First, let me assure others that I love sex scenes - from romantic to erotic. I simply need some plot to hang it all on as well--- oh, yeah! And some character development would be nice too. This book is only slightly better than the last hardcover offering of Anita Blake. We simply have 450+ pages of Anita having sex to feed her magics. Sigh. It gets boring. The only really interesting sex scene is with Asher - but its too little too late. I've begun getting Ms. Hamilton's books via the library so I'm not out any $ while waiting for her to write a novel that moves forward the plot more than 1 day at a time. The ballet scene was well thought out and should have been more than an afterthought. The hints we get of big bad Mother Of All Darkness are great, but simply there to ensure the publisher keeps funding this tripe. For better reading try the Sookie Stackhouse series.