City of Gods and Monsters

House of Devils #1

by Kayla Edwards

Welcome to the city of Angelthene. We hope you survive.

Loren Calla has only ever been ordinary. As a human struggling to survive in a city that caters to the needs of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other supernatural creatures, she always assumed her life would remain simple, predictable, and as safe as her world would allow.

Until she barely escapes abduction at the hands of Darkslayers—supernatural bounty hunters that possess the Sight, a magical tracking ability that allows them to see a person’s aura—and one of her friends is taken in her place. The abductors are demanding a ransom: Loren's life in exchange for her friend's safe return. Loren will do whatever it takes to get her friend back—even if it means accepting help from Darien Cassel, the leader of the Seven Devils, the most feared Darkslaying circle in the city.

Darien specializes in tracking down demons and criminals that are better off dead than alive, so when he takes a job to track down Loren and finds out she is human—and couldn't hurt a fly if her life depended on it—he decides to protect her instead of turn her in for a reward. As much as Loren doesn't want to admit it, Darien is her best and only chance at finding her friend alive, if she can somehow manage to get along with him—and not fall head-over-heels in love with him in the process, which is far easier said than done.

When more women start disappearing, and some of them slowly turn up dead, Loren and Darien's search for answers takes them deep into Angelthene's corrupt underbelly, where they discover a dark secret that threatens to unravel their world. And when tragedy strikes, Loren learns that love can make an ordinary person do extraordinary things.

From the author of Dreams of Ice and Iron comes a new fantasy romance perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Ilona Andrews, and Cassandra Clare.

Please note: This book contains darker content that might be triggering for some readers, including violence, mature language, sexual content, drug abuse, death of an animal (with a HEA), sexual harassment, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and suicide. It is not intended for anyone under the age of 18.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal

760 pages, ebook

First published January 25, 2022

About the author

Kayla is the author of the House of Devils series—City of Gods and Monsters, City of Souls and Sinners, City of Lies and Legends, and City of Smoke and Brimstone. She is also the author of the upper-YA romantasy novel, Dreams of Ice and Iron. She started writing City of Gods and Monsters when she was in high school, so the characters and the world they live in are very close to her heart. When she isn't writing, she enjoys traveling, spending time in nature, and binge-watching her favorite television shows with her husband. To ensure you don’t miss out on future releases, follow her on Instagram, Amazon, and BookBub @kaylaedwardsauthor.

Note: Kayla does not check Goodreads messages, comments, or friend requests. If you would like to stay in touch, follow her on Instagram!

Reviews

[Marianna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREAD: 6 stars the firsts time around. 6 stars the second time around. I LOVE THIS SERIES WITH MY ENTIRE BEING!!!!!

——————————————————————

THAT SLOW BURN PAYOFF THOUGH !!!!! Ahhhh I’m still freaking out over this book!!

DARIEN CASSEL. Number 1 book boyfriend. The new standard that nobody will ever compare to. I have no words. I NEED HIM BIBLICALLY!! The epitome of morally grey and touch her and you die but sassy about it. His sheer obsession and love for Loren is everything to me. This man is also TRAUMATIZED and dealing with so much anxiety and grief I cannot wait to continue watching his character development! The tortured souls speak to me. There simply aren’t the right words to explain how much I love this man.

I’m depressed that this is a 5 book series and there’s only 2 out because I already know this is going to be my new favorite fantasy romance series. Bold I know.

I love the FMC, Loren. She’s such a soft charter which is so refreshing. I feel so protective of her already. She has been thrust into a world where her every waking thought/action puts her at risk and I’m SCARED FOR HER!! She must be protected at all costs I’m excited to see her come into her own and oh my god her and Darien are just PERFECTION TOGETHER!!

This is how you do a SLOW BURN. Oh. My. God. Probably my favorite slow burn ever. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The chemistry between Loren and Darien is palpable from the moment they meet each other. They are the epitome of soul mates and nobody can tell me otherwise. The two of them make me so giddy. But oh my goodness do they go THROUGH IT!!! The angst between these two had me white knuckling my book.

Also one of my new favorite found families. These characters already feel like home. I’m so emotionally attached it’s not even funny. The way Kayla is able to make you feel like you are living through each moment along with them makes everything feel so much more raw and reel.

The sheer depth and complexity of this plot has my mind SPINNING!! I have so many questions!!!! I was incapable of putting this book down. It owns a part of my soul now. I need to teleport to this world and never leave.

This book has everything:
Slow burn
Incredible world building
Morally grey FMC
Intricate plot
Found family
Spicy spice
Every single magical creature under the sun

THIS IS MY NEW PERSONALITY

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters)]

Ooookay, I think I'm done with this book.
It's not like I woke up this morning and chose violence, but I believe there's a set number of eyerolls I can eyeroll before my eyes stop rolling back in their original position.

(Please remember that the following opinions are based on the portion of book I've read before deciding to give in. If there's something I might be getting wrong, please take this into consideration and let me know how I can remediate)

There's not much I can say about City of Gods and Monsters that hasn't been said by other reviewers who, like me, found this book lacking in one too many departments and being totally clichèd in others.
For one, it's true what they say. This books is SJM's Crescent City's annoying little brother who sometimes tries to hard to be like their oldest sibling to the point of cringe-ness.
Starting from the title and proceeding with everything else, plot points included, the similarities are too obvious to deny.
I would have excused the veiled plagiarism had the main character been a little less...perfect. She reminds me of all the heroines from urban fantasy books I used to read when I was a teen, and I used to hate them even then so it's not a compliment.
Loren is painfully unsubstancial and written in a way that infuriated me as I couldn't establish what kind of personality she was supposed to have.
Darien is slightly less bad, and I wish I could say the same about the carousel of cardboard cutout side characters who proudly wore their trope badge and were unsurprisingly useless. And Dallas was the worst of them. This Danika Fendyr wannabe will haunt my nightmares from now on, I can tell.
In short, the characters were the biggest part of the reason why this was a disaster. And the romance, too, of course.
I was promised an enemies-to-lovers kind of romance, and we all know I take my favorite trope quite seriously.
There was too little hate and too much insta-something, right from the start, so the possibility of a build-up was almost inexistent because I already knew this two ducks were going to end up together, and not because their chemistry told me so, but because the author kept shoving down my throat how attractive they found each other and how protective they were of each other two minutes after they've met even if they were supposed to be enemies.
And this brings us straight finally to the plot which, to be honest, was probably the thing I liked most about the twenty-or-so chapters I've read.
While not so original (and I'm saying this kindly, because, seriously, it felt like reading House of Earth and Blood all over again), I have reasons to believe those readers who finshed and rated this book positively.
Sure, the dialogues were sometimes repetitive and too hard to go through without cringing, and there was an impressive amount of time-jumps and fade-to-black cuts where the author left out some of what could have been really juicy scenes, but it was overall not the garbage pit it would have been if the characters alone were in charge of carrying the book.

I'm not sure I'm going to give this another try because I've become pretty jealous of my precious reading time and I'd hate to miss out on a book I might end up loving in favor of one I want to like on purpose.
DNFING THIS AT 22%

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

the amount of similarities between this and ‘house of earth and blood’ had me raising my eyebrows on multiple occasions. definitely a bit sus, imo. but you know what? i dont really care that much because i was still entertained by this!

the world is massive and sufficiently built up enough to provide a good setting. the characters, although consistently inconsistent, are fun to read about. the plot did a good job at holding my attention. and, considering how long this is, there was never a point where it felt like the story was dragging.

so, for what this is, the story has pretty good entertainment value. even if its not the most original thing about there.

↠ 3.5 stars

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“You are the kindest thing that has ever happened to me. You are…you are my home. And I think it’s safe to say that my life would be a whole lot darker without you in it. You light up my life, Loren Calla.”

You know those books that quickly pull you right into the heart of its story? This book is one of them.

City of Gods and Monsters is a book that wrecked me in the best way and elicited so many different emotions from me—and when a book does that for me it quickly becomes a favorite.

If you loved Crescent City then this book is a must-read! It includes similar elements but this book maintains its authenticity and stands on its own.

Let me list off a few things to expect in COGAM:

• New Adult Urban Fantasy Romance
• Slow slowburn romance with rewarding spice payoff
• Relatable Heroine
• Hot brooding morally grey love interest
• Sunshine/Grumpy dynamic
• Forced Proximity
• Found Family
• Gritty and Dark setting
• Atmospheric Worldbuilding
• Infused with plenty of action and tension
• Intriguing Magic System
• Supernatural creature like witches, warlocks, werewolves, vampires, demons, and supernatural bloodlines
• Emotional rollercoaster
• "Touch her and you die"
• A cast of diverse characters who are fun and lovable
• Diabetes and Anxiety Reps

First of all, I must praise the writing in this book because it was immersive and flowy so it did not take much effort to keep me hooked. The only reason I took my sweet time with this book is because I knew it deserved my full attention and I wanted to savor every page.

He loved the way she said his name, as if it was a light she walked toward through darkness.

It's hard to give a proper summary to the story because there is so much more to it but I'll try my best.

Angelthene is a sprawling metropolis city catered to and favored supernatural beings, therefore it is a city that treated humans as lesser beings since they do not belong to the immortal demographic. It's also particularly a dangerous city to the humans as Angelthene has a pest problem that involves feral demons who crave one thing only: the taste of flesh.

Our heroine, Loren Calla, is as human as they come. Even having an adoptive sister as a pure-blood venefica or a Witch does not guarantee her life would always be safe and simple as she wants it to be. Especially when one night she is almost abducted by Darkslayers, supernatural bounty hunters who possess a magical tracking ability that seeks out a person's aura, and they end up taking her friend in her place.

The abductors demand a ransom for her friend's freedom and Loren knew knew in this blood-drenched city, it's only a matter of time before her friend meets a tragic death. Guilt-ridden and frightened, Loren is willing to do whatever it takes to free her friends even if it means she will seek the help of the leader of one of Angelthene's most ruthless Darkslaying circles—Darien Cassel.

This is not a mere rescue mission, both Loren and Darien pick up on threads leading them to darker secrets that mark the inevitable tragedies ready to strike their city and their lives.

“Think you can handle that?”
“Yes,” she said, her stomach muscles fluttering. A whimper escaped her lips, and her words were wild gasps as she said, “I can, and I want to.”

Loren and Darien are definitely rising up to be one of my favorite couples that I got to know this year. The chemistry and sexual tension between the two is INTENSE.

I do not want to deter readers when I say this is a slow slowburn romance because from the moment they meet, every Loren and Darien scene is infused with so many feelings and so much sexual tension. The spice is truly rewarding and worth the wait although some moments are scattered throughout the book.

They have a beautiful dynamic I don't even know where to begin but what I can say is their feelings are almost tangible to me. There are many barriers between them and they come from complete different worlds—they are from different races. Loren is a mere mortal and Darien is a Darkslayer marking him as a supernatural gifted with immortality.

I died every time Darien called Loren "sweetheart" or "baby". He is so tender and sweet to her when he wants to be. He is protective and takes care of her whenever she is injured. He is just so so swoon-worthy.

Whether he called himself a Devil or not, he had quickly turned into her angel.
Perhaps she was becoming his, too.

This book includes dual POV so it follows Loren and Darien's POVs and it really helped me dive into them and I appreciate that so much because it offered me a better insight into them as characters who have different layers to them.

Loren's characterization: I think Kayla did a fantastic job of writing such a relatable and vulnerable character that was not necessarily a badass but she didn't need to be one to stand out. She is led by her emotions and some may consider that a weakness but in her case, I see it as a strength because she does not live in a kind world. She does have fears but is such a courageous person.

Darien's characterization: Darien is exquisitely dark and complex. There are so many aspects to him and I was delighted to get to unfold each of them as the story progressed. He is dark, vicious and violent but not to those that he loves. Beyond the tainted exterior, he has a heart of gold. That exterior begins to crumble as Loren spends more time with him and his vulnerability and feelings seep through the cracks. His violence and reputation as the leader of the Seven Devils is not his only personality.

“Touch her again and I’ll cut your goddamn heart out.”

The cast of characters, especially the Seven Devils, were simply entertaining and fantastic. They did not feel like background characters because they always added comic relief where it was appropriate and contributed to the story and the main characters' arcs in different ways.

You could simply be nicer to her and see where it gets you. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to listen to your filthy internal brooding.

This is not a book you can easily put down because plot-twists catch you at every corner and the nerve-wrecking action just keeps you engaged and at the edge of your seat.

Trigger Warnings: graphic violence, mature language, drug abuse, sexual content, and suicide.

[Paige 💫 · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was temu crescent city and no one can convince me otherwise.

[Gry ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ★s
I AM SORRY but this was so underwhelming😭
But to be fair, I also had really high expectations and this simply didn’t deliver.

By the amount of things I had heard about Darien Cassel, the reality just felt a little bit pale… (watch me eat up these words reading the next two books-pls).
Is this the man you’re all hyping? The guy sitting there enjoying himself when a girl forces herself on Loren?
I am sorry but I don’t see it. His exterior might be pretty but he honestly gave me the ick so many times throughout this book. We get it he is the big bad devil of Angelthene with anger issues and daddy issues, but is that it? There has to be something more to his character, because I don’t believe this is the man you’re all obsessed with.

And Loren, I might like her even less tbh… 🫣
Giving full on damsel in distress. I get it, she’s a human among all these other powerful beings… but she’s not even trying?? The only thing she can do semi-well is call for help. 🙃 There was nothing else remotely interesting about her, and I was constantly frustrated by her meek, innocent vibes. She is so damn lousy, I wouldn’t even trust her to be able to tie her own shoes.

✧"I wouldn't say I don't like you. But you can be a thorn in my side sometimes."
"And you're a thorn in mine."✧

Their romance… I was ready for some groundbreaking shit, but all it was really was them saying really cheesy stuff to each other way too fast. There was no real connection between them, just attraction… and that’s it? Their relationship felt so unbalanced, and I honestly felt so uncomfortable reading about their back and forth, miscommunication and intense obsession - when it was built on air, zilch, nothing, nada.

In a general sense, I constantly felt confused reading this. I don't know if this is me being disrupted by life continuously while reading this, or if it's the fact that she's writing as if we already should know all the characters and places beforehand, not giving them enough context, causing me to mix both characters and places up time and time again.🙃 It might be a mix of both tbh.

Trying to end this off on a somewhat positive note, I did enjoy the vibes of the book. Urban fantasy, big city vibes with magic hits so damn good… but everyone who compares this to Crescent City is unfortunately setting up people for disappointment as this plot is way more predictable than CC. But I did manage to enjoy it somewhat, even though all the characters were unbearable.
I’ve heard book two and especially three, are supposed to be better, so I’m putting my trust in the universe(my friends) and I’ll continue this series even though this kinda flopped for me. 🥲
______
⌞Pre-read:⌝

it is time. I need something new to obsess over. My friend who originally introduced me to acotar(and got me back to reading) said I would like this, so you know we trust her immensely.

[giulsxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

➼ 4.5★

”Their world was changing. And this city of gods and monsters was only the beginning.
Death was only the beginning.”

╰┈➤ read this if you like:
★ found family
★ touch her and 🪦
★ forced proximity
★ intricate plot and world building
★ slow burn + spicy🥵
★ urban fantasy
★ humans, werewolves, vampires and more…

i’m in my heavy fantasy era once again. and let me tell you, it’s good to be home.
this book was pleasantly surprising. it doesn’t start really strong and honestly, i was questioning my choice, but TRUST THE PROCESS!!

it talks about loren calla, a human in a world of werewolves and vampires and witches. she’s been an outcast for all her life. so, imagine her surprise when, all of a sudden, she becomes the principal target of—not one, but—lots of darkslayers. this is when she meets darien cassel. he’s a darkslayer, leader of the seven devils, and he has to hand over a girl for a large sum of money. but when he finds her and realizes she’s just a human, he decides to protect her while finding the reason why they all want her.

”She decided to take her chances with Darien Cassel, so she mentally kissed her normal life goodbye and swung open the door.”

➼ loren calla
she’s a human girl with a disease that weakens her even more. she’s the target of multiple bullies, therefore she likes to be invisible. but it’s hard to be invisible, especially when so many people threaten her life.
i must admit i wasn’t her biggest fan for the majority of the book, but somehow she grew on me. she’s a little naive but also smart when she wants. i think she’s also a little immature, especially when she interacts with darien. i get she’s been an outcast all her life, but being a virgin doesn’t mean being completely naive about boys and men😭 sometimes she said things and acted in a childish way and for no reason bc darien is a fucking saint. so i don’t really get her actions. i wonder how he didn’t get an headache every time she did something stupid.
but, as i said, she somehow managed to grow on me. eventually, i really got to like her. i’m still not her biggest fan, but i’m pretty sure i’ll love her in the second book!

➼ darien cassel
ah! this man. he’s a darkslayer, which means he kills demons and gangsters (but basically bad people in general) for a living. he’s the leader of the seven devils. he has tattoos and is handsome as hell. everyone knows who darien cassel is bc his reputation precedes him✨
his grumpy and sassy side was chefs kiss—ofc—but what made me fall in love with him was his thoughtfulness. he’s a man who cares so fucking much it hurts to read. he always sacrifices himself and his happiness for the others. he has a terrible past and a shitty father, and i’m a sucker for traumatized mmcs. i’ll forever protect him.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ loren & darien
as i said earlier, sometimes loren acts like an immature child. she overthinks everything (relatable tho) darien does or says, but sometimes she overreacts. and darien is literally a saint.
he gave her a home to feel safe to and protection, while he was looking for the people who wanted her. it’s true that he also gave her mixed signals but for the love of god, he had a lot on his plate! the things he did for loren… i’m not gonna spoil everything for y’all bc y’all need to read this, but trust me when i say he’s perfect.
eventually, they both grew on me, especially darien. i like them together a lot and i need more of their romance!!!

overall, this book feels like a roller coaster bc it drives you crazy and makes you feel every type of emotions.
the pace alternates between fast and slow, but the story is intriguing enough to make you push through the slowest chapters.
the slow burn is really good and it pays off in the end.
the world building is intricate and huge asf. the mysterious vibes about who’s looking for loren and why, keeps you glued to the pages.
in conclusion, i’d definitely recommend this book and i bet my ass the next one will be even better!
onto the next💋

The world she’d been born into was a world of wolves, and it didn’t take kindly to lambs like her. To survive it, you either had to become a wolf… or make friends with one. She knew she wasn’t the type to ever become a wolf, so she would have to try for the latter. Though friend was the last thing she would expect to call this man.

“Am I going to need to perform first-aid on you, too,” Darien said quietly as people continued to stare, “or can I wait until someone is trying to kill you to do the saving?”

It took her a minute to reply, and for those entire sixty seconds, she wouldn’t look away from him, as if his soul were an open book and she was leafing through the pages of it.

“Would you do me the extreme honor of telling me why you suddenly want to drop your panties?”

“Relax, Loren. I’m only teasing you. I promise I won’t bite—unless, of course, you want me to.”

“She taught me that green was life. Green was wet grass; moss; birds chirping in trees. Pink was pleasure in the most innocent sense of the word. It was the texture of rose petals and the heat of when you blush; it was strawberries, bubble-gum, lollipops. Yellow was cheery and invigorating, like the taste of lemon. It was sunflowers and the soft down of a newly hatched chick. Orange was exactly as the fruit tastes; it was the glow of firelight and the feel of the desert sun warming your back. Red was complicated; it was seduction, violence, danger, anger—even love. It was the heat of a steak fresh off the barbecue, the taste of chili peppers.” He paused, and Loren wondered if he was there, too—in his mind. In his heart. “The sound of the ocean…,” he went on. “The sound of the ocean was blue. Blue was calm. Blue was relaxation. Blue was… blue was peace.”

“You can dress however you want to dress, and scum like them shouldn’t think it means you’re serving yourself to them on a silver platter.”

How was it possible that the world suddenly felt lighter as soon as he was near? She could breathe again, and the shattered pieces of her heart felt like they were being knitted back together simply by being in the same vicinity as him.

But Loren Calla was gorgeous in a way that made his knees weak.

“Would you stop complaining?” She batted her eyelashes at him. “I can think of far better things for you to do with that mouth.”
Darien blinked. And then he threw his head back and howled with laughter. “I can’t believe you just said that to me.”

Darien stared back at her, longing to know the answers to her soul, wanting to learn every part of her, inside and out. The need to touch her, to comfort her and to know her on a deeper level, hit him like a fist to the stomach.

She had a face that could crumble cities and bring conquerors to their knees.

No matter how big and bad you think you are, there’s always someone who can play the cards better than you.

“Even if we don’t have forever, we do have today. And I believe that alone is worth celebrating.”

“And I’m grateful for you, Loren Calla.” He kissed her mouth, long and deep, until she lost her breath. “I’m so grateful for you.”

“Monsters are only what you make of them.”

The Devil who was now her angel.

[Madison Kait · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5!! i fear this series will be consuming me … darien cassel is an experience we all need. was it entirely soooo long? ya, but it wasn’t *toooo* long if you know what i mean? like i’m not mad at it, even if i feel like I spent an encyclopedic amount of time with these characters - i did kinda eat it up. if you can get behind a VIBE heavier on the romance urban romantasy, THIS IS GONNA BE THE ONE FOR U
*i cannot stop thinking about these characters :’)*

[☀︎El In Oz☀︎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5

I think this book has a lot of promise, but it really, really fell flat. I think it can be best described as Crescent City’s younger, and much worse sibling. I totally get what the book was going for, but it was way too drawn out. Being over 700 pages long, you’d expect a plot that is tightly plotted and engaging. The thing is we don’t really know what the main plot is until at least 100 pages in. Unlike Crescent City, which has a murder mystery , this book opens with a kidnapping and doesn’t really build on that. A bunch of things happen at the very end, but a good 400 pages of this book is filler and slow moving, pointless scenes.

Loren Calla, our main character, is a very annoying main character that doesn’t do anything to help herself. In the first chapter, she’s being begged by her sister to run and she just stands there??? She literally thinks ‘oh I wish I could do something but as a human, I’m useless’ but running away from the killers trying to get you would be doing something? The entire book has a bunch of scenes were she just doesn’t do anything. It isn’t a point of having to be badass, but more of just haven’t a backbone in general.

Our other main character, Darrien Cassel, was your typical morally grey character with a sad backstory nonsense. Sorry, I’ve read SO many books with guys like that at this point I couldn’t care less for the archetype. He was so not special and, quite frankly, boring. I mean, he was such an uninteresting character. He has really no personality.

Their supposed romance fell flat due to the utter lack of chemistry. It was slow burn to the point of nothing happening. Seriously it was so so bland and boring. Not a drop of chemistry was coming from them. It was just lust.
The world building was really bad. I mean, it was really non existent. As in, had nothing. The city of Angelthene was very isolated. I have no clue how the actual world works or anything about the forms of government.

I also hate how the entire book could have actually been solved so quickly if Darien had done his job. Like????
Anyways this book was really NOT good and if you’re looking for an urban fantasy series with a slow burn romance, fierce heroines and lovable heroes, Crescent City is amazing.

[EmmaSkies]

Holy shit, I finished. This was not good.

(More of a review to come later when it’s not 1am and I have time to sit down and compile thoughts, but… *gestures wildly to the last three days of my Goodreads updates*)

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 1 out of 5]

”On some sleepless nights, the horns of the sinners became halos, and the streets felt like paradise.”

oh my god, words cannot express how much i couldn’t stand this book or the characters. Darien tries so hard to be “dangerous and edgy” and that’s honestly so embarrassing for him. Loren is utterly useless the whole time in a way that’s so pathetic. i couldn’t tell you why people feared him or why she was infatuated with this man. are we seriously giving him brownie points cause he told some man that she can wear whatever she wants? the bar is roasting far down in the pits of hell. i had no idea this was urban fantasy, but what i do know is that it’s a bootleg wannabe copy of both acotar and cc.. zero points for originality, clearly. I’m not even someone who thinks everything is trying to copy SJM, but this had literally the same scenes from those books.

”He would give her everything if he could. If he wasn’t so.. fucked up.”

i seriously had no idea what the hell was even going on the whole time, the world building and plot made no sense. i was so confused and that, paired with the fact that Loren and Darien had no chemistry was working my nerves 7000 feet underground. the whole thing felt sloppy and misdirected, I didn’t like the writing in general either. it also wasn’t helping that Loren is a virgin and Darien acts like a sleazy, condescending jerk every chance he gets.. it’s screaming romantic. 😍 this book was WAYYY TOO LONG for no reason and i started skimming at the end, didn’t miss much so i don’t care.

— thanks to my boo, Paige for buddy reading with me. i was a hater the whole time but still .. 🩶

[Kayla Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t wait to share this book with you all. Darien and Loren have been a part of my life for so many years that I honestly don’t know who I’d be without them. I first came up with this story idea while I was in high school roughly twelve years ago, and they’ve been in my mind and heart ever since. If you love vampires, werewolves, mysteries, bad boys with tattoos, the touch-her-and-I’ll-kill-you trope, and forced-proximity, slow-burn romances with a big payoff in the spice department, add CITY OF GODS AND MONSTERS to your TBR. You’ll thank me. 🔥😈

[Poppy Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I AM OBSESSED

This is the best urban fantasy I’ve read yet!
Vampires, witches, werewolves, demons?! SENTIENT PLANTS?! I loved Angelthene so much 😍 I could picture it SO well

Darien Cassel is up there with Xaden Riorson to me, so many parallels between them I thought! I loveeeee an mmc who’s a red flag for anyone else but green flags alllll the way for his girl, your honour, I LOVE HIM.

The slow burn between him & Loren was to die for, literally kicking my feet and squealing and the plot?! SO GOOD

For a 700+ page book I didn’t think any part of it dragged really, could it have been shorter. Yes probably, but did I still eat up every single page? Yes.

Is Loren a bit of a damsel in distress.. yes, however in the last 20% I saw huge development in her character and hoping as the books go on, that continues. Had this been a standalone and she behaved that way I would’ve disliked her, but in a series I don’t mind it, as long as her character arc is that she becomes a strong/independent fmc

This is only my 3rd 5 star read out of 33 books so far this year that’s how much I loved it 😍

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4,5 stars)

"You´re wrecking me is what you´re doing. You´re wrecking me for anyone else."

This is a two POV book, told by the POVs of Loren and Darien.

What I liked about Loren was, that she wasn´t really the badass woman you normally read in Fantasy books, she was more or less your girl next door with no real special magical powers. To be honest it makes her a bit prone to be the damsel in distress and to always get saved by Darien, but it wasn´t to a point where it would´ve annoyed me. I loved her and Dariens relationship, the slowburn is delicious and the sexual tension is amazing, I loved the angst between them. Darien is your typical "touch her and I´ll kill you" guy we all know and love; so you just know he will probably be your next book boyfriend. I mean you won´t find a guy who will kidnap you and take you out to dinner in the process just anywhere.

I loved Dariens Devils, especially Maximus and Ivyana. I loved Ivyanas character and her relationship with Jack and I loved that some of the side characters were given romance sub plots as well. Although I wish I would´ve gotten a bit more background story on the Devils, but maybe that will happen in book 2. Overall most of the side characters were amazing and I really liked their stories.

Plotwise this book reminds me a little bit of Crescent City, the city structure and the magic systems felt a bit similar. I loved the action scenes, that scene at the nightclub where Loren has to secudes another man to get the job done was golden. I mean, who doesn´t love that trope!? I liked the plot twists, most of them I didn´t expect, especially the ending of the book caught me by surprise. The pacing was really good, not once did the book feel boring to me and that is saying a lot with a 700 something pages book. There isn´t that much spice in here only towards the ending because the slow burn is really drawn out, but I expect there will be more in book 2.

Overall it was an amazing book, that kept me hooked from start to finish with just minor things to critique. I am really looking forward to book two in the series!

trigger warnings: loss of loved ones, domestic abuse (mentioned), death of an animal, sexual assault (not done by the love interest), drugs, kidnapping

Huge thank you to my dear friend @Monica who recommended this book to me. Go check out her account here, her reviews are as awesome as she is!

[siu · Rating 5 out of 5]

there is nothing better than reading about the mmc slowly falling in love with the fmc after forming their begrudging alliance where he was originally sent to kill her but decides to put her under his wing in order to solve a bigger problem in the city,,, delicious. so many books will have the mmc already interested in the fmc from the start and it's like WHERE IS THE SLOW BURN. WE NEED MORE. and the character aura they give me ?? he's the devil, she's the angel. mixed in with bodyguard trope, forced proximity, found family, vampires/werewolves/warlocks/literally any supernatural creature you can name, etc. is perfection !!

this book gave me SO much supernatural tv show vibes WHICH I DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED IN AN URBAN FANTASY UNTIL NOW. the cast was amazing. i hope we can see more of them in the next book. i'm so in love with all of them

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

incredibly solid 4.75 stars!!!! i ate it the f**k up!!!! just like I would eat Darien Cassel the f**k up if given the opportunity!!! :)))))))

this was an incredibly addicting urban fantasy with one of the most delicious MMC’s to grace my eyes in a hottttt minute. I’m talking up there in league with Rhysie, Rowan, Xaden & the High Reeve…. and I do NOT say that lightly.

my only complaints: in absolutely no world did this need to be 700+ pages. like at all. ALSO the comparisons to Crescent City were alarming and I am not someone to usually nitpick that stuff :’))

regardless I devoured and am eternally thankful for this book & the way it dragged me out of my deep, dark, reading slump pit <3

[Restless Isabelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oooph. Not for me. Loren made me cringe, it was uncomfortable being in her head. She’s so incredibly immature that I found it impossible to connect with her. Also, the whole virginal vibe was a bit off and creepy tbh - she’s overly sexualised but then zero experience or confidence. Not great.

Pair this with an overly dramatic relationship with a bad boy, a host of generic tropey side characters, the craziest side-swipe “plot twist” from a freakin’ pot plant and a kinda generic urban fantasy x SJM world. It’s a no from me.
But hey, I see I’m in the minority here, so you might have a good time, plus it’s on kindle unlimited 🤷‍♀️

[ariyel ୭ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star! ☆┆first read: 2.75!
⤿ minor spoilers ﹒⟢

genuinely i have to know… when authors are writing a complete dumbass of a character do they know? like do they realize how much of an idiot their character is or is it by accident? is it intentional? i need to know. because i don’t think i’ve ever hated a character this much for being stupid. i was seconds away from pulling my hair out. i think i blacked out from the rage. and it just kept going. and going. and going. for almost 750 goddamn pages. i think i was about to start crying. this was horrible.

i already didn’t like this book the first time i read it, but there were things that still interested me. this time? kill me. i know it sounds dramatic but this was genuinely a form of torture. i tortured myself by rereading this. it was painful. physically painful. like there are no words strong enough to explain how much i hated this experience but i’m gonna try anyway.

i should probably explain why in the world i would put myself through this again when i knew i didn’t like it, but there’s probably something wrong with me so let’s just move on. the thing is? i liked the concept. too much. the world, the darkslayers, the setup—it all sounds so fun. i even liked the crescent city knockoff vibes. the city’s underworld, the supernatural politics, the magic school setting, the bounty hunter circles and corruption underneath it all. that should’ve worked for me. but it didn’t. because it was being filtered through the most annoying, helpless protagonist i’ve ever had the displeasure of following.

i thought maybe i could just ignore the characters and still enjoy the world. that maybe if i gave it another shot, i could actually have fun with it this time. nope. didn’t happen. i reread this because i wanted to see if i could keep going with the series, but this made me so mad i might not even try the next book now. do you understand how stupid that is. i reread a book i already didn’t like to continue the series and now it pissed me off so bad i might not continue it at all. i read this book for nothing.

also, can we talk about how this is basically bootleg crescent city? it’s got the same vibe, the same setup, the same everything, just worse. like if crescent city had no charm and an mc who made the worst decision possible every time she was given a choice.

anyway. let’s talk about loren.

actually no let’s scream about loren. because i swear to god she is one of the worst main characters i’ve ever read. i’m talking top five. every decision she made made me want to set something on fire. this girl went back to a place she wasn’t supposed to be multiple times, after already being told she was a target, after her friend was kidnapped in her place, after everyone around her told her not to do it. and then every time she got caught she just stood there shaking. i’m serious. shaking and crying every three pages. i don’t think she went a full chapter without either sobbing or passing out. and the worst part? she was always being saved by someone else. constantly. at one point she said she could’ve handled herself when a werewolf dumped beer on her and dallas literally had to step in and stop the guy from shifting and attacking her. like are you delusional. you can’t do anything. her survival instinct is zero and her common sense is actually in the negatives.

and she never got better. she just got more annoying. i think the moment i completely lost it was when she was crying because darien gave her the cold shoulder. like genuinely sobbing over it. after everything that had happened. not to mention how many times she put herself in danger for no reason, or how she kept comparing herself to dariens flings, or how she basically went full pick me in front of every other girl in his life. the talisman thing? her fault. sabrine being kidnapped? also her fault. darien getting shot? her. fault.

it got to the point where every time she did something, i was like “please. just stop talking. stop moving. stop breathing for five minutes.”

i don’t even remember the other characters. darien was just kinda there. not awful, not good. i liked the idea of him, but his entire personality was “dangerous but hot.” and that got old fast. the seven devils were completely forgettable. the romance didn’t work at all—i couldn’t root for it because i couldn’t stand loren and darien didn’t even like her half the time. and when he did like her, i didn’t believe it. because why. why would you like this girl. she’s constantly sobbing or making everything worse. it makes no sense.

i think the only thing that kinda held my interest was the idea of the world itself. angelthene had potential. the different slayer circles, the demon infested streets, the political underbelly—there was something here. but it was buried under a mountain of cringe and stupidity. like i said, i liked the concept. but it’s not enough. not even close.

and what makes me even more mad is that this book tricked me. the first time i read it, i actually wanted to continue. i thought “maybe this’ll get better.” and 11 months later i came back, gave it another try, and now i want to scream into the void. i’m so drained i can’t even talk about everything that pissed me off, and that’s saying something. it was bad the first time. it was so much worse this time.

and if you see a pre-read for book two go up? don’t say anything. we’re all gonna pretend it’s not happening. i’m not proud of it.


━━━━ ⊱⋆⊰ ━━━━


☆ 🖇️ pre-read 𖥻 ＜꒱

OKAYYYY we’re doing this. rereading even though i didn’t love it the first time bc apparently i’m committing to the series now? literally forgot everything except the vibes were off. pls let this somehow be better with time… i need at least one win before i spiral.

[⊹ Gabriela | Asternyx ⊹ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5 🌟

• New Adult
• Urban-fantasy
• Demons - Devils - Vampires - Werewolves - Witches + other supernatural creatures (all living in a single city)
• Slow-burn romance
Grumpy/sunshine trope
"Touch her and you die" vibes
• Hot morally grey love interest
• Dual POV

O.M.F.G. I NEED BOOK 2 😭

Review to come.

[bookishcharli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well… I absolutely devoured this book whole and am refusing to spit out it’s bones, they’re mine too. This was my first book by Kayla but it absolutely, hand on heart, pinky swear, promise rings, contract signed, binding oath never broken will not be the last book I read by her.

I got major MAJOR Crescent City vibes reading this one where you have a world filled with different supernatural/paranormal beings where the poor humans and half breeds are trying to survive in their day to day life without getting killed. Enter the wonderful Loren, badass human woman that’s just trying to live her damn life before her friend gets kidnapped and she’s thrust into helping her, even if it means working with the paranormals that want to cause her harm. Entering from the back left… Darien… Darien “sweet holy hell take me sailor I’m yours” Cassel, the tattooed bad boy demon slayer who has a tortured past. Prepare for a slow burn romance that ruins you and makes you throw your book at the wall screaming “JUST GET IT ON ALREADY” because those two are absolute end game.

Want spice? Read this.
Like SJM? Read this.
Want a hot as hell male? Read this.
Kiss kiss stab stab? Read this.
Grumpy sunshine? (squeal) Read this.


Thank you Kayla for sending me a copy of your book in exchange for my review. Going forward please just take all my money and keep giving me books for the rest of my life.

[Bailee Latham · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

That. Was. So. Good. Oh my god. What just happened.

This was a slow start for me but once I was in it, i was IN IT. So much happened, it was like every time I thought “okay i can breathe” this book said SIKE BITCH!!!
Darien Cassel… that man had me blushing. I looooooved him!!!!! He knows what he wants and he goes for it and honestly that was so freaking refreshing. And Loren, I loved that she’s a soft FMC. Like, she’s soft, but she’s also not?? Idk, it makes sense, trust me. And the found family!!!!! I’m such a sucker for a good found family, and this one is AMAZING.

This series is going to be my newest obsession, I can feel it. Going straight into the second book tomorrow, because I need the rest of tonight to process.

[Ava Barrett]

Ugh. Weepy damsel Loren is just a worthless human, and mean people keep being mean to her! Superhot tattooed former addict, current smoker, noted philanderer, and violent psychic demon dude is hired to capture her, but oh so unexpectedly decides to HELP her instead, cause reasons. Loren is a whiny child about it, of course, throwing tantrums and refusing to accomodate common sense requests like Please Don't Be An Utterly Selfish and Stupid Waste of Skin. There are some other characters too, but none of them have any personality - there's Big Guy and Tech Bro and Evil Stepmother and Bitchy Bestie, as well as many other one dimensional placeholders. They are all tired tropes, stilted stereotypes, and excuses for "twists" that were telegraphed so hard Samuel Morse would be jealous.
The world building is lazy at best. There is no coherent theology, geography, or mythos. Vampires and werewolves and demons and witches and the like make up the dominant demographic, with humans like the poor protagonist being second class citizens and erstwhile food sources. The city they call home is apparently the only inhabited place in the world.
I gave this book the benefit of the doubt, but must confess I mostly skimmed the last third of the book (including the oft-delayed yet utterly pedestrian virgin sex marathon scene, because why not climax after the climax, amiright?). IT DOES NOT GET BETTER. If I read the phrase "despite that" used as a conjunction one more goddamned time I was going to cut somebody. And, a note for the editors (if they exist) - a car has BRAKES not BREAKS.


Tl:dr - this book was annoyingly bad.

[manas · Rating 1 out of 5]

➳ when your mom says, we have crescent city at home ☆

✨ disclaimers are back!!! ✨
if you love this series, these characters, this world—STOP reading. don't read this review, my review, only to complain in my comments. i have gotten an influx of weirdos harrasing me and i am over it. go make your own content and get out of my space. this is a NEGATIVE review of the book—the book alone. i know next to nothing about this author, so if you love it, i am happy for you. i DO in fact rate my DNFs. if you have an issue with that, talk to your mother, not me. it REALLY is never that serious. leave me alone, for the love of god.

manas' time of death @ chapter 28—page 300.

chile, a mess. this book was not it...not at all. the very first thing that jumped out to me was the jarring similarity between this book and crescent city, house of earth and blood. i am NOT saying kayla edwards copied anything from CC1, since that was actually an excellent book. however, she took the entire premise of that story and watered it down, stripping the fantasy element, the world-building; leaving us with a lukewarm “slow-burn romance”, which was equally prosaic. even with this similar concept, the book does not stand out as its own. there are some flashy words, morally grey characters, and over the top aesthetics. there is no substance though, and all of this is quickly overshadowed by the book's own stupidity and equally horrible prose. no consistency + dreadful characters + awful pacing of the narrative = manas needs to stop doing this.

★ ── the characters
a damn முட்டாள். there is no other way to describe our main FMC of this series. loren calla is a shadow of a character with no real meaning. at the very start of this book, we are introduced to loren and her friend group at a nightclub and to the readers it was pretty clear that she was the quiet but useless type. i don't need every character to be a fang runin or daenerys targaryen, but her character was just atrocious. from the jump, her so called best friend gets taken away by some creatures and she is forced to be near darien cassel—her bodyguard and the leader of the house of devils. in theory, this sounds interesting, fun, maybe even unique...WRONG. this is just a cheap knock off of every urban fantasy book.

loren is not just useless, she is also insanely foolish. she stays in this constant loophole of nothingness which not only drags the plot (there is no good plot) but also bores the audience...AKA me. in addition to this mess, darien gives us nothing. absolutely fucking nothing. aside from being tall, having tats, and glaring and swearing, he is your average morally dumb man with powers. from the get-go, you can tell he was obsessed with loren and desperatley wanted to fuck her. with this information, why do we need almost 800 pages of this...almost 7 books??? the answer is we don't. darien cassel = midtown atlanta frat bros. i can just head over to GA tech for that. the characters are in fact caricatures. just a bunch of jester-jokers.

★ ── the romance
భయంకరమైన. this is a bold statement, but this is one of the top five worst fantasy couples i've read about. they are blander than white flour. no flavor, no spice. i read some spoilers since i don't care about this at all and color me surprised when i find out they are in love and fucking at the end of this novel. slow-burn my ass...where. is. the. slow. darien and loren don't go one minute without flirting or thirsting after each other. just because they don't hook-up until the end of a book, does not make this a slow-burn. their dynamic of how and why they need to be around each other is so forced and blaring. comparing this back to CC1—there IS a reason bryce and hunt need to be around each other, why they need to be around each other. CC1 IS a slow-burn, filled with small moments that make up the entire book. loren and darien are not only a cheap replica of quinlan, but they also don't even get it right. just superficial lust and attraction with no payoff. i cannot imagine reading more of their buffoonery.

★ ── the fantasy
wrap it up, good god. this is NOT a fantasy, this is abominable. if the romance was stupid but the plot was good, i can get behind this, but no. in addition to the readers having ZERO knowledge of this world & their magic system, loren and darien themselves don't know what the fuck is going on. not once have they shared with the class or with each other. in CC1, we as readers can see the small clues bryce and hunt find, work for, in order to find out what happened to danika. there are little moments where they investigate the leads of what they find. BUT most importantly, IT ALL MAKES SENSE. CC1 is able to standalone since it's a story that wraps up and leaves room for more. calling the house of devils an urban fantasy is highly insulting to my eyes; my ears. don't piss me off.

this was my face as i read the little bit of this that i could muster. i have lost an ample number of braincells. my brain is currently trying to go back to the way it was.

[monica ✨ romantasyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

5✨


WOW this book was amazing.


The book starts off with Loren’s attempted kidnapping, and the action never slows. Darien, the head of a bounty hunter clan, is hired to find her. But, of course, we have a forbidden love story that is filled with the most amazing tension I’ve read in a really long time.

The plot was great, and I felt like there weren’t any times reading that I was bored (which is saying something for a 700+ page book). The villains and mystery about the missing people had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The only thing I didn’t love was the trope of “I’m not good for you. We can’t be together,” but that was quickly resolved.



Trigger/spoiler warning:






The dog dies on page and it’s graphic. He comes back as a familiar in a few chapters.

[Rachel (ravenhairedreader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

first read 2 stars, second read 3 stars.

I actually liked this quite a bit more upon reread! the world and plot is really intriguing and I will definitely continue on with the series. I’m still not a big fan of our FMC and I do think this book has pacing issues, but overall I’m glad I reread it. Urban fantasy has my heart forever! ❤️

[cam · Rating 2 out of 5]

For anyone reading this that's forgotten, reviews are not meant for the AUTHOR but rather prospective readers!! The best part about reading reviews is the differing opinions. :) Everyone has different tastes and it does a disservice to the book to NOT give your honest opinion, even if it seems brutal. While authors should take in criticism from other social media and whatnot, book reviews are not meant for them. It isn't a reader's responsibility to mince words because an author might be hurt by it. Putting out your work into the world openly subjects it to criticism and if an author isn't ready for that, they should (at the very least) not stalk their goodreads review section.

As another review said, Loren IS a weepy damsel poor little human girl and it's so so so annoying.

The world building needed work, the virgin-college-girl-constantly-sexualized thing was creepy, and all side characters were flatter than a frog's ass. At least the morally grey love interest was hot. Kayla, if you're reading this, it read like an okay fanfic.

[Jaime Arkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This just did not work for me at all… I got sucked in by a pretty cover again... (and some questionable reviews).

My issues:
the characters were all over the place and honestly, none of them were interesting enough to me to draw me into their story, not even our main characters Loren & Darien.
the plot of this was sort of interesting but WAY too drawn out, I found myself skimming and skimming... and skimming.

BUT - go ahead and give this one a try, definitely would love to see what some others think about it.

For sure will not be reading the others in this series.

[BookishByTammi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save yourself! It was terrible
Ive met dogs with more personality than these characters (and I’m a cat person)
They were so boring i felt like i was watching paint dry.

The FMC was a side character in her own story, the big bad devil was in fact a golden retriever from the very beginning.
Loads of side characters that were nothing more than names on a page, even her best friend Dallas was a mystery to me.

The plot was dragged on for 700 pages at 3mph and if it wasn’t for the fact I was listening to the audiobook I would have DNF’d a long time ago.

[Patricia’s Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book. It had pretty much all I look for in a fantasy romance.

✅ Fast-paced storyline to keep you on your toes

✅ Amazing world-building

✅ Hot morally grey love interest with a soft spot for his girl

✅ Sweet but tension-filled romance

✅ Amazing steam and spice

✅ The cutest nicknames!

✅ Fabulous character development

✅ Dual POV


I have a lot of thoughts about this book. I didn’t have very high expectations getting into it, and it didn’t grip my interest right away, but I’m so SO glad that I decided to continue, because it got so much better!

We meet our main character, Loren, right away. Initially, I wasn’t a fan of her. She wasn’t the strong female lead I’m used to in my books. But I came to adore her anyway, and her development throughout the story is phenomenal.
I really didn’t like her adoptive sister, Dallas. She had a lot of negative qualities that were never properly addressed in the story.

We don’t have to wait long to meet Darien, the hot, emotionally unavailable leader of The Seven Devils. The story really kicks off when he ambushes Loren, but decides to protect her instead.
It was utterly adorable to see them slowly come to care for each other and let their walls down. I admit I was hoping for a bit more spice, but what we got was really really good. It was super hot.

There was a perfect balance between the romance and the primary plot, and I loved that neither got neglected. Right when I thought I knew what is coming, it took me by surprise by going somewhere entirely different. I must say that this doesn’t apply to the ending, which I found a bit predictable.


All in all, it was an amazing fast-paced read which I enjoyed way more that I thought I would. It’s one of the few books that has the right to claim it’s for Sarah J. Mass fans. There were plenty of similarities while also maintaining different storylines.

I absolutely loved this and I really recommend it to anyone with a taste for fantasy.

[Hoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

”until you came along, my life never made sense. You are the kindest thing that had ever happened to me. You are… you are my home. And i think it’s safe to say that my life would be whole lot darker without you in it. You light my life, loren calla.”

A little messy review because idk what to say everything messy in my head🧍‍♀️
Aaaa this was so good!! I listened to the audiobook so it was so fun!! Yes the first half was a bit confusing for me and also little boring but the second half was so good and hot like omg i was riding the bike will listening to the audiobook this morning and was trying to focus and act normal but dorian cassel mouth got me weak in the knees like plssss so hot 😮‍💨😮‍💨

The plot was interesting and the world building was soo good!! I enjoyed it sm.. And the slow burn ugh i was dying for them to kiss like please i was almost begging 😭 it was so hot and intense and the jealousy aaa was sooo good!! And the romance was sooo beautiful too loved it 🤭🤍 ( not gonna talk about loran the fmc because i wasn’t her biggest fan most of the time but she had her moments tho where she made me love her🧍‍♀️🌚)

” I’m afraid of plenty. But my greatest fear is losing you. I’ve always been afraid of losing you”

”It angered him that she didn’t Have a clue how extraordinary she was. He wished she could she herself the way he saw her”

“I will protect you from anything—even from myself.always”

And then he dropped to his knees before her. Wrapped his arms around her waist, snd buried his face in her shirt.” Talk to me” he sounded broken
“What would you like me to say?”
“Anything,everything. I just need to hear your voice.”😭💔🫂

“Whether he called himself a devil or not, he had quickly turned into her angel. Perhaps she was becoming his too”

“Why are you being so good to me?”
“Because you deserve it. You deserve everything”