City of Souls and Sinners

House of Devils, Book 2

By: Kayla Edwards

Narrated by: Wen Ross, Zura Johnson

Something wicked is coming...

In this sequel to City of Gods and Monsters, Loren Calla and Darien Cassel have settled back into their old routines, grateful that the whirlwind of dangers they'd faced on Kalendae and the weeks leading up to it are now behind them—or so they think.

Loren soon finds herself caught in a new storm of trouble when the Terran Imperator blackmails her into working for him. There's only one problem: he expects her to use her magic, and she doesn't seem to have any of it left. To keep Darien and the other Devils safe, she agrees to everything the imperator asks of her. But the secrets she is forced to keep from Darien and her involvement with the imperator's son threaten to drive her away from Darien in ways she might never recover from…

As Randal Slade's successor, Darien wants nothing to do with the throne his father once sat on, but the city of Angelthene has other plans. The Magical Protections Unit asks for his help in taking down the illegal arms trade his father once dabbled in, and to do that, Darien must claim his place at the top of the tiers of Darkslayers—a crown the other circles are willing to kill to possess. As he spirals deeper into the secrets his father kept, he makes enemies of friends and friends of enemies—and finds himself buried so deep in Angelthene's underbelly that he is uncertain he'll ever get out of it. And if that wasn't enough, Darien fears he is going crazy when he starts to see creatures that only he can see…

Return to Angelthene in City of Souls and Sinners, a gripping, action-packed tale that tackles themes of love and loss, light and darkness, and the battle between good and evil—and what happens when you can't tell which is which.

©2023 Kayla Edwards (P)2025 Podium Audio

Even better than the first

Love this story, it's paranormal urban fantasy romance at its best, and I can't wait to do book three!

Audio made it even more emotional!

I love this series, the narrators have done an amazing job! This book is so emotional and the additional POVs and other side characters make this book even more amazing. Can’t wait for book 3 to be on audio!

good buy long

it felt like it dragged on a bit but it was good. I like the characters alot

Better and more organized than book 1!

I’m impressed! This was SO SO good!! I’ve fallen more for Darien ❤️ but I swear he seriously needs help!! We definitely see more of Darien in this book, which was nice since we got hints of what Darien’s been through in book 1.
As always, Kayla fills her books with so much that sometimes I forget where we started, which in book 1, was not okay but! In book 2! AWESOME!! Well organized!!

Ending has me biting my nails tho!! Jeez holy crap. I HOPE and PRAY that Loren and Darien get the ending they freaking deserve!!

But if you’re skeptical about continuing this series bc book 1 may not have been the best… don’t wait!! Book 2 is IT!! This is the one!! Probably my favorite so far in the whole series!! But just know… that once you read book 2, there’s no going back!

Alright, buckle up, because this book put me through it. ⭐️ 4.25 stars | 🔥 2 spice | Gods & Monsters #2

City of Souls and Sinners was… a journey. And not a light, breezy weekend-in-bed kind of journey. No. This was the literary equivalent of committing to a cross-country road trip in a car with questionable brakes and a GPS that keeps “recalculating.”

I wanted to love this as much as book one—I really did. The bones were there. The characters? Still fantastic. The worldbuilding? Still rich. But the length? My god. I swear I saw entire seasons change while reading this thing. Five days of my life. Five. Days. And I wasn’t bored, per se… but when a book drags this long, even the good parts start to feel like they’re happening underwater.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Darien pining like a wounded Victorian poet while Loren floated around acting like emotional Swiss cheese. I love depth. I love angst. But this was 40% “I love you but I need space because reasons” and Darien basically writing love sonnets in the corner. The man deserved hazard pay for this relationship.

Then we had the side-character takeover—Dallas, Max, Blue, Arthur being the responsible dad-friend. Honestly? They were great. They kept things moving when the main couple was too busy angst-spiraling to participate.

Plot-wise: still interesting, still layered, still giving that delicious “what is she really capable of?” mystery with Loren. But sweet hell, it takes forever to peel back each layer. And then suddenly—BOOM. The last 20% hits you like Michael Bay got bored and took over the script. Explosions! Chaos! Breakneck pacing! Emotional whiplash! After slogging through ultra-slow-burn character introspection for hundreds of pages, the action dump was… a choice.

And don’t even get me started on the cliffhanger. After dragging Darien and Loren through this emotional marathon, we finally get them on the same page—only to yeet them off a narrative cliff. Rude.

All that said? I will keep reading the series because the world is addictive, the cast is compelling, and I’m already invested. But if you pick this one up, plan ahead. Hydrate. Stretch. Book time off work. You’re going to need a week.

A fun, frustrating, beautifully written, overly indulgent middle book. And honestly? Sometimes that’s half the drama.