SINGING WITH THE DEVIL is the first book in Cassandra Rose Clarke’s Black Moon series. Helena Muir is the black sheep of her demon hunting crusader family. She’s never been good at magic like the rest of them, so she eventually opted to distance herself and try to build a normal life. Under her pseudonym Helen of Trondheim, she pursues her love of music and reviews bands. One day her past and present collide when she’s asked to do a favor for her Buffy-wannabe sister. Her sister’s target is Aleksi Haakanen from the death metal band Black Moon. Aleksi is just too suspicious to Helena’s sister. While scoping out the band’s venue, things take a dark turn and Helena winds up kidnapped by the band. Yikes!

From the book’s description, I wasn’t sure what direction this story would go – fun and sexy, or more hero’s quest and action-packed. After reading SINGING WITH THE DEVIL, I’m leaning toward the latter. There’s a ton of sexual tension and chemistry between Helen and Aleksi, but the story is packed with drama and epic battles with demons and miscellaneous evil jerks looking for power boosts. For me, it’s a mix of the DEVILMAN anime and the HELLRAISER films, with romance mixed in. The author has Helen constantly on the fence with whether she should fully trust Aleksi. Her desire for him is confusing yet strong, but she hasn’t known him that long, and they didn’t meet under the best circumstances. It’s only natural that she’d be slow to trust him. Her doubt with Aleksi goes along with her doubt when it comes to herself and her abilities. He’s constantly telling her she has power, but she must trust herself first. In a way, this experience with demons is a trial by fire, and Helen is forced to trust her instincts or die because of her crippling self-doubt. With so many fantastical and hellish creatures and magic, Cassandra Rose Clarke does an amazing job of painting a picture for readers. I normally prefer lighter fare, but I found this tale engrossing and couldn’t put this book down.

SINGING WITH THE DEVIL is a non-stop thrill-fest with a dangerously sexy hero, resilient heroine, and epic battles with hellish baddies. I wouldn’t say that this book ends on a cliffhanger, but it does set up the next book and has the reader eager to see what happens next. It’ll be interesting to see how the author resolves the problematic family dynamic in the next book.