Review: Paranormal romance with snark and sizzling smut!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2012
For full review including excerpt and dialogue highlights, please visit Reader's Edyn at:readersedyn (dot) blogspot (dot) comReview:Oh Sam! Sam, Sam, Sam! Where can I find my very own demon? Where, I ask! Dang it! Now I have a crush on not one, but ALL FOUR of the Black Magic men! It all started with Griffin, a tiger shifter. Of course, I had to love Logan, a werewolf. Then I got my pants charmed off my Max, my very first shark shifter. And now I am smitten with Samael, a beyond hawt demon with a conscience. *fans self* And I am seriously considering reading the whole series again simply because I love them so! *nods* (Side note - I actually just did practically read all of That Voodoo You Do as I was going back over Sam's first appearances. Ironically right after saying I was going to re-read the series. As in just. right. now. Man do I need me a Bengal tiger shifter familiar!)So we briefly met Sam in book 1of That Old Black Magic series, That Voodoo You Do. Sam was the instrumental "soul" who kept popping up unexpectedly and giving Jemma little hints here and there, ultimately aiding in her victory; and squelching the approaching zombie apocalypse. Yay, Sam! We also had mention of Marabella in book 1 and then met her briefly in book 2, The Seven Year Witch. I believe she was mentioned in book 3, Maximum Witch, though her part was insignificant to the main characters of that story. And finally, in Getting Familiar With Your Demon, Marabella gets to divest herself of that dang curse of virginity with the help of the hunky demon Samael.Sam helps save the day - and the world from, you know, Zombies eating everyone's brains and stuff. Cut to ... a bit of time has lapsed; about six months. Sam has been punished, tortured, and made completely miserable by whips and blaring off-key disco music no less. The poor, poor demon! And then this sneaky little spiotch, Priscilla, secretary to the Demon King, prances in holding his contract. You see, she is up to no good and Sam is the key to carrying out her warped plans. But Sam has a plan of his own. He's going to break his soul collector seal and he is going to use Marabella to get it done. In a pleasurable way of course. Easy peasy, right? Whatevs! Nothing ever goes off exactly as planned. Pfft! What kind of book would that be? So Sam-O ends up with a conscience, feelings toward Marabella he has zero wish to dig into, and - oh, yeah - despite breaking his seal, he is probably going to end up bonded to someone else again anyway. Way to get that monkey off your back, Sam.Marabella, on the other hand, falls fast for the forbidden demon. Hey! Don't we all go for the forbidden ones? Mark `em with forbidden and we gravitate straight to `em. Yes? I know! Well, Samael is no different. Pair her overwhelming lust with this frickin curse that dooms her to virginity for life and Sam becomes more and more tempting as the minutes tick by. One word. Devastating! Because Sam has the potential to completely devastate Marabella in every conceivable way; both good and bad. But Marabella knows her restrictions and limitations. Much of what Sam is asking of her is going against the very fiber of her existence. She has to make a decision - take a stand, or lose Sam, and do nothing to save humanity from imminent demise at Priscilla's whakado clutches. No matter that Sam doesn't want her in the same way. He could come around ... maybe.I. Lurved. This. Book! Ms. Redford just keeps getting better. The sex is amazing between the characters, their struggles to get to an HEA are exciting and entertaining, and her writing style is infectious. Infectious in a way that makes me want to find the next book, like, yesterday. Her voice is consistent in this series and I never fail to enjoy my time spent with the characters. I absolutely love her humor as well. Some of the lines in the book are phenomenal! One of my favorites is "waxing poetic". Come to think of it, I may have used that a few times since I first read it. The other that I loved was after Sam and Marabella hook up, Sam notices that she's altered the décor somewhat. It goes like this:Ooh, he was so damn irritating. Which only made it all the more frustrating when she caught herself ogling his ass as he sauntered toward the bathroom. Her grumble leaking free, she turned and stormed down to the store.She managed to distract herself from Sam's presence for a whopping ten minutes while she finished unpacking and pricing the remaining suncatchers. Her composure slipped when he strode into the small room where their illicit rendezvous had occurred. His gaze immediately trekked to the brass daybed. "You changed the pillows.""And the sheets and comforter. I couldn't exactly leave it after..."His hot, smoldering scrutiny returned to her. "After we burned the sheets fantastic?"She blushed. "I wasn't going to phrase it that way, but yes."Sam's focus dipped to her mouth and lingered there for an endless moment. "How were you going to phrase it, sweet Bella?" he asked in that silky-smooth tone that provoked tingles in inappropriate places. "The way I see it, you can't get more accurate than that."I also liked that Ms. Redford veered slightly off track with this book. In the previous novels, the main characters acknowledge their desires and feelings. Maybe not directly to each other, but they seem to place obstacles in front of their possible relationships purposely as an excuse to deny themselves. This time, the obstacles are very much there. And while Marabella knows she has fallen, Sam refuses to acknowledge anything deeper than intoxicating lust. No judgment. He is a demon after all. Happily-ever-after doesn't exist in his world. The issue this time is not whether they will acknowledge their own imperfections that block the way to happiness as with the previous books; but whether they are willing to buck the system in its entirety, the world they embrace and accept and have never questioned until now, for a chance to be together which could ultimately crumble anyway.I found this book entertaining, beyond stimulating, and an altogether enjoyable read. Ms. Redford keeps it coming with the fourth installment of the That Old Black Magic series, Getting Familiar With Your Demon. I eagerly await the next installment. And although this is book four in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. The series is absolutely enhanced reading in order, but not necessary for this particular book. Readers of paranormal romance with inclinations toward snark and sizzling smut are sure to enjoy this book.(Digital ARC copy provided by author for review.)