Me on The Mephisto Covenant

Title: The Mephisto Covenant
Author: Trinity Faegen
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA

Sasha wants to find out who murdered her father. When learning the truth leads her to pledging her soul to a figure called Eryx, she learns more than she bargained for - Sasha is Anabo, a pure and bright daughter of Eve, the biggest threat to Eryx and his evil plans. Jax is a son of Hell, immortal, bound to Earth, looking for redemption in The Mephisto Covenant - God's promise he'll find peace in the love of an Anabo. When Jax meets Sasha, saves her, he knows his search is at an end. But will Sasha give up her mortality? Will Jax be able to keep her safe and win her over?

I'll say this book was intriguing, which it was. The mythology was interesting and different (as different as fallen angels looking for redemption can get), and I enjoyed the snippits of Russian information. It's not every day you read a book with connections to Russia and espionage and spies and secrets. Well, not every day for me.

I've seen some early reviews and early comments on how there was some instant love between Sasha and Jax, but to me it was another case of instant attraction and instant connection. Like in Kelly Keaton's Darkness Becomes Her. Maybe instant lust, which isn't surprising given the fact that they can't stop kissing.

The pacing seemed rather quick at the beginning. So much was revealed in the first chapter, some things that I'd assumed wouldn't pop up as potential issues until halfway through the book. It almost felt like a third of a book had been crammed into the first chapter or so, and then came the rest of the book with Sasha discovering what it meant to be an Anabo, her learning what Jax was, what their connection meant, why she was changing.

I was slightly turned off by Sasha's aunt and evil cousin (you'll know who I mean if you've read the book), but because their evilness was so outrageous and petty and cruel. I think I know why Faegen wrote them that way, and I hated them, which was supposed to happen. They were totally unsympathetic and I wanted to punch them both in the face.

The book seemed to read more like a paranormal romance as opposed to a YA paranormal romance, which didn't necessarily bother me, I've been reading those types of books since I was 14 (and I didn't have to sneak them into the house, either). Some readers might be a little scandalized at the few graphic scenes, and maybe some parents, but like I said when I reviewed Kody Keplinger's The DUFF, teenagers will and do have sex.

I'm glad that each book in the series will be about a different brother finding an Anabo. It reminds me even more of a paranormal romance series in that sense.

A book on redemption, on discovering who you are, on learning the truth, on good and evil, light and dark. Intriguing, complicated, lush and sexy, this book will suck you in.

(I received an advance copy of this book from a fellow blogger who picked it up for me at BEA this past spring.)