Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Demon Lord of California
SERIES: Infinity 8, #1
AUTHOR: Bennu Bright
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 458 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 3, 2023
BLURB:
A Slow Burn Meet Cute!
Baker. Wizard. God of Space and Time. Cupcake enthusiast. How long will it take to fan the flames and enrage this gentle phoenix? Start counting.
What’s a wounded and lonely little cinnamon roll to do? Stripped of his psychic powers, Calico Winghorse flees his homeworld and travels to 19th century Earth via his inter-dimensional portal. As a mixed-blood phoenix trapped in human form, he opens a bakery in the San Francisco Bay Area and quietly nurses his wounds. But the unique method of his arrival draws the unwanted attention of Infinity Corporation.
Representing this angelic-run company is Agustin Chavez de la Cruz, the Demon Lord of California. Even though Agustin is IC’s heir, he finds himself demoted from his duties to concentrate on his new assignment: take absolute control of Calico’s portal.
But Calico refuses to sell at any price. He is also very busy ensuring that the good people of the city are getting their fill of baked goods.
Before Agustin can formulate a more gracious avenue of acquiring the gateway, the demanding head of IC interferes, further complicating matters. So as negotiations stumble along, Calico and Agustin come to realize they both want more than a stuffy business arrangement.
However, due to Calico’s injuries, the portal remains vulnerable to the darker forces that want it at any cost. Agustin will have to push both his angelic heritage, as well as his own psychic powers to the very limits to heal this sweet baker, who is also the portal world’s God of Space and Time.
The Demon Lord of California is the first book of an LGBTQ+ paranormal-fantasy series. You won’t want to miss a first love found, hidden worlds, and a recovering workaholic grasping at his second chance. All centered around the control of an otherworldly portal. So curl up with your favorite beverage, and hang out with Cal and Gus for a while. You’ll be happy you did!
REVIEW:
As the heir to an empire that protects Earth from evil paranormal entities, much is expected of Agustin – but his unyielding father expects everything from him. Calico is a God of time and space, but he has been broken by a curse. Having traveled back in time, Cal gets flashes of something in his future, but his damage can give confusion as much as clarity.
The Demon Lord of California is a book I picked up due to the great blurb. Reading it was a very different experience. It’s a story that has great potential, which includes some ingenious character names, but I’m not sure it’s there yet.
The story is told in the third person, and the cover artistry is one of my favorites. World-building begins in the opening pages with a family tree. This feature is helpful for a book in paperback as it is a quickly booked mark reference. However, in kindle format, without magnification, it isn’t easy to read, and although possible to bookmark, it is a rarely used feature. Continuing forward, the scene-setting is detailed. But there were many occasions when the unrestrained picture painting derailed the flow of a scene, which is a shame because there were some beautiful scenes – if only they’d stayed in the moment. This isn’t my first foray into paranormal stories, but I clearly don’t have enough experience since I needed google to hand as my dictionary.
Homesick Phoenix, Calico, is a quirky individual whose outlook on everything can be challenging to follow as he zones into different timeframes. Occasionally, he can also be a walking contradiction. While Agustin values the ideals of his father’s empire, he’s an unhappy man who longs for a life outside the Infinity Corporation. These feelings/views made a hefty portion of the early chapters akin to reading a tossed salad of experiences, which were not conducive to pulling me into the story – some parts were delicious, others not. The only thing that made sense for a long time was chocolate – hell yeah.
The extended cast adds another dimension to the story, especially Ms. Dasheel – she’s my kind of woman. The difference in cultural customs/propriety between the paranormal worlds and humans added another element that was mostly – learn as you go.
The Demon Lord of California is a quirky book that I struggled to get to grips with. It contains a variety of paranormal beings, a host of situations, and otherworldly traditions. At 113K, it felt like a huge jigsaw that needed organizing. And although it got better as the story progressed, editing out a few thousand words would have made it punchier – less would have been more. Then again, if you are the type of reader that enjoys a story (in the immortal words of the Gump matriarch) that is like a box of chocolates, then this is a must for your shelf.
RATING: 
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