Burn - Dark in You #1 - Suzanne Wright

01:56:00 Victoria 0 Comments

Part of a small demon lair in North Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or ‘anchor’, is a guy who’s rumored to be the most powerful demon in existence. Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue. The billionaire also wants Harper in his bed. She’s not so sure she wants either of those things. No one seems to know what breed of demon Knox is, only that he’s more dangerous than anything she’s ever before encountered. But he refuses to walk away. And when an unknown danger starts closing in on Harper, it seems that Knox is the only one who can keep her safe.

As Prime of his Las Vegas lair and a successful businessman, Knox Thorne is used to being in control. He’s also used to people fearing and obeying him. Harper does neither, which unexpectedly amuses him. Unpredictable, elusive, and complex, she draws Knox and his inner demon like nothing ever has. Knox is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Harper. He’ll have her, and he’ll keep her safe from the threat that looms over her. Because Knox protects what’s his. He won’t allow anyone to take her from him. Even if it will mean letting the demon inside him rise and wreak the havoc it was created to make.

Some scenes contain sexual and violent contents that may offend sensibilities of readers.

Knox is a powerful, ruthless demon who scares everyone, mostly because no one knows what demons he holds inside - like, literally. He is a billionaire and owns pretty much all Vegas, including the Undergroung, created for demons so they can fight each other.

One night, Harper decides to take her cousin's place in the ring after she had been harassed. That is when Knox - and his demon - notices her. Harper is a demon and a tatoo artist who has been raised by her grandmother when her mother decides to give her up and her father did not find the maturity to raise her.

She is Knox complete opposite and yet, this night will be a life changer for both of them. Indeed, they discover that they are each other's anchor. I am pretty sure you want to ask what an anchor is. It is pretty simple: it is a step before mates. Basically, they psychologically balance each other. Their demons find some kind of peace. They can then take it further by mating.

“You’re mine. I don’t walk away from what’s mine.”

The more time they spend together, the closer they get. But Harper is not ready to give in yet. She suffers trust issues but Knox will stop at nothing to prove that together they are perfection and meant for each other.

“Brace yourself, because I’m going to annoy you, ignore you, and surprise you for as long as we both shall live.” He smiled. “And I’m going to spoil you, fuck you, and – of course – order you around for the rest of our lives.” 

At least, that is until someone targets Harper. Knox will stop at nothing to protect his mate.

When I started this book, I was pretty confident in the writer skills to give me an amazing story to cling on to. And yet, even though it was good, I am conflicted regarding the characters. Trust me, I am completely into the Alpha, dominant and powerful male and yet, I struggled with Knox character. I felt like he was too much. You can tell that this was probably the purpose but I don't know. I still felt slightly disappointed.

I felt like the story was slightly rushed at the beginning. They meet, he wants her, she resists (and sometimes she was truly annoying about that) and then she gave in, they moved together, and finally (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) they mate. But I feel like we didn't really have time to see their feelings deepen. I really didn't feel the love between the characters. The lust - HELL YES! - but I didn't feel them caring for each other.

I truly love Suzanne Wright writing. I am completely in love with the Phoenix and Mercury Packs series but Burn didn't fully do it for me. I enjoyed it but I am not sure this is a book I will often re-read.

I also struggled a bit with the anchor explanation, to find someone who psychologically makes you a stable person. I guess I just read too many books with mates so it is hard for me to grasp the concept of a step before mating.

I loved some characters: Harper's cousins, Jolene, Knox's sentinels... I feel like the secondary characters should have had more presence in the story. I would also have been interesting in knowing more about them and maybe witness their matings but I have seen that the second book will also focus on Harper and Knox story.
Lucifer character literally killed me. He was so funny and he just made me think so much of Lucifer in the TV show. They both see a shrink and they don't take themselves too seriously.

Trust me, I will still continue reading this series and I still have a positive impression on it but I am just less into it than her other series :) 

“What bothers me is that health professionals give fancy names to conditions or learning difficulties that will irritate the patients; like OCD not being in alphabetical order, putting an ‘S’ in ‘lisp,’ and making dyslexia a word that no one can spell. It’s just mean.”