Dahlia Donovan . M/M . Paranormal . Urban Fantasy Romance

Here Comes the Son by Dahlia Donovan

On August 3, 2019 by

Here Comes the Son by Dahlia Donovan

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Blurb

When evil stirs in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, heroes come in both ordinary and extraordinary packages.

Ignatius Faber knows a few things for absolute certain. He’s half-demon, his father is the unequivocal prince of darkness, and demons want to destroy his city. And if he doesn’t make the first move on his crush, they’re never going to be anything more than a teenage fantasy that’s lasted into his thirties.

Lalo Pavia grew up hard and fast, orphaned at a young age. As an autistic, he’s learned to approach life cautiously. He throws his energy into gardening and photography—allowing both to provide a buffer between himself and the rest of the world.

Except for Iggy.

Can they find triumph, life, and even love in the middle of a city in flames?

Their fight for the mile high city has just begun.

Review

This book has everything I love. It has Denver, which is arguably one of my favorite places to be. It has Lucifer with all of the ambiguity of tradition. Trust me, that’s important to the story (although he’s a bit of a dick. Don’t get me wrong. This is not a spoiler. He’s still, you know, Lucifer.)  There is murder. Lots and lots of murder, in creative ways. There is fire. There are women, who love women, and who don’t exist just to be a crutch for men.

There is an autistic main character. He’s got a POV and everything. And a happy ending. AND he keeps all of his autism (there is no magical mystical “cure,” no creepy puzzle people coming along to make everything all “better”) while kicking ass, taking names, and being everything to an equally ass-kicking and name-taking main character.

This book was full of delightful twists and turns. While some of the demons are truly mono-dimensional, they’re demons. It’s okay for them to be all bad. Other than that, there are no characters who only have one strength, or one space for them to exist in. Stereotypes exist to be torn down, and Here Comes The Son does exactly that.

I have other things I want to say about this book, but I’m trying to think of a way to do it that doesn’t involve spoilers. The book involves the supernatural, but it brings science and technology into the story in a way I haven’t seen done very often. Religion exists, and is neither proven wrong nor right. It’s just there. Some of the religious characters are bad and some are good. The only absolute in the book is the love Iggy and Lalo share.

It feels weird, to sit here and say “I felt pure joy and warmth” when I’m reading a book about a demonic war on Denver. But that’s where we are now. I loved Iggy and Lalo, and Wendy, and Lalo’s foster family, and Shell. The ending was transformative, and if it doesn’t move you then I don’t know what  to tell you.

Q&A with Dahlia Donovan

Are there underrepresented groups or ideas featured if your book? If so, discuss them.

There are quite a few underrepresented groups. The one which means the most to me has to be all my autistic characters. As an autistic author, I believe it’s really important to write the characters I wish I saw in other stories. Not the ‘tragic neurodivergent’ story, but just autistics living their lives.

I hope I do myself and other autistics justice.

Name the book you like most among all you’ve written, and tell us why.

This is such a hard question.

Based on ease of writing? Probably one of my most recent ones, Pure Dumb Luck. It was a joy to write. I adore the main characters, and their story is a fun ride from start to finish.

What was the weirdest thing you had to Google for your story?

What kind of plants and/or herbs affect demonic entities.

I’d tell you why, but *spoilers.*

What qualities do you and your characters share? How much are you like them, or how different are they from you?

I think there’s a little bit of me in all of my characters. In Here Comes The Son, I have the most in common with Lalo. His struggles with executive dysfunction were inspired by my own issues. I always use my experiences as an autistic to guide how I write autistic characters.

What meds are you supposed to be taking?

Blood pressure meds, which I take every single day. I even have a reminder on me phone that tells me to take them or die. (I can be dramatic at times.)

I’m also supposed to take allergy meds, but I don’t like how they make me feel so I take over the counter ones instead.

What food(s) fuel your writing?

My best writing days usually happen with tea and biscuits (cookies.) I love a bourbon or a custard cream, but rarely have them. During the holidays, I tend to go for ginger biscuits. Yum.

What are you working on now, and when can we expect it?

I just wrapped up a fun novella called Pure Dumb Luck. I’m in the editing stage right now, and I believe it’s due out in September.  As far as actual writing, I’m diving into a holiday novella (even though I promised myself I wouldn’t write holiday stories in July again, sigh), it features a beloved couple from The Sin Bin, and I expect it to be out in November or December.

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