Where Demons Fear to Tread (The Company of Angels, #1)

by Stephanie Chong

The arch demon’s voice was low and deep. His fingers caressed her through the fabric of her dress. “Your soul—or his, Serena. Choose. ”

Fledging guardian angel and yoga teacher Serena St. Clair dares to 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.

A Company of Angels Novel

• ISBN13: 9781408951866
• Publish Date: 16 September 2011 (first published 30 August 2011)
• Publish Status: Permanently Withdrawn
• Out of Print: 6 May 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Mira Books
• Edition: ePub First edition
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Amanda]

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2011/12/05/review-where-demons-fear-to-tread-by-stephanie-chong/

Where to start? I felt very disconnected from both Julian and Serena. I didn’t understand Julian. He was supposed to be a big bad demon, but he felt far too human. In fact, except for the last few pages, this entire novel could have been written without angels and demons and focused on another good versus evil duo, such as the law and criminals. I am not sure that it added much to the story, except at the very end, at which I was just ready to finish the book.

The narration felt distant, and there seemed to be a heavy reliance on telling rather than showing. With writing, adjectives are not necessarily your friends. I came across noun phrases like: “glorious penis,” “penetrating beauty,” and “impressive manhood.” They are all great adjectives, but it threw me off in my reading. What is penetrating beauty? I’m not really sure. Because penetrating beauty does not tell me much, other than turn on the dirty side of my brain and make me giggle. The word choice detracted from the story rather than added to it.

I might have rated Where Demons Fear to Tread higher if a particular sex scene hadn’t derailed my enjoyment. It was a turning point for me, and not necessarily a good one. I don’t like the use of the word cock in books, because it tends to be a vulgar word. So unless there is a situation that calls for vulgarity, I don’t want to see it. And I especially don’t want to see the word cock used 10 times within a span of five pages. Since I have an ARC, I thought perhaps this was an aspect that might have been changed after the official release date, but after asking someone who had a finished copy, it seems unlikely.

I really wanted to like Where Demons Fear to Tread but in the end, I just didn’t.

[EBookObsessed]

You will be tempted...

This was the debut book for Stephanie Chong and her Company of Angels series. The main character of this story is Serena St. Clair, who, when killed trying to save others in a car accident, was offered a position as a guardian angel. Her first assignment as a guardian angel is Nick Ramirez, a young rising Hollywood star, who is having trouble resisting temptation. Serena finds Nick hanging out at the nightclub Devil’s Paradise where temptation is everywhere, especially in the form of the club’s owner, Archdemon Julian Ascher. Julian wants to count Nick’s soul in his tally and once he sets his sights on Serena, he’ll stop at nothing to see her in his bed.

This story starts out hot right from the first confrontation between Julian and Serena at the nightclub. Things sizzle between the Serena and Julian, and being a demon with no conscience, Julian really will stop at nothing to get Serena to bend to his will. This was a great story with well-written characters and each subcharacter is left with an open-ended story at the end of the book, I can’t wait to see where this series goes next.

You should definitely give this book a try.

[Cocktails and Books]

Serena St Clair found herself with a new position a year ago, that of Guardian Angel, after losing her life saving a family who had just been in a car accident. Her latest assignee, Nick, is a young Hollywood star with a fondness for woman, booze and drugs. This makes is a bit hard for Serena to keep an eye on him when she's supposed to be just his yoga instructor and his vices go against everything she believes.

Unfortunately, Nick's vices play right into the hands of Arch demon Julian Ascher. Julian has spent his "demon" life corrupting the lives of people just like Nick. He plays to their weakness and steals their souls, cementing his place in demon hierarchy.

I really liked Julian, even when he was at his worst demon ways. I just didn't see him fitting with Serena. I'm not sure if it was because was so very zen and embodied everything that was goodness, where Julian was not, but it just seemed that even when redeemed she and Julian wouldn't mesh. That was biggest issue with this book.

The drama surrounding the other demons and the struggle to "save" Nick were good (although Nick was a just a tad too whiny for me). Luciana is a great villain and was the perfect bitch. I could have used a little more of her in the story, since she was so delightfully bad.

3 Cocktails