Review: Demon Princess Reign Check by Michelle Rowen

Demon Princess: Reign Check (Book 2)
by Michelle Rowen
Release Date: June 2010
2010 Walker & Company
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9549-6
Softcover Edition; 304 Pages
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: ARC from Publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
Fresh from finding out that she is a demon princess, Nikki is looking forward to getting back to her regular high school life.  But when Rhys, the handsome king of the faery realm, decides to enroll at her school as a 'foreign exchange student', Nikki knows it won't be possible.  Coupled with this is a whole host of other problems: there's a new prophecy that claims she will destroy the world.  Her conflicted feelings for Rhys and her boyfriend, Michael, are getting in the way of their relationship.  Her best friend, Melinda, could be a demon-slayer-in-training, and her old crush Chris might know of her demon side.  Throw in a field trip to none other than the Underworld itself...and Nikki's going to be hoping for a rain check on more than just her homework!

My Thoughts
In Demon Princess: Reign Check, we again meet Nikki Donovan, the feisty and reluctant Demon Princess from Demon Princess: Reign or Shine.  She is trying to live a normal life and trying to ensure that no one at her high school discovers her secret, and that means ensuring that she doesn't lose control of her emotions.  With good intentions in mind, they quickly evaporate as soon as she spots the king of the faery realm in her high school.  To make matters worse, she gets into a heated discussion with a rival, and then her boyfriend Michael shows up to escort her to her father's realm under dire circumstances.

All of this makes for engaging reading.  I found Demon Princess: Reign Check to be extremely enjoyable, with a cast of engaging and believable characters.   While at first I didn't know what to think about Rhys, he grew on me and I have to admit he is one of my favourite characters in this novel.  I now have a hard time deciding as to whom I want Nikki to end up with in the end as both Michael and Rhys are amazing characters and being 'hotties' doesn't hurt either.  There was great chemistry and tension between all of the characters and I definitely empathized with all of them and felt a great connection to all of them.  Nikki is very believable as the reluctant Princess and her comments and thoughts about what is going on around her makes for some very interesting reading.  She is tough and strong and stubborn, but vulnerable at the same time especially as she learns to navigate the Underworld and deal with her strange powers. 

What I really liked about the plot development is how Ms. Rowen was able to strike a great balance between the Underworld politics and dynamics and Nikki being an ordinary teenage girl.  This is incredibly hard to do and she managed to do it quite well.  Nikki could be quite impulsive at times which makes her seem more real and helps advance the plot.  The plot itself, while good, seems to be building us up for future novels rather than a kick-butt kind of novel which is why I only gave it four out of five stars.  We learn a lot more about the characters and about the Underworld, but to be honest there is a lot less action in this novel. 

Verdict
This was a fun, light-hearted read with a lot going for it in the sense that many of the issues were left open so you know that a third book in the series is a high possibility.  Ms. Rowen introduces us to a great new heroine, a new cast of intriguing characters, an interesting new world and I, for one, am looking forward to the next book in this series and learning more about Nikki, Rhys, and Michael.