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What A Demon Wants is a hoot. I haven’t been so entertained in a long time, and I can definitely recommend this light, fun read.
Ellina Kostova is a half demon, half human author who happens to write a successful fiction series about a cake decorator-turned demon hunter named Jenny Bell. Unfortunately, because her facts are a little too accurate, someone dangerous seems to want something from her. Her house has been broken into enough times that her brother Maksim has decided to get her a bodyguard.
Jude Anthony is a bodyguard extraordinaire, with some special powers of his own. He is determined to make enough money to permanently quit his current job and start a new career, paranormal-free. The minute he sees Ellina, he knows she’s trouble – he’s intensely attracted to her, and he doesn’t get the disgusted feeling he usually gets when he touches demons. Ellina has her own problem to wrestle with: She’s so attracted to him that she becomes aroused, which unfortunately brings out her demon side – red scales, horns and all. Her only solution is to avoid him as much as possible, but because she has to stay in the house while she meets a deadline, that means Jude has to stay cooped up in the house with her. Being together in the house 2/47 promises to be hell.
Hilarious, hilarious. Man, I laughed. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a truly funny book that wasn’t based on slapstick or stupid situations. The author is deft at fleshing out characters, and Ellina and Jude are pretty great. As a half breed, Ellina is constantly taunted by her demon family. She’s mostly exasperated by them, but she takes it all in stride and doesn’t let it wreck her life. The little problem of her scales popping out at inopportune times makes you laugh and feel bad for her all at the same time. She manages to be humorous without being a snarky bigmouth, and she’s a really sympathetic character. Jude has a tragic past and is wary of demons, but he is also surprisingly honest with himself and isn’t afraid to pursue Ellina. So, I liked them both a lot. All the characters were interesting. How the author managed to make characters that appear for only one scene seem really interesting is amazing to me.
My only issue is that, because this story is very light, the conflict isn’t really fleshed out. The villain is half-baked and more than slightly ridiculous, and I wish Jude’s implied mysteries were more explained. So 97% of the book was fantastic and fun, and then the climax, the last few pages were a bit of a dud.
Still, What A Demon Wants is so much fun that I can recommend this wholeheartedly to anyone who wants to take a break and have a good laugh. The story is character driven, which is never a bad thing. I’ve never read Kathy Love before this, so I’m very glad to find she has quite a backlist.
Grade: B
Book Type: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 26/03/10
Publication Date: 2010
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.