Incubus by Carol Goodman **Review**

Incubus by Carol Goodman (aka The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark - US title)

Series: Fairwick Chronicles #1
Pages: 480
Publisher: Ebury Press
Release date: 21st July 2011
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones

Goodreads synopsis:
I gasped . . . or tried to. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t draw breath. . . . His lips, pearly wet, parted and he blew into my mouth. My lungs expanded beneath his weight. When I exhaled he sucked in my breath and his weight turned from cold marble into warm living flesh.

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of writing her bestselling book, The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. After all, Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she finds herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.


But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: He’s not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the incubus, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this demon lover from her heart.

I really enjoyed Incubus (The Demon Lover). I found that the beginning of the novel was a little difficult to get into, so I did initially struggle, but once I found myself getting more deeply involved with the story, I was hooked.

I really enjoyed the setting for the novel. I tend to enjoy stories set in small American towns because coming from the UK, we don't have anything quite like that in our country, so it's something unfamiliar to me, something that's quite quaint but at the same time holds a fair amount of mystery for me; and that's before the mystery of plot gets mixed in with the setting. Honeysuckle house is a particularly fabulous setting in the novel. I love the way the author draws comparisons throughout between the house and classic Gothic fiction, in which the house often takes on the role of a character in its own right. Honeysuckle House definitely does this - the author almost personifies the house, particularly toward the beginning of the novel when Callie is considering buying it; the windows look like eyes and the image of the somehow-familiar pagan God inexplicably call her to it, causing her to end up on the doorstep before she knows what she's doing.

The novel also has a fantastic variety of different characters - not only in personality, but in species, as the novel takes a giant leap from the reality of a folklore specialist, into the very real world of the supernatural. I don't think I have ever encountered a novel with quite so many different supernatural beings all in one place. It was truly thrilling reading the author's own interpretations of some of the more well-known beings, but also reading more about some of the lesser-known in this genre, particularly about the Demon Lover himself, the Incubus.

Although what could be referred to as the 'main ending' of the novel was predictable, some of the other sub-plot endings were less so, which I found to be a really interesting blend. The main plot ending being predictable did not particularly detract from my enjoyment of the novel, because although I'd guessed what was coming, it was enjoyable enough to keep me gripped and engrossed all the same. The 'sub-plot' endings were not something I expected at all, which was really refreshing, and left the novel open at the end for the next in the series, which is something I will impatiently await now this one is finished.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Paranormal romance, general fantasy and even fairy tale and Folklore. It's a really fantastic blend that I think would appeal to a wide range of reading tastes.
A fantastic 4.5 stars from me!