Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Georgina Kincaid, #1
URBAN FANTASY

Source: Purchased rating

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny. . .

“We all have moments of weakness. It’s how we recover from them that really counts.”

Georgina isn't your typical succubus. Disliking what she is, she mainly focuses on "feeding" from men without as much of a conscience (like her boss), but doesn't have to slaughter them like succubus of legend. When working in the bookstore as a manager, she meets her favorite author, starts dating a new man in town, and works with other paranormals to figure out who is offing powerful paranormals in the city.

Half the book is left with discoveries of death and having no clue what's up, while the other half is knowing what's going on but tracking down the particular naughty entity. The book has a good amount going for it - there's backstory to explain decisions made but it doesn't weigh down and is done stylishly. There's the humorous side (this book is downright cute) and the personal life of Georgina as she tries casual dating, but there's also mixing with dangerous elements of the city and solving a mystery before it's too late for all of them.

Despite reservations I had for what kind of book it was, I was pleased to see the humor was naturally cute rather than obnoxious and overbearing.

Georgina is a fun character who isn't angsty because of her past mistakes, even if she is wistful. Instead of focusing on woes she accepts what she is but tries to make the best of situations. Side-characters are mixed joys since the author isn't the love interest I thought from the first, the man she's dating turns out fun and three-dimensional (you don't want anything happening to him), the boss is sleazy but well-written, and the other paranormals stand out as authentic enough even if you want to strangle some of the more powerful ones half the time.

Georgina working in the bookstore and enjoying books so much is a big plus. Her co-workers teasing her about making her favorite author's new books last a month was something most readers can relate to, although there's no way I could drag it out like her. All those years must give her way more willpower than this bookworm has.

It's not a serious book and the mystery isn't hard to guess (I knew right away it was between two people), but the ending was a good one that left a wide opening for a sequel. I don't know that I'll continue the series since I see some signs of what may come, but it was better than I figured it'd be from the humor that usually affects this kind.


   Book Quotes:

“Sometimes you wake up from a dream. Sometimes you wake up in a dream. And sometimes, every once in a while, you wake up in someone else's dream. ” 
 
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