Pam's Review: Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong

Where Demons Fear to Tread 
~Stephanie Chong 

Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages 
Publisher: Mira 
Publish Date: August 23, 2011 
ISBN-10: 077831247X 
ISBN-13: 978-0778312475 
ASIN: B005DB89UE 

From the author's website:
Fledgling 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, Archdemon 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.

Serena died almost a year ago, and now she is a guardian angel to an actor named Nick. Nick is a challenge; he likes to party, drink, do drugs, and spend ‘time’ with prostitutes. Serena does not mind the challenge and is determined to help him live a straight, honest life. He was doing well, but then she found out he was at a club so she went to get him to help him stay away from old habits.

While searching the club for Nick she meets Julian, the clubs owner and arch demon. He is not willing to let Nick’s soul get saved especially in his club. Julian also senses that Serena is an angel. He decides that he must have her and goes about pursuing her. During this pursue certain feelings arise that he hasn’t had for a very long time. Serena is starting to have feelings towards Julian as well, and he may be making her fall for him, and quite possibly fall as an angel as well.

My thoughts:

This was a good story, not what I was expecting. It was a fast read and I never found myself bored. I liked how although the book was about angels and demons there were no clear lines between good and evil; it helped make it more realistic in a way. Serena is pretty straight laced, she is an angel after all, but she is not annoyingly so. She is actually quite relatable and seemed more human to me, but perhaps that is also because in the story she has been dead for less than a year so she is still close to her human side.

Julian is not the most powerful demon, but he has the potential to be. In fact, there is only one more powerful than him before the devil. Julian is the typical alpha male; he sees something he wants therefore he will get it. Since he is a demon he hasn’t always gone about that the right way nor cared about the consequences of his actions. With Serena however, though his intentions at first are not pure, he definitely does not act like a typical demon would.  

All the characters that you were supposed to like, I liked. All the characters that you were supposed to hate, I hated. I was also really fond of the interpretation of what angels and demons are in this book. I would suggest starting this book when you have a few hours of spare time because it is very hard to put down.

 My Rating:

 Pam
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.