Lucinda, Darkly by Sunny

Author's writing is still in transition...

Sunny's Children of the Moon Monere series (Mona Lisa Awakening (Book 1), Mona Lisa Blossoming (Book 2), "Mona Lisa Three", "Mona Lisa Betwining") is heavily derivative of Laurell K Hamilton's work, but she does manage to put some of her own spin on it. The plots aren't particularly complex, but they do serve to pull the story forward without getting too bogged down in the details.

Lucinda, Darkly: The Demon Princess Chronicles is an offshoot of the Children of the Moon series wherein some characters of the other books appear peripherally. I won't go into the plot or reveal spoilers, but essentially Lucinda has become somewhat jaded over centuries of existence and drifts about, not belonging completely to the world from which she originated (the Monere world) nor the world she now belongs (the demon world). After encounters with 2 rogue Monere warriors (those no longer serving Monere queens, exiled, and on the run), Lucinda begins to "wake up" to the possibilities of "living" again.

The author's writing is still uneven across the stories she's penned thus far. In general, the tales are simplistic and too reminiscent of LKH. In particular, the author appears to be trying too hard to mix in sensuality, erotica, lyricism in her descriptions. In the beginning chapter of Lucinda, Darkly, there are literally pages of overly poetic writing that became tiresome to read, especially when 1 or 2 sentences with a few descriptors would create a much larger impact.

Link