THE DARK SIDE: David Bridger

The Dark Side aims to shed light on that deep, dark, mysterious side of an author, a face that she rarely, if ever, shows to the public. What secret is she hiding behind that enigmatic smile on her official photo (if any)? what juicy tidbit is she keeping from the world? What are some of the things that she liked, things we would never know, because it's not part of her bio?

Today, we have with us DAVID BRIDGER, author of BEAUTY AND THE BASTARD, whose book we've reviewed here. And we apologize to David, because this post should've gone up ages ago...

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?
Having spent two years paralysed with my every need being met by successive shifts of nurses, and then several more years at the mercy of medics while I regained mobility, I'm pretty much immune to physical embarrassment. Emotional embarrassment, though, is a different matter. I once made a professional mistake at sea that nearly cost two men their lives. I fixed it immediately, and they lived, but they wouldn't have required rescuing if I hadn't let my concentration wander for a moment. My belly still fills with hot shame when I remember that day.

Imagine that for some reason, your lights suddenly went out! What would be the first thing you’d do or say?
Do: Roll eyes.
Say: Shit.

What is the most romantic thing your SO has done under the cover of darkness?
Woke me to make gentle love, early on the January morning of the day I had to go away to war.

Who is your favorite dark character? Why?
Bram Stoker's Dracula, as played by Gary Oldman. I've always loved the book, especially my copy with its gorgeous pen and ink drawings, and never expected to love it as much on the screen. But the film is (whisper this) ...even better.

What dark-themed books do you enjoy and would recommend? Why?
Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts series. Books 1,2 and 3 were released back-to-back this summer, with more to come next year. They held me spellbound. This is simply the best urban fantasy I've ever read.

Lightning Round.

white or dark chocolate : dark
milk or coffee : coffee
night or day : night
coke or 7-up : coke
New York cheesecake or black forest cake : black forest cake
vampire or werewolf : werewolf
football game or candlelit dinner : candlelit dinner
ebook or print : both
spring or autumn : autumn
sweet or salty : salty
kitten or puppy : puppy
cook or take-out : take-out

Check out David's website: http://www.davidbridger.com/

And his debut paranormal Beauty and the Bastard.

REVIEW: Beauty and the Bastard by David Bridger

ISBN 9781595787286

Genre: Paranormal Romance
(c) July 2010, Liquid Silver Books

David Bridger’s website

Rating: 3 stars

Available at Liquid Silver Books! 

This novella is the debut of paranormal romance author, David Bridger. Beauty and the Bastard is a very serious, sometimes depressing, and tension-filled love story of a man fallen from Heaven, and a fiery-haired Demon who has a past hot on her tracks. From the very first page, the reader is taken straight into the life of Saul and you learn how he makes his living, trying to earn his way back into Heaven. How did he get banished you ask? Well, Saul doesn’t even know the answer to this yet.

The plot of this novella focuses on Saul, a fallen angel who is tormented knowing that he has to live life like a human, with only one odd thing that happens to him every night. Saul works for Demons, doing things that he thinks will get him back into Heaven. This is when he meets the beautiful Demon, Rebecca, who has just escaped a troubling past in Las Vegas to work for her uncle in New York. The attraction is apparent, though they don’t have direct contact with each other until Rebecca’s uncle hires Saul as protection for her from her encroaching past. 

The romance/love story in this novella is very fast-paced and happens too fast. Although it could be more of a love at first sight/destiny type of relationship, I would have liked to have seen more scenes of the two hanging out together and talking, learning about each other to make the love more believable. Though I do realize that is hard to do in a novella, maybe this book could have been a full length novel by adding some more development on the relationship area. That said, it is still believable when seen from the context of destiny or love at first sight. It is a sweet love that was built up very fast, but the characters are true in their love for each other, which you can plainly see as you are reading. It becomes a quick page turner and the reader will be devouring pages to find out how it all turns out. 

The characters of this novella are believable, but it is paranormal romance so the characters are paranormal beings, with human emotions and looks. They are both tormented with pasts that they must get through in order to move forward. It is a fun story of moving on, falling in love, and getting over life’s situations. The dialogue is witty at times, and depressing at others, mainly when Saul talks, until Rebecca livens him up a little. The steamy scenes are that; steamy, and you can feel the emotions of lust and love as the characters are feeling them. The characters grow in ways that only humans grow, so the reader can find themselves identifying with the characters throughout the novella.

The danger in this book is, from human eyes, very dangerous, meaning the climax is incredible. When the time comes that things must be faced in order for Rebecca and Saul to move forward, you are scared for the characters. The author did a wonderful job portraying the emotions of the characters in this book so that the reader feels them as the characters feel them.

I would recommend this book to paranormal romance readers. Especially those that enjoy the fallen angel type stories. This novella was very well written and the story is intriguing. Though I would suggest that any reader have another book on the side to work on after they finish this novella, because it is a very quick read and the way David Bridger wrote it, you will be devouring pages like chocolate cupcakes. My only warning would be that if a reader is sensitive to love scenes, they might want to pick up something in the clean romance section instead, because the love scenes are steamy. There is a bit of violence also, throughout the book, so if a reader is squeamish, they might want to stay away from this novella.

Reviewed by Paige

Writing, Reviews and A Little Bit of Me

Summary from Publisher's website:

Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca's family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.