By Cynthia Ayala

Samantha Martin is not your average neighbor, she’s an imp from Hel, enjoying a nice extended vacation as she pretends to be a human. She has a job, drinks beer, plays pranks on humans and hits on her hot neighbor. For Samantha, it’s the perfect vacation, so long as she continues to hide from the Angels who will execute her on site. But now she has been blackmailed by the local werewolf pack to hunt down someone who is killing them: an angel, her nightmare.

Published on July 17th by CreateSpace, A Demon Bound by Debra Dunbar is an urban fantasy tale that brings makes a demon a comical anti-(reluctant)hero.

A Demon Bound is a well-written tale that follows the Imp named Samantha as she gets herself caught in a situation that puts her in the crosshairs of the all powerful angel that kills her kind whenever they are caught trespassing beyond “Hell” where they “belong.”

This was such a fun read and surprising entertaining. There was a lot of energy in the novel, and the protagonist has such a snarky and lovable voice behind her. Samantha is unique as a demon, which makes her unique as a character. She’s easy to read and has an incredible voice showing off the creativity on the writers part. But one of the best things about the Samantha and her voice is how realistic it reads.

Debra Dunbar makes some of the more intimate moments between some of the characters so hilarious and uncomfortable because they are very relatable. When it comes to those moments, they resonate reality, and they are relatable because they are awkward and uncomfortable at times. That’s the reality for couples or anyone who just curls up with another person, finding that right spot is sometimes hard, and Samantha’s voice captures all of that with this lovely annoyed voice. The scenes are perfect because of that, because of the voice and the dynamics between the characters as well as the scene specifics. What’s more is that it is not just those scenes that are imagined perfectly, but it’s the entire novel.

Not only is the novel’s narration so well done and imaginative but the scenes, the construction of the novel itself and the story was excellent. It was a great story about a demon who only wants to live like a human, away from the misgivings of “Hell”, but it puts into perspective her humanity versus that of an angel. It questions humanity, the idea of it and what it means. This demon cares about the people around her she cares for their safety. Sure, she cares about living as well but not at the cost of others’ lives. Instead, she is putting her life in danger to save people she doesn’t need to save. This problem with the werewolves is not her problem but, sure, initially she is blackmailed into it, but then she starts to care. Samantha evolves, and she is a believable character with such a vibrant voice behind it. She’s one tough gal, but Samantha has a heart somewhere inside her, wherever a demon could have a heart.

This is a unique story that has beautiful imagery and characters that will make any reader glad that they picked up this book. (★★★★☆ | A)