My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Ascher

Title: My Funny Demon Valentine (Hell Bent #1)

Author: Aurora Ascher

Publisher: Kensington 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Romanceopoly - Krampus Night (Monsters)

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 6

Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, just wants to make music. Jazz, specifically. Unfortunately, he’s a demon. And he’s supposed to be evil.

Clearly, for Ash, a career as a musician isn’t exactly an option. Plus, he’s cursed. Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his three brothers escape Hell in search of freedom on Earth. But it’s harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tails . . .

Yet everything changes for Ash when he meets a beautiful violinist who can see through his curse. No matter the risk, he has to have her.

Evangeline Gregory is just your average human. She works at a jazz bar, plays gigs on weekends . . . and, apparently, hallucinates demons.

At least that’s what Eva tells herself when, moments after she meets the man of her dreams, she sees him shift into a 7-foot-tall monster. Not believing her own eyes, Eva decides to investigate and soon finds herself in the middle of a supernatural clusterf**k.. But Ash isn’t the only one keeping secrets, and the search for answers reveals a shocking truth that will change Eva’s life forever. Or maybe just doom it. The path to love can be complete Hell.

I just… no. I was hoping for some fun enemies to lovers, some miscommunication (but keep it light), and lots of sexual tension. Instead I got a super bland insta-love story that relied way too much on clever sentences and profanity. Don’t get me wrong, I curse like a sailor in real life. But to constantly rely on profanity instead of actual dialogue is just lazy and not fun to read at all. Insta-love is one of my least favorite romance tropes because we usually are just supposed to buy these characters are perfect for each other, but we never really get to see why. I want to dive into the actual meat of relationships. Insta-love just skips over those parts. And don’t get me started on the fact that they are demons in here, but they’re all great guys. Um no. Well, at least here’s one series I can take off my TBR list.

Hell Bent

• #0.5 My Demon Romance

• #1 My Funny Demon Valentine

• #2 My Demon Hunter

• #3 Demon with Benefits

• #4 Guardian Demon

• #5 Beauty and the Demon

Next up on the TBR pile:

As Shadows Fade and Max Stops the Presses by Colleen Gleason

Title: As Shadows Fade (Gardella Vampire Chronicles #5); Max Stops the Presses (Gardella Vampire Chronicles #5.5)

Author: Colleen Gleason

Publisher: Signet Eclipse 2009; 2013

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 342; 30

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Paranormal -- Angels; Monthly Key Word - Shade; Mount TBR; Seriously Series; Eclectic -- Romantic Suspense; Ebook; Bingo -- 2 2013 releases

How I Got It: I own it

Demons, enemies of both mortals and the undead, have found their way to Earth. To defeat them, Victoria Gardella proposes an alliance between her slayers and Lilith’s vampires. But the vampire queen wants the former slayer Max Pesaro in return for her cooperation—a small price for the world, but a price Victoria is unwilling to pay...

An amazing conclusion to a great paranormal romance series.  I loved seeing where the story led.  And I'm super excited to find a happy ending, albeit one with a huge twist.  I can see the need for the twist, but holy crap it was a shocker.  My only complaint was that I wanted a bit more of an ending.  Thankfully, we Gleason made a short story to give the readers a bit more of a ending.

This is a short story (about 30 pages) that takes place after the end of As Shadows Fade, the fifth book in the Victoria Gardella Vampire Chronicles series.

And this is the story that helped me find a bit of closure for the characters.  Plus, it was a cute little short story to follow up.  Love it!

Gardella Vampire Chronicles:

• #1 The Rest Falls Away
• #1.5 Victoria Gardella
• #2 Rises the Night
• #3 The Bleeding Dusk
• #4 When Twilight Burns
• #5 As Shadows Fade
• #5.1 Max Stops the Presses
• #6 Roaring Midnight
• #7 Raging Dawn
• #8 Roaring Shadows

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Title: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Anges Nutter, Witch

Author: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Publisher: HarperTouch 1990

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 413

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: T4MC -- Name in Title; Neil Gaiman; Ebook; Eclectic -- Humor; 52 Books -- Week 2

The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

Put New York Times bestselling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett together . . . and all Hell breaks loose.

Holy crap on a stick!  This was an awesome book.  I don't mean a "that was a great read" kind of book.  I mean the "I laughed out loud on airplanes" kind of book.  The story is awesome, but it's the characters and style that really get me.  The characters are all just so lovable, even the demons, even the Four Horseman (I mean Riders) of the Apocalypse.  Crowley and Aziraphale are my absolute favorites.  Their on-again off-again friendship of enemies is just amazing.  I love how each one gets the other to slide just a bit to the other side. Hee hee.  And Adam Young is the perfect little Antichrist without even knowing it.  He commands attention and devotion and yet has quite a good head on his shoulders.  Such fun!  And let's talk about the style for just a second.  I feel like Pratchett and Gaiman are telling me a story.  They are sitting in my living room, drinking (wine probably) and taking turns telling me parts of this ridiculous story they heard.  Even the descriptions are a conversation.  I love this style.  And all the little author's notes are just icing on the cake.  (Yum cake!). I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to read this book.