions are known as the Otherworlds, and they are ruled by the Elden Council, a group composed of elders from each of the worlds. Travel between dimensions, including Earth, is supervised by the Council, and each major city on Earth has a portal. Although demons and angels exist in this multiverse, they have no connection with Christian theology, and there is no concept of Heaven or Hell.
The heroes of the series are four half-demon brothers, each of whom was fathered by the villainous and demonic Mammon, but they all have different supernatural mothers, each of whom was raped by Mammon with the specific purpose of creating half-breed offspring for himself. This means that each brother was born with a different set of powers:
> Keegan, the eldest: His mother was a dragon. His powers include healing as well as a few dragon powers. (Book 1)
> Taeg: His mother was fae—an air sylph. His powers include healing, teleportation, and the ability to charm others through a form of mind control. (Book 2)
> Dagan: His mother was a siren. His powers include a great singing voice, breathing underwater, and sex appeal. (Book 3)
> Ronin, the youngest: His mother was an angel. His powers include the ability to calm others and the ability to fly—with wings. (Book 4)
The brothers were raised—and constantly abused—by Mammon, who sought to turn them into replicas of himself. They escaped some years ago and are now employed by the Council as Detainors, which means that they are basically inter-dimensional bounty hunters who hunt down supernatural law-breakers and bring them to the Council for punishment.
Mammon is a stereotypically cruel and arrogant villain. He is a greed demon (an avaritia) who seeks world domination, and he'll let nothing and no one stand in his way—especially not his sons. By the end of book 1, another villain emerges in the person of Leviathos, Mammon's demonic right-hand man, who was a boyhood friend of the brothers but who has turned against them.
BOOK 1: Blood of the Demon
The romantic protagonists in the series opener are Keegan and Brynn, who is the owner of an art gallery in New York City. As the story opens, Keegan kidnaps Brynn because she is supposed to be the heir—the only living ancestor of Iyri, an ancient Egyptian priest who concocted a secret spell to raise the dead. When the Council had Iyri killed, they buried the book containing the spell with his body and kept no records as to the location of Iyri's tomb. Before he died, Iyri impregnated an incubus named Sitha, and Brynn is the last one left in their bloodline. Only a direct ancestor of Iyri can open the book and read the spell.
Both the brothers and Mammon want the book. Mammon wants to use the spell to raise his own undead army, and the brothers want to destroy the book. The big problem for Keegan is that he falls for Brynn, knowing that the Council has ordered her death to keep Mammon from getting the spell. The romance plot follows the couple through their angst-filled romantic journey, and the action plot follows the brothers and Mammon as each tries to retrieve the book.
The plot has more than a few holes. For example, even though Mammon's use of the spell might cause the destruction of the population of the world, the Council sends only the four brothers to find it and refuses to give them any assistance. In another improbable scene, Brynn somehow knows that Keegan's brothers have been captured by Mammon even though Keegan makes a point of not telling her. Another problem is that Mammon is such a stereotypical, one-note villain who is violently cruel to everyone, even his supporters. In one scene, he kills one of his minions because she didn't ensure that his bed had 1,000-thread-count sheets. At one point, we learn that Mammon has fathered many more half-breed children, most of whom he's lost track of, and I'm sure that some of them will be turning up in later books.
When Jeaniene Frost had Cat and Bones make passionate love while soaring through the air above an Iowa cornfield (in One Grave at a Time), she unleashed a new paranormal romance trope, which Lario uses (but not as effectively as Frost) in one scene in this book. Although Lario is a good-enough story teller, there is nothing new or inventive in the world-building. We've seen this whole set-up many times before: the jocular, wise-cracking, alpha brothers; the evil, power-mad father figure; the corrupt Council; and the sassy-but-submissive heroine. The final outcome of the plot is predictable, although it does take some twists and turns along the way. If you've read many paranormal romances, you'll realize early on that at some point the hero and heroine will be forced to make life-threatening sacrifices for one another...and they do. So...although Lario is an above-average writer, her story has been told many, many times before. If you're crazy about paranormal romance, maybe this won't bother you, but for me, it was a turn-off.
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