Book Review of A Brush of Darkness

Title: A Brush of Darkness

Author: Allison Pang

Release Date: January 25th, 2011

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

The man of her dreams might be the cause of her nightmares.

Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: A  Brush of Darkness is the first book in a new urban fantasy that is almost beyond words for me.  The book was so fantastic that my head is still spinning with everything that transpired.

I am not really sure what I expected from this book, but everything about this story took me by surprise.  Especially at the end of the book when I was an emotional mess, I was close to tears and did not see that response coming at all.  When I am that invested in a story I can usually see it coming ahead of time, but A Brush of Darkness had my heart tied up in knots and knocked me off my feet.  In a completely good way though, I would not change a second of how the story went, it just makes me want the next book that much more.

I loved how our heroine was so completely human, it made it so easy to relate to her.  She comes with a past and has some serious issues to work through, but that is what made it so fun to watch her.  It also made it that much harder for Brystion to try and tear down those barriers.  The two of them had some great chemistry and I am already rooting for this relationship, even though I fear it may be doomed.  They are both lost in one way or another and stumbling through life, I think if they helped each other out, they would be much happier.  Only time will tell though with this, so I will have to wait for future books to see.

The best character in this story though is definitely Phineas, a miniature unicorn who is freaking hysterical!  I was laughing out loud at many points during the book all thanks to him, my husband looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to explain like so:

Me:  ”You see it’s this miniature unicorn that lives in her underwear drawer”

*Insert husband looking at me like I have two heads*

Me: “He is he so funny, he just started talking and curses a lot.”

Husband: “What kinds of books do you read?”

Me:  ”Good ones”  :)

I swear, if you read the book you will know exactly what I am talking about and Phineas will have you in stitches too.

Overall I am beyond hooked on this series, I cannot even put into words how much I loved it.  A Brush of Darkness is a magically unique world filled with captivating mythology, out of this world passion and mysterious plot twits that will leave you begging for more.  My only complaint is I don’t have the next book in my hands right now!  Not really a good complaint though is it?  Alright, well if you have not discovered this book yet, you really need to.