Highborn by Yvonne Navarro
Mass: $7.99
Pocket (October 2010)
ISBN: 978-1439191736
Favorite Lines: “I’ve been looking for you all my life. Let me buy you something beautiful.”
Redmond frowned, but before he could open his mouth, Brynna’s stinging gaze pinned her admirer and her irritation found voice. “You have no idea what I am. Leave me be or I’ll rip your head off and throw it into Lake Michigan.” (p. 65)
She fell from heaven to the lowest pits of hell. A demoness, she loved listening to the souls in hell scream as they were tormented. For hundreds of years she participated in every kind of depravity known and unknown until a single feather filled her with hope. Hope for redemption. The day came when her patience was rewarded. She escaped hell, took on a human disguise and renamed herself Brynna.
As a highborn turned demon, Brynna has her work cut out for her. But she has faith in a forgiving God, and the longer she remains in her human disguise the more human emotions feed her yearning to help those around her regardless of her actions impact on re-entrance to Heaven.
On October 26, 2010, Yvonne Navarro’s Highborn, book one in the Dark Redemption series will be released. It’s an urban fantasy novel which takes readers along a possibly never-ending road to redemption with the anti-heroine.
First of all, I was slightly confused as I began to read the story. The prologue introduces a demoness named Astarte then the first chapter begins with an unknown woman being chased by a hell hunter. Logically I thought it was Astarte, but the character is named Brynna. It took a little bit, but I eventually understood the two were the same creature and I hadn’t missed anything. But other than that small issue, I was delighted with the story I found in Highborn.
I loved Brynna’s character. She was ignorant about technology and human interaction which gave me a sense of vulnerability. However, she kicked ass, understood the way the world worked and in reality was a foreigner wearing the veil of humanity. It was like reading a book about an alien trying to integrate human society. Without trying, she was able to make friends out of good, hardworking people quickly becoming a protector to them.
There are other people in the book, but they are strictly secondary. As far as I’m concerned none of them matter the way Brynna does. Sure there’s a possible romantic vibe coming off of Detective Eran Redmond and Brynna, but Brynna is focused on regaining her heavenly wings while protecting her detective friend’s life.
If you are looking for an urban fantasy book which is light on the romance and heavy on the action pick up Highborn. Warning: You have no idea how this story is going to end. Sure you might get a little a piece of the ending right, but I bet you don’t see where Navarro takes the plot.
(On a side note directed at Navarro. I hate your website. It is easy to navigate, but as a blogger it is hard to share any information I find at your site because every page’s address is hidden.)
Scooper Speaks 
Hi! Thanks for the great review. Sorry about the issue with the website. Would like to get this to non-annoyance level but not sure how — it might be a Blogger formatting thing. When I pass the cursor over the links, the addresses show (and I can right click/copy there), but when I go to the page itself, the URL shows as only the main site. Hmmmm….
Other than the no address thing, your website is nice. I found everything I wanted, but was worried about sharing it with readers. Thanks for visiting and checking into the website issue. Please, come back and visit again.