Romance book reviews: The Demons Daughter, by Emma Holly

*Warning* This book has adult themes mostly erotica.

Emma Holly, writer of “Personal Assets” and “Strange Attractions” as well as “The Demon’s Daughter,” is an up-and-coming romance erotica author. Normally I don’t recommend erotica because the sex can overtake a story, but in the case of Holly, this writer knows how to tell a really good story.

“The Demon’s Daughter” is about a Inspector Adrian Philips, who has been enhanced so that he can be a peacekeeper between the demons and humans. He was enhanced by a demon doctor, who is an amoral scientist willing to experiment on demons or humans for science and power. The other protagonist in this story is Roxanne McAllister, who is a daughter of a famous singer. Her mother was known throughout the world as having a marvelous voice, but also infamous for her sexual exploits.

One of the twists to this story is that the demons drink some essence from humans that gives them emotional experiences (somewhat like a drug). The higher demons can drink this essence with no problems, but the lower demons can be affected like drug addicts in our own world. It is a big problem because children have the purest essence and are stolen by procurers, humans working for demons, and sold to demons.

Inspector Philips on his own time goes to the slums to find kidnapped children. Unfortunately, the slum-dwellers think he is a procurer and beats him badly. He drags himself to a building that is owned by Roxanne… and so they meet. Roxanne has had many jobs since her mother died, including painting boudoir pictures, but now she is a famous painter in her own right.

Another character in this story is Avvar. Avvar is the city very similar to the Victorian cities of our past. There are the very poor, the very rich, and those who have been able to make a living in unfortunate ways – prostitutes, chimney sweeps, procurers, etc. If you read about the Industrial age in England, you will recognize much of the history of Avvar. In a way, it was like meeting an old friend. In others it reminded the reader of past horrors.

In this background, Roxanne finds that she is the half-human daughter of a higher demon. It is impossible for demons and humans to mingle seed, but it was done. The demon doctor/scientist and the prince of the demons become interested in Roxanne for reasons of their own.

Even though I skipped through a lot of the sexual exploits (yea, I can be a prude), the story line was interesting enough to carry me through the entire story. Emma Holly has put two characters into a fascinating world. I think I would like to read more of her books.