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Urban Fantasy, Comedy - novel
TBR reviewer: Kim

This is a story about a Grim Reaper, Mal, who is trying to chase a demon serial killer. He is nursing a broken leg, in love with a succubus who used to be his partner and to top it all, his boss, Death has just woken up after many years asleep. Some Reapers have all the luck!

This was a little difficult to get into at first, and hard to wrap my head around the idea that there was one Death but many Reapers. This was somewhat helped by having 'Grim Reaper Myths Dispelled' at the beginning of some of the chapters. Once I did get into it though, I really enjoyed it. The characters were colorful and different and larger than life! The story went along at a fair clip and there was plenty of action. I liked the fact that it was tackling a long held belief and turning it on its head! This is the second 'Reaper' story and I think it would help to have read the first as there are many references to events in the previous book that at times left me a bit confused. That being said, I still recommend it but with the caveat of reading the first, which I would very much like to now!

Part way across the room, a very large and very drunk demon stepped into their way. His gaze ran the length of Xyla’s body, pausing on all the bits Mal tended to pause on, too.
“H-hey, cutie,” he said, attracting the attention of  half the bar with the volume. “Buy you a drink?”

“I’m flattered,” Mal  said, batting his eyelashes. “But we have elsewhere to be.”

The bar  roared with laughter as the demon frowned, trying to work out what just  happened. His eyes widened as it struck him. “I meant her, not you!”

“Really? Well now I’m just embarrassed.”
   
“You wanna watch your mouth,  human.”
 
 “Or what? You’ll start a fight?” Mal gestured about the bar. “In  Earl’s?”
   
“I don’t give a damn where we are, I’ll rip yer head off and use  it as a bowling ball!”

Mal scratched his neck. “You wouldn’t get many  strikes.”
   
“Huh?”

“Heads aren’t round enough, you see. You wouldn’t  be able to accura—”

His attempt at neutralisation via sarcasm ended  abruptly as the demon swung a large fist at his face. It came too quick for him  to dodge, so he closed his eyes and tried to think painless thoughts. The blow  never came. He opened one eye tentatively to see the demon’s fist held fast in  Xyla’s hand. She cocked her head as he struggled to pull free.

“Did you  just throw a punch at my boyfriend?” The demon screeched as she squeezed,  and Mal winced at the sound of grating bones.

“Well?” she asked again,  the picture of calm. “Hurry up. We have places to be.”

“N-no, I mean yes!  I mean...” He paused. “Can I have my hand back, miss?”

“Not until you  apologise.” She squeezed again.

The mountain of a demon babbled a number  of apologies, in several languages, and Xyla let go. “There’s a good  boy.” She turned back to an amused Mal and held out her hand. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” He took her hand, and they walked over to a bemused Earl. “So I’m  your boyfriend, am I?”

“Yup.”

“Do I get a choice in the  matter?”

“Nuh uh.”

He feigned a sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to  go along with it, then.”

She grinned. “You know, most men would chastise  me for stepping into that fight.”
   
“Meh. Most men are stupid. Also, most  men’s girlfriends aren’t millennia old demons capable of head-butting their way  through a bank vault.”
   
“You put it so lyrically, Mal.”

He dropped  into a short bow and hoped that she wasn’t paying too much attention to his  thoughts. Boyfriend? Booya! If he was anywhere else, and had two working  legs, he’d have danced a jig.

Mr. Slade is giving away an ecopy to one lucky winner. Comment below to enter. Contest ends December 26th.

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Genre: Mystery - Comedy
Ebook - Self Published - Novel
TBR Reviewer: R.B

Armed with cool sarcasm and uncontrollable hair, feisty insurance investigator Amber Fox is back in a new mystery combining murder and mayhem with romance and chicklit…

Three deaths.
A safety deposit box robbery.
The boxing heavyweight champion of the world.

Somehow, they’re all related, and Amber has to solve a four year old crime to find out why.

As she stumbles across a trail of dead bodies and a web of lies spanning both sides of the social divide, it’s starting to get personal. Someone thinks Amber’s poking her nose in where it’s not wanted, sparking off a game of fox and mouse – only this time, Amber’s the mouse.

Amber’s forced to take refuge in the home of her ex-fiancé, Brad Beckett, and now it’s not just the case that’s hotting up. So is the bedroom…


All Levi Carter wanted to be was the boxing heavyweight champion of the world, but at what cost?

All Carl Thomas wanted was to be rich, but would his greed be his downfall?

All Brad Beckett wants is to get Amber back, but there’s a reason for the ex word.

Be careful what you wish for…you might just get it.

I have always liked the saying "Be careful what you wish for…you might just get it". I should have heeded that warning when I chose this book.
 
I did like it, however it moved at a very slow pace for my liking. The real action did not start until Chapter 14 and there are 21 Chapters in all! I really did enjoy Amber Fox’s, (the main character) struggle with deciding which of her two lovers she really wanted to be with. You have Brad, the man that left her without warning and hurt her beyond all recognition. Then you have Romeo (yes, his name is really Romeo), the man that was there to pick up the pieces and taught her to trust and love again.

Her struggle begins when she is thrown back into an insurance case that leaves her in close working proximity with Brad. She is in constant contact with Romeo as the investigation takes a few dramatic turns. There are couple of "bad guys" and one good guy that thinks he has done something bad. Amber's investigation into the injury of Boxing Heavyweight Champion Levi Carter leads her to a bank robbery and several murders along the way.
 
Basically, what my review boils down to is, if you like slow paced books; this is definitely the book for you.  I also learned a few things about bank fraud, illegal sports betting and insurance security firms while reading this story. 

There was not much sex in this story, but again, that's okay, not every story has to be about and contain a ton of sex.

So, all in all, I would recommend this book to others, but, it will not be one that I will read again. Maybe if I ever run out of things to read (like that will ever happen).

When I was about five, I always loved losing myself in fairytales where the handsome prince would come charging up on his white horse and save the fair maiden. I frequently imagined that I was Rapunzel, although there were two problems with this daydream. 1) I wasn’t into heights in a big way; and 2) My hair was destined to be more flyaway than flaxen.

Fast-forward thirty years, and now I had an even bigger problem. I had two handsome princes in my life, and I didn’t know what to do about either of them. I know, I know – be careful what you wish for, right?

In my thirty-five-year-old-daydream, there was Romeo, my boyfriend and all-round Mr. Nice Guy. Then there was Brad, my boss and ex-fiancé. There was a reason for the “ex” word, though.

I sprawled on my sofa, staring at the ceiling and contemplating this little conundrum. Marmalade, my ginger cat, lay next to me. He purred away, mirroring my ceiling stare. I absent-mindedly stroked his head, wondering whether he was contemplating a two-pussy scenario.

I know what you’re thinking – two gorgeous men after little old moi. Lucky me. I wish! It wasn’t lucky, it was way more complicated than you can imagine. In fact, it was as complicated as trying to assemble flat-pack furniture with a stupid amount of screws and no instructions. Not that I couldn’t assemble flat-pack stuff, you understand. I’m a very practical kind of girl. But, you know, flat-pack can beat even the most enthusiastic DIYers. Or is it just me who ends up with a big bag of screws left over, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do with them?

I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear my mobile ringing straight away. When it finally registered in my conscious, I tumbled off the sofa, dislodging Marmalade in the process, and grabbed it from the wooden floorboards.
I glanced at the caller ID.

Think of the Devil. The last person I wanted to talk to when I was doing my contemplation thing was Brad. He might sway my decision about things, and I was pretty easily swayed at the moment.

‘Hey, Brad. What’s up?’

‘Foxy,’ Brad said, his Australian twang sounding more pronounced tonight. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Stroking my pussy.’

‘Mmm. Don’t give me ideas.’ I heard the smile in his voice.

‘You don’t need any ideas,’ I said. He probably heard the smile in mine, too.
‘No Romeo tonight, then?’

I rolled my eyes. Even though he couldn’t see it, he’d know I’d done it. ‘Stop fishing for information.’ I grabbed a fluffy cushion from the sofa and hugged it to my stomach, as if somehow that could put more distance between us.

His voice lowered. Deep and slow, he said, ‘I need you.’

A tingling sensation worked its way through my spine, not to mention other parts. I tried to ignore it. I didn’t really trust myself to speak so I gnawed on my lip for a moment, thinking of something witty to say. My wit had suddenly upped and vanished for some reason, so I just chose to ignore his words instead and pretended to be huffy.

I cleared my throat. ‘What do you want, Brad? It’s Saturday night, and I’m a very busy girl.’ My voice came out huskier than I intended as I glanced around my empty, poky apartment, which was very unbusy at this moment in time.
Yeah, right, Amber. Since when did thinking about Brad constitute being busy?

Ms. Hodge is giving away a free Ecopy of her novel. To enter comment below. Contest ends July 5th.