The Devil's Fool by Rachael McClellan

[Jax14]

This is a paranormal story with elements of horror-the violence is not suitable for younger readers.

Eve is watching her parents torture an innocent woman. This is not the first time she has seen them torture someone. As the daughter of some of the world's most powerful and evil witches, she is no stranger to their callous acts; not only on others but on herself-and she wants no part of the lifestyle. After rejecting her powers for years, she is now of marriage age and is introduced to Boaz-an influential vampire who wishes to woo her with her parent's consent. He introduces her to his world of the night, but still she resists the allure of magic. Will Boaz's subtle influence unleash the dark side of her nature that she never wished to see?

The story started with great promise to me, but Eve's character, even for a paranormal story, switched between light and dark too quickly considering all that she had been through and managed to resist. The violence in the torture scenes was definitely graphic and if her mind didn't snap during this I am surprised anything could make her turn. The rivalry between the strong witch families was a good subplot and the introduction of Lucian and his tormented secrets makes for a great lead into the next book in the series. Again grammar and punctuation errors reared their ugly heads-it really is essential to ensure a good editor and proofreader deal with the work before publication.

The characters worked well in the story and there were some definite cheers when some of them met untimely demises. Overall a good read but not captivating enough to buy the next book in the series.