Review: Unlovable is a fast, fun ride.  It blows your hair back, makes you gasp and laugh, and leaves you wanting more...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2014
Dr. Matilda Schmidt, Ph.D Psy.D - is a pretty, analytical, mentally moderate virgin. Her orderly day has a sudden hitch in its giddy-up when the sexy demi-god Crixus, (who so arrogantly freaked her out the night before) suddenly tosses a winged baby into her office - demanding she fix the cherubic love god's broken heart.Before much progress can be made, the good lady doctor finds herself kidnapped by Liam, another delicious male specimen. His job - deliver her to a Vegas mob boss.  Dr. Schmidt is to be called on the carpet for a very large bill that an impostor had racked up in her name."Where are we going?" I asked."One of your favorite places." Only a tourniquet could stop the false brightness bleeding from his voice."Whole Foods?" Hope floated my voice to a pitch too eager to respect.The first installment in The Case Files of Dr. Matilda Schmidt, Paranormal Psychologist series is a very quick read.  What it lacks in length, it more than makes up for in fun. Cynthia St. Aubin's writing instantly charms with vivid clarity and color. The range of humor flows naturally.  It streams along the spectrum from dark to silly, harmonizing with each situation.Matilda reacting to her orderly world being upended in a fantastical way is quite amusing. She pinballs from analytical curiosity to irritation and fear to lustful abandon.  She's very quixotic, but not in a way that makes her unbelievable.  As a character, she's surprisingly rich, and she stays within the boundaries St. Aubin has given her.Crixus is a demi-god of whom I've never heard.  He's got the arrogance and impatience of an immortal but it's implied he has a kind core. The irreverent tossing of Cupid into Matilda's professional care is out of concern for the love god.  He's got some intriguing teleportation skills, and flirts unrepentantly with our heroine.Liam/Luigi Whathisname is another character that St. Aubin writes very well. He's an alpha-male, a little broken,  but he's stoically done what he has to do. He doesn't really pull any punches with Matilda's capture.  There's not an instant, gooey-eyed intimacy that prevents him from harming her.  He doesn't truly hurt her, but is somewhat blase about keeping her unconscious and in less than comfortable physical conditions during much of their journey.The best supporting character is Cupid. He's surly, whiny, self-serving and completely ignorant of boundaries but somehow, still charming. Rather than being nothing but annoying, these flaws create some very funny situations.The story moves at a brisk pace, but doesn't lose too much due to the lack of length. The "rules" of the paranormal are joyfully bent - no lengthy exposition, fresh ideas of what the para characters can and cannot do, etc.  While it could easily be stretched out into a full-length novel, part of its charm is that it's a quick read.  The reader gets a good introduction to the characters, a roller-coaster of a plot, and a silly but well-devised resolution - just before being efficiently teased with the next chapter of Dr. Schmidt's adventures.There's not really many problems here. Liam's character seems to gravitate toward Matilda's quite quickly, despite Cupid's assertion that the attraction should be only physical.  Other than that, there were no glaring plot holes or discrepancies. On a side-note: I have a very major pet-peeve about typos and editing errors. It's a compulsion and something that will yank me right out of a story. This book was beautifully edited and formatted.I've purchased all three of the stories in the series, and am looking forward to see what new characters and shenanigans will ensue.