The Demon Librarian

The first comment that has to be made about this book is that horrendous cover! It does not reflect the book's content or give any glimpse as to what type of book it is at all. If I were to make an assumption based solely on that, I'd guess it was an historical romance novel. It's just awful!Luckily, the story inside it is not awful, however. I found this all together a much smoother and easier read than book one. Naturally, that will partly be down to me now understanding all the various species and races and with a fairly good handle on the main character and her abilities, back story and relationships. Although some of her still remains a mystery and she seems to be one of those heroines that is destined to discover new and greater power within herself as each book goes on.This time she has to attend the Barrani High Court to assist one of the Lords there with her healing ability. This leads to all sorts of fun. She has to face a few tests- magically, intellectually and emotionally. The story arc regarding Severn and Kaylin as children gets re-addressed and looked on in a new light. We didn't really give much consideration in book one as to how Severn felt about what he'd done and it was very interesting to see it from this angle. I am glad the two have found each other again. Now I just wait patiently for them to realise they fancy the pants off each other as adults and fall madly in love. Can that happen soon, please?It looks like we're going to concentrate on a different race in each book as I've just begun book three and that seems centred on the Tha'alani, and this one was all about the Birrani. As each race is fascinating in its own way, this is fine by me. I wasn't sure I'd ever warm to or understand the cold, reserved Birrani race, but I felt I definitely did make progress with that by the end of the book. This might help me appreciate Lord Nightshade more in the next one, perhaps. Although I'm not sure you'll ever convince me he actually cares for Kaylin as anything other than a prized acquisition. And how did he know to mark her as his within 30 seconds of meeting her anyway? What's that all about?Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's too keep on reading!Oh, and I have to praise the narrator of these audiobooks for really bringing them to life for me. I think she might be assisting my enjoyment of them quite a bit. Her name is Kristine Hvam, and she rocks!4 Stars! ★★★★