DARK LIGHT OF DAY – Jill Archer
A Noon Onyx Novel
Ace Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-425-25715-9
October 2012
Fantasy

Halja – After Armageddon

A little background information: After the Apocalypse, the Demons ended up winning. The remaining population worships patron demons and lives by strict rules in order to keep the demons from battling each other. There are Angels, Demons, Hyrkes (people with no magic), Maegesters, or demon peacekeepers, and Mederi, who are the healers. Maegesters are almost always male, and Mederi, female…until politician and Maegester Karanos, and his wife, Aurelia, a Mederi, had twins, a boy and a girl. Night, the boy, is a Mederi, and Noon, the girl, is a Maegester.

Noon has never gotten along with either of her parents. She rarely sees her father, and her mother has maintained a cool distance from her for her entire life. So when Noon discovers that her mother has gotten her accepted at St. Lucifer's, a demon law school, Noon realizes she will have to finally make a decision that could change her life forever. Despite the fact that her close friend, Peter, an Angel, is certain that he will discover the Reversal Spell that could free her of her waning magic, Noon is well aware that she just has until Bryde's Day to decide whether to declare her powers, and if she doesn't, she could be killed. It doesn't help that a demon killer who worked for her father is also a student, and Ari knows that Noon is hiding her magic.

The heat and attraction that builds up between Noon and Ari gets more intense the closer it gets to Bryde's Day. Ari firmly believes Noon should accept her powers. Noon is just as adamant that she doesn't want to be a Maegester, or to kill anyone. As much as Noon wants to ignore her magic, it becomes more and more impossible to hide it. It's also becoming very difficult not falling for Ari. But some Mederi healers have gone missing; Peter arrives with important news; and Bryde's Day is looming.

DARK LIGHT OF DAY is a debut novel that is both beautifully written, and has an incredible heroine. Noon is reluctant to admit who she is, but she learns quickly that it might be a good idea to at least know how to control her magic. She knows of Ari's past, and doesn't want to do anything remotely related to it. But darker forces are at work, so Noon must make decisions she's been avoiding for all of her twenty-one years. Keep your eyes on the secondary characters; they're all important to the story. A romance as well as a fantasy adventure, DARK LIGHT OF DAY is thrilling right to the last page.

Do not miss this fantastic tale! I'm very much looking forward to more Noon Onyx stories.

Jani Brooks