When you’ve got a book that’s a borderline novella, with so little page time the pressure is on to make an impact. I felt like Origins accomplished that. This one? Not so much.
Ashlyn is settling into her role as an FBI agent, and a new case has fallen into her lap. She has to protect the State of California’s new and very first vampire governor. Though many hope this fosters better relations between humans and vampires, others are out for his blood. But they’ll get it over Ashlyn’s dead demon body…with a sprinkle of vampire thrown in. That might not be too far off as her naivety puts her in deeper water than ever.
Attempts to be edgy sort of diminished the value of the series for me. I really enjoyed the first Origins book, but Deceptions felt like a completely different series, and Ashlyn a completely different character. I guess she’s growing up. She now has to learn the ways of the vampire world. I would have preferred more of that and less focus on her honeymooning with a new certain someone. I won’t say more to spoil anything, but I feel like that character could have contributed more to the story than to make Ashlyn hot in her pants. That, and it came off as fleeting. I wasn’t convinced that it would be for the long haul, so I didn’t find myself very interested in it.
Elves are introduced in the prior novel, but they barely receive a mention in this one which was a let down. Demon development was also few and far in between. I was really looking forward to learning about Ashlyn’s heritage. We get a glimpse into her power but it just wasn’t enough. It all led to an ending that I predicted a little too early, enough so that the book started to drag for me towards the end, but it wasn’t too unbearable.
While I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first, there is still potential there, so I will give book 3 a try. The books are short, they’re free (on Amazon Prime), and there’s a chance the plot could pick up and grab me as well as the first book did.