Customer Reviews

The Devil To Pay (Silhouette Nocturne (Numbered))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

His parents, a vampire and a witch, sold his soul as an indentured servant to the devil before he was born in return for favors. When he turned twenty-one, the devil collected his due in Minneapolis. Since then the half-breed Ivan Drake has been at the beck and call of his owner, doing whatever mischief the devil demands of him. He has no hope of ever being liberated; as a realist he understands that a contract with the devil means being a slave for eternity; even in death he would be the devil's minion for all the transgressions he committed or will perform.

His current assignment is to retrieve the legendary Grand Grimoire, a tome that includes every known spell. When Ivan meets witch Desideriel "Dez" Merovech, he is shock as he is attracted to her; he has never felt such a deep need and affinity to anyone before, not even his sell his soul parents. He begins to dream that his Dez might not only help him regain his soul, but also extract him from the devil's deal.

This is a terrific romantic spin to the Faustian deal as Dez gives Ivan a reason to not just live, but to live with love, but he believes to do he must reclaim his soul. With a wonderful twists and a strong cast, Michel Hauf's terrific urban romantic fantasy will have readers demanding more tales from Twin Cities' witch-vampire war.

Harriet Klausner

I loved the book about Ivan's parents, Kiss Me Deadly, and thought how awesome a book about a born Phoenix vampire who's half witch would be. It wasn't.

Ivan was powerful enough, but somehow seemed to fall short of expectations and Dez, the female lead, was too pathetic in her neediness to be interesting. I felt she would have latched on to anyone, falling into stupid pitfalls and mistakes pityfully in her quest for being loved.

There was so much potential with two such apparent powerful beings and they were both wimps.

This was another hit by Michele. Ivan Drake and Dez have a love hate relationship. More of a love relationship. Dez is a witch who's been around a very long time. Ivan is a Vampire who was born to serve the Devil Himself when he was of Age.

Ivan's parents Nicholas Drake who is a Phoenix Vampire and Raviin Crosse whose a powerful Witch, were mortal enemies who fall in love and conceive one of the most powerful Vampire Hybrid. Himself orgastrates everything.

Now in Devil To Pay, Nicholas & Raviin son is all grown up and is the Devils fixer. Ivan has no choice because his soul belongs to himself. Ivan has a job to do and he must come up against the Keeper of the Great Grimoire book. This story has some great and juicy parts and funny moments. This is a great story about Love, Evil and how all in the end the greater good overcomes the bad. My hat is off to Michele Hauf. I love to read her stories there terrrrrrrrrrrific.

This sequel to "Kiss Me Deadly" takes place in Michele Hauf's intriguing world of vampires and witches. Ivan Drake embodies the best of both worlds as a phoenix vampire/witch by day and a demonic fixer with no soul by night. His soul having been sold before birth, Ivan has been taught by his parents to resist temptation and help the weak and innocent. While he chafes at his curse, Ivan does his best to deal with the hand he's been dealt. He is tortured and soulless, but he has the power to seduce the one witch that can bring him redemption...or destruction, Desideriel.Kiss Me Deadly (Silhouette Nocturne)

After reading the 1st book Kiss me deadly. I was eager to read the devil to pay. The love story was built on Dez an 1,000 year old witch that had mental issuses... Granted she was around for centuries, and got played by the devil himself.
The young child that was conviced in the 1st book kiss me deadly became Ivan the devils own slave.. " Talk about thanks mom and dad" Dez has a problem trusting her emotion and Ivan is all to young to know much about nothing even though his father an vampire and mother is a witch.Their "love" grows throughout the book, but my intrests in the story was not as much as the first. The ending of the story could have been better.
To me presonal I felt the 1st book was the better

The world-building in Michelle Hauf's "Bewitching the Darkness" mini-series is worthy of a mainstream fantasy series, and with each new book, she keeps adding new twists and fascinating new characters. I was very much looking forward to what became of the yet-to-be-born son of Ravin Crosse and Nikolaus Drake in Kiss Me Deadly (Silhouette Nocturne), a previous book in the series, and how his parents' deal with the Devil Himself would affect them. Turns out Ivan Drake is a fine young man trapped in a bad situation he would do anything to get out of, but fortunately, he has a worthy match in Desideriel Merovech, a witch who guards a magical tome which the Devil wants to get his hands on, the better to completely disrupt the war between the vampires and the witches whose blood is poison to them. Dez's self-sacrificing love helps them conquer the Devil and break Ivan's bonds.

I won't reveal the plot twist (and there are dozens of incredible twists in this book), but something happens toward the end that could change this series dramatically and resolve the on-going conflict that is the backbone of this series. I'm very much looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series from this point onward!

This book is a great follow up to Kiss Me Deadly, not as fast paced but great on it own merits. Fantastic characters, action, tone. Love having all the vamps, witches, Imps, etc.
Is a fun fast read.

I'm satisfied with the way the author concluded the two books. I foresee myself purchasing more books by this author.

I liked Kiss Me Deadly and immediately bought Devil to Pay.

I will never read another of this author's books. She set this book in the moment and proceeded to describe townswomen in their sixties as blue-haired (yes, sincerely), "hens" who flutter around the hot, young guy like imbeciles and practically faint when he kisses their hands. Kisses their hands? REALLY?? And could you even find blue hair rinse if you wanted to?

Wow. Women who are now in their sixties brought us Woodstock, sexual freedom, heavy metal, outlaw feminine personas and Second Wave Feminism. You know, the movement that made brash, physically capable young heroines both possible and believable. You're welcome. Way to honor us. By the way, we also coined the term "cool". This was so insulting to everyone my age it made me wince, repeatedly. We used to say that womans' greatest enemy is woman and this book bears that out.

As an aside, I wrote to this author thinking that, if she would indicate that she would reconsider her description of older women and try to portray us more honestly in the future, I would make this a positive exercise. Unfortunately that didn't work out.