Lauren Fowler worked in a bookstore, but until the enticing incubus Syntian Cree found her, she might as well not have existed, for all the attention the world paid her. When he entered the bookstore, he looked at her, not through her. He was intoxicating to women. What an inexplicable moment it was for lonely unappreciated Lauren--a forty-four year old virgin--when this intensively attractive male chose her deliberately over the other salespeople. Little did she guess that he had chosen her not from the few within the store, but from the many voices of misery he'd heard calling for thousands of years. He had come from the very depths of Hell to be her champion and nothing was going to stand in his way. He witnessed the hostility with which the salesgirl Inez treated Lauren, and he made a point to stand up for Lauren; then he left. From that moment on, he would not allow a transgression against Lauren to go unpunished.

Lauren, alone in the store, was still shelving books even though it was after eight p.m. and it was her birthday. And when the phone rang, a strange voice said "Happy Birthday, Lauren."

After she walked home in the rain, there was a single red rose in a bud vase on her table, and a card that said "From one who cares" followed by another mysterious phone call and the same voice asking, "Do you like the rose?" And that same voice lured Lauren's detractor Inez to a harsh supernatural punishment.

Syn was a demon, and he stalked the sweet, ignored, unappreciated Lauren with a compassionate, careful seduction at the same time he wreaked vengeance on her detractors. He was her greatest threat and also her ultimate champion. Demons who fall in love are jealously protective; but they make tormented heroes, especially when there's a thwarted witch in the mix.

I have given up trying to predict where Charlotte Boyett-Compo's stories are going to take me. They are always an emotional journey in a darkly familiar landscape to a destination unknown, often torturous, deeply sensitive, always evocative and ultimately satisfying. This is another excellent read by this most talented writer, but another one you should read with the light on.
Reviewed By: Allie B
© July 2004