Review for Dark Light of Day by Jill Archer

Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret—she was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of and some will consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

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Dark Light of Day has a book synopsis that caught my attention and wouldn't let go.  It presents an intriguing and one-of-a-kind premise that offers a satisfying conclusion while leaving some strings undone for any future stories.  I will admit that I didn't always understand what was going on but with Ms. Archer's talents it didn't bother me that I didn't get everything a 100%.  What I DID enjoy was the sweetly sensual love story between the cooly confident assassin Ari and the unexpectedly powerful Noon, whose father is one of the most powerful men in their community.  Ari encourages her to be what she was meant to be even as she struggles with what fate has chosen for her.  It's more than her longtime friend, and wannabe-boyfriend, Peter wants for her.  He's desperately trying to find a spell to give her the mystical powers her kind is supposed to have.  These differences create an emotionally charged lover's triangle that is a welcome distraction from the endless action sequences of training and killing demons.

During the events set at the school I couldn't help but be reminded of Harry Potter as these individuals go through much training to perfect their mystical skills.  Once their skills are put to the test we get to see a roller coaster assortment of high energy action sequences which escalate into life or death consequences as a killer demon is on the loose hunting healers.  These exciting scenes, as well as the likable and memorable characters, made for a fun story that kickstarts this new series nicely.  I look forward to seeing these characters mature and the further earth shattering events that may befall them.

My rating for this is a B-

*I received this book from NetGalley via the author in exchange for my honest opinion.