Poison Kissed (Shadowfae Chronicles #3) by Erica Hayes    
September 28, 2010
Urban Fantasy, Erotic
Paperback, 352 Pages
St. Martin’s

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote:”God, he kissed like I felt, desperate and ripped raw with tension and hurt…”

Mina is a sexy hard ass banshee who welds her deadly siren voice with the skill of a assassin as an enforcer for Joey DiLuca; a snakeshifter mob boss. Mina owes everything to Joey. He saved her life as a young girl when her mother was brutally murdered and has protected her all these years.

Mina loves Joey with a passion that borders on obsession but her inability to deal with that attraction has her staying quiet and not upsetting their fragile relationship.

As the turf wars heat up between Joey’s gang and a rival gang; Mina is given information that points to Joey as her mother’s murderer. When her need for revenge threatens to overwhelm her very existence Mina must make a choice. Who can she trust? And how far is she willing to go to find out?

Erica Hayes’s third installment into her wickedly dark and erotic world, Poison Kissed, continues it’s lush decedent decent into the lives of the inhabitants of alternative Melbourne. Betrayal, revenge, and insidious magic all come alive under Hayes tutelage. Hayes’s world is not made up of happy good natured Fae, misunderstood daemons, or silent heroic creatures of the night. Drugs, sex , and magic run this illicit somewhat nasty world. Redemption comes at death and honor only applies to fools. They are death walking and you want to curl up beside them and taunt the beast inside.

Mina is a hard heroine to like. Her vulnerability and emotional flawed nature offends yet saddens you. She is far from perfect and comes across unstable at times. Caught between her obsession for Joey and her need to avenge her mother’s death-she uses drugs and sex to wipe away the pain and helplessness that consumes her life. She is without hope. As you gain more access into her psyche, you begin to see just what she has endured and you are heartbroken for her.

Dark and deadly, Joey lives on the edge of awareness at all times. Never sure of anyone, including his own crew, he is always waiting for the betrayal he knows will come. He views himself as a freak of nature; he and his creature co-existing in a complicated love/hate relationship. That is his flaw. His inability to let anyone close is his Achilles heel. I found him more easily to connect with though then Mina. His attitude is more mature and stable. His reasons for his decisions, while asinine at times, are believable and acceptable.

Mina and Joey are both victims of their past and present. Neither willing to take a chance on themselves. Yet as I cringed and shied away from certain decisions they made, I found myself hopelessly compelled to see it through. I wanted a happily ever after for them even knowing that this story will not allow for one that I am used to.

The ‘oh so hot’ physical interactions are not wide spread through out the book, but the emotional turmoil and self damnation is a heady mix which adds to the erotic spicy overtones of this book.

As you are drawn deeper in to Mina and Joey’s lives, the secondary characters add a new layer of deception and deprivation to the story. Everyone has an ulterior motive and a score to settle.

We see some old faces; Kane and Ivy, along with some new ones. I enjoy Hayes’s ability to drag empathy out of me for these characters as she reveals the nuances and depths of their personalities. She has created a world that are not meant to be liked. Yet she encourages you to set aside your own convictions and inhibitions and embrace it for no more or less then what it is. Everyone here is a victim in some fashion or form and watching them head towards self destruction is both appealing and appalling.

Fast paced and smoothly written with plenty of action, danger and internal conflict, Hayes writes an addicting dark and erotic urban fantasy that appeals to the darker side of our nature. The part of us that we like to keep hidden and safely under wraps. I will definitely be reading the next one in this series.

Rating: 4/5

Recent Reviews:
Dirty Sexy Books – 4/5
The Good, The Bad and The Unread – C+
Goodreads

This Series Includes:
Shadowfae
Shadowglass
Poison Kissed
Blood Cursed – TBA