Guest Review: Circle of Darkness (Genesis Circle #1) by Aimee Nicole Walker & Nicholas Bella

There isn’t a monster D’Angelo Kumar can’t destroy or a crisis he can’t manage until he meets Angel Bai. The insane attraction he feels toward the sexy waiter is unwelcome because D’Angelo doesn’t have room in his life for relationships. A solitary path is the only option for a man like him, but fighting his growing feelings for Angel may be the first battle he can’t win.

Angel’s abilities extend beyond memorizing the menu at D’Angelo’s favorite Italian restaurant, but he knows better than to trust anyone with his secret. When a vision reveals that D’Angelo’s life is in danger, he will risk everything to save him. The only thing scarier than monsters and demons to Angel is never knowing D’Angelo’s touch.

To say the demon hunter is reluctant to form a partnership with the psychic is putting it mildly, but D’Angelo needs every advantage he can get when the world’s very existence is threatened. As darkness looms nearer, D’Angelo and Angel’s unexplainable connection grows stronger. For a chance at happiness, the two men will need to call upon unlikely allies for an epic showdown between good and evil.

Sexy, witty, and action-packed, Circle of Darkness is the first book in the Genesis Circle paranormal romance series by Nicholas Bella and Aimee Nicole Walker. This book contains sexually explicit material and is intended for adults 18 and older.

Reviewer: NeRdyWYRM

Mixed Bag

I'm not sure where to really start here. Many of you might know that I really like new twists on religious angles and mythology. I love a little of that in my paranormals. I enjoy the imagination and creativity that can shine through when an author manages to come up with a unique spin on that kind of thing. This book has that in spades.

Is it believable? ... meh. Sort of. Is it fun and interesting? Yes. Was it unique enough to probably have me rating this book higher than the masses would? Yep. Why do I say that? Well, because there were definitely things about it that I didn't like and I can't help but think those things probably should have weighed more in the balance of things, but ... I'm a sucker—A SUCKER—for fun twists on religious themes. Don't stone me.

So what didn't I like? D'Angelo was an absolute ass, and while it did get noticeably better, as in, he wasn't actively being an ass after a while, I don't think I saw a personality transplant mentioned in there anywhere. And that's what it would have taken to fix that guy. I mean seriously, he treated his soulmate like "the little woman" for Christ's sake. Yeah, I blasphemed. And?

Cast out warriors, tattooed with Jesus' blood, still fighting the good fight. All that I can get behind except for the apparent power differential. Fighting the everyday baddies was fine. They were good with that, powerful enough for that, but throw a demon in the picture and it was like swatting flies. You'd think that would be the one subsection of badness they'd have cornered the market on, what with the content of the tattoos and all.

Also, I had some unanswered questions about what it meant for the 'mate' in the equation. Things were hinted at but not clarified. Are these guys longer-lived? Do they have regular human lifespans? Do the 'mates' take on some of their partners powers? Since they're not in the loop with the illustrious school that cornered the market on the Jesus mojo, does that mean that D'Angelo and Christian's mates—who don't exist according to the Institutes doctrines and yet of course they do—are unprotected from the evils they're now exposed to through their warrior mates?

Too many questions to make it more than a 3.5 heart (3 GR stars) read. It was entertaining. I liked the 'treasure hunting', the occultism, the religious twists, the MCs were [mostly] okay, I believed the romance for the most part, I liked the secondary characters—I want more of the demon knight—and it left me intrigued enough to read the next ones. I guess that's almost a glowing recommendation as long as you keep the niggles in mind.

There could have been a little more balance in the character- and relationship development and the dialogues were sometimes a little frenetic, sometimes a little immature, but I think it fit the character(s) where they were in life at the time. I dunno [shrugs]. It's worth reading and I liked it overall, but don't be surprised if there are things that take it down a notch or two as you're reading.

I am looking forward to more, so that says something. Maybe that I'm a big, gullible, sucker ... maybe that there's something substantially worth it prowling in the wings waiting for its moment in the series. Maybe you should see for yourself.


More reviews by NeRdyWYRM can be found on Goodreads here.
Images (when present) may be subject to copyright.
An ARC copy of this title was provided for an honest review.