Chase the Dark (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #1
Publish: October 17th 2014 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4.5

Synopsis: Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are precisely three obstacles in her way.
The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to get Piper into bed and otherwise annoy the crap out of her. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?
The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.
And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.
Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons... See problems one and two.

Review:
  This is the first book from the author that I read so I didn’t really know what to expect. Especially since the synopsis kind of suggests a story that starts in the middle of the action. And it’s really starts with a BANG but not like you would expect. First we get a proper introduction of the more important characters and the world.

  For one I think the slightly dystopian setting is a bit misplaced here because it hasn’t got much of an importance in regard of the story, but helps to explain the new world structure, so can be believable. And I actually liked how the author justified some elements in her story.
  It plays a bit further future from us and a lot of things could be possible she described about their history, at least the non supernatural part of it.
  The story itself quite fast paced and full of action and a bit of humor. We get to know about the structure of the society, how things work and actually it’s easy to understand and follow. Oh, also the way how the people and the government relate to daemon kind is believable. The existing hierarchy, however much it’s infuriates people, is more realistic as it is than it would be otherwise.

  To this exciting story the fantastic characters add a decidedly positive flare.
  Piper is a strong, determined and badass character, who works extra hard to satisfy others expectations, however much it is a losing battle. She has the shortcomings, mainly her blind yearning for magic. She thinks being able to wild magic would be the solution of all her problems and because of this she makes a couple of stupid mistakes and has a few self-pitying session. Those are her more pathetic moments. But I think she is extremely strong and admirable since she still can stand her own without magic. I like it about her. She is quite resourceful when it needed, not as overconfident and judgmental than other prefects and haemons. Thanks to this she forms a freaking amazing team with Ash and Lyre. I loved the dynamic and interactions between the three of them. I just hope that the budding love triangle gets nipped before it has time to really bloom. I don’t like love triangles. Her relationship with her father, who is the main source of her disappointments, is really heartbreaking. But after things she done to save and please him, he doesn’t deserve her attention anymore.
  Lyre is the team ‘peacekeeper’. He is an incubus and tries to lighten the mood in the hard moments which they have quite a lot. He is loyal to Ash but I think, he has a soft spot and feelings for Piper. Doesn’t really have a lot of chance thanks to the girl love history but certainly tries a lot. He is the light to Ash’s dark, they are like completely opposites in almost everything, in appearance and personality, but here and there we see his darker side, too. I like him but he is more like an overprotective and annoying older brother, than a love interest.
  Ash is the brooding, dark star. He is really strong, powerful and has a real understanding about how things go and what’s right but you can feel that he carries an enormous burden. The source of this however stays a mystery; it’s his upbringing, loyalties, his true form or even his past actions. We don’t really get to know. He does a lot of questionable things but doesn’t ask for permission or forgiveness, he is sure of himself and stands beside what he believes in, be it right or wrong.
  I am rooting for him in the love interest department since in this kind of books I like the brooding and dark types, the bad boys.

  After a while the bad guys’ identity becomes quite obvious. There are a lot of good scenes in the book and it flows so fluidly I couldn’t put it down, finished it in no time. I absolutely loved Piper fighting scenes in the ring and in the end of the story, too. She proves herself time and time again, it becomes obvious that she is good and stands a chance in the daemon world, even without magic, but unfortunately her hype doesn’t last long. I hope in the next book she gains a little bit of confidence. I loved the book and can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki