Succubus On Top by Richelle Mead

Coupla things before I kick off today's dish. First, dee kicked off FAB week with Liza Palmer yesterday, so click here or continue to scroll after reading this dish for the details on a FAB week and contest. Second, whoever you are that keeps googling "To Kill A Mockingbird book report" - STOP! Read the book! It's the only way you'll ace your paper and ya know, actually learn something not to mention, you'll also get to read a really good book. So, stop googling and start reading. And now that that's out of the way...



Succubus On Top by Richelle Mead
(BCC)

Georgina Kincaid's job sucks. Literally.

Love hurts, and no one knows it better than Georgina Kincaid. If she so much as kisses Seth Mortensen, the shy, sexy, incredibly gifted Seattle writer she's been dating, she'll drain his life force. Georgina is a succubus - a demon who draws her power from other men's pleasure. Admittedly, the shapeshifting and immortality perks are terrific, and yes, Georgina did choose to join the ranks of hell centuries ago. But it seems completely unfair that a she-demon whose purpose is seduction can't get hot and heavy with the one mortal who knows and accepts her for who she is...

It's not just her personal life that's in chaos. Doug, Georgina's co-worker at a local bookstore, has been exhibiting bizarre behavior, and Georgina suspects that something far more demonic than double espressos is at work. She could use help finding out, but Bastien, an irresistibly charming incubus and her best immortal friend, is preoccupied with corrupting an ultra-conservative talk radio star - and giving Georgina some highly distracting come-hither vibes. Georgina is going to have to work solo on the one - and fast because soon, Doug's life won't be the only one on the line...

The BCC is OK. I'll admit it's a tad misleading, but not so much so that I can out and out say it's wrong, so all in all, (sigh) I give it an OK.

It just so happens that this book is the follow up book to my last February FAB pick Succubus Blues. It's absolutely unnerving picking a FAB. Especially when it's a first time author and their first book. I mean, there is always a slight possibility that the next book will fall flat, right? However, dee and I have pretty strict requirements before we ask an author to join us for FAB, so we're fairly confident when we do so. Let me tell ya, Richelle Mead is most definitely FAB and most definitely did not let me down. Plus, any author that writes paranormal and has dee hooked, and her husband, and then just this week, hooked my husband (who hasn't read a book in whole since before we were married) then I know their golden.

Georgina Kincaid, succubus of Seattle, just got a certificate for excellence in being a succubus, she's got a great boyfriend, her best friend an incubus has just shown up to do a job in Seattle, her friend Doug's band (that she absolutely loves) is booking big gigs, and has a great job in a bookstore - pretty much, Georgina's life seems to be going good. Except, things don't exactly feel right.

Doug is acting very strangely, and although she'd love to attribute it to euphoria from the band doing so well, she just can't. Plus, there is the small problem of her friends bands new drummer, who seems to be at the heart of all of the madness starting, and weird otherwordly prickle she gets at odd times around both Doug and the band. Plus, her boss Paige is pregnant and it isn't going so smoothly, so Georgina's been having to work a lot at the store, Seth may have done something that has the entire staff acting funny around her, her friend Bastien, the incubus is having problems corrupting his mark and needs her help, and oh, yeah, she still has to have sex with other men to survive but can't even kiss the man she loves without shortening his life.

When Doug takes a dive into severe depression that sends him to the hospital, and another co-worker turns hollow-eyed and vacant after a night with the band, Georgina knows it's time to act. Stumbling herself into a world where "drugs" take on a whole new meaning, and gods still live. And if Georgina wants to save her friend, it's all on her, because this time, her boss the arch-demon Jerome and his Angel friend Carter can't fight the battle for her without starting a war.

Succubus On Top is exactly the kind of follow-up book I wanted. Sex. drugs, and rock-n-roll may be pushed by the greater majority of demons, but when they get pushed onto Georgina Kincaid's friends, hell hath no fury. SOT is a bit darker in parts, has several more erotic scenes than Blues, and just out-and-out keeps your nose in the book, page after page, until the very last page and you're crying for more. Georgina struggles with herself a good deal in SOT, and even ticked me off at parts, but Mead did a fantastic job of explaining what I had felt at times to be inexplicable. Seth is even more endearing in this installment, and more of Georgina's past is revealed.

While there were a few pages that seemed to jump off track while Georgina thinks about her past, it's well worth it for the information gleaned. I never thought I'd believe a succubus could actually have heart, but Mead has proven me wrong. For a fast paced, laugh out loud, have you on the edge of your seat thrill ride, grab SOT, and if you haven't read it yet, grab SB too, you'll never look at paranormal the same way again.

Take Care

Chari-Dee's next dish - Into Thin Air by Cindy Miles. I'm currently reading Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich and How Not To Look Old by Charla Krupp (non-fiction). And my stack of TBR is getting ever higher... Stay tuned!