SUCCUBUS IN THE CITY

Author: Nina Harper ISBN: 9780345495068 4/2008 PARANORMAL Publisher: DEL REY

After three thousand years of one-night stands, a girl just wants a little more... Working for Satan is a hot gig. THe Devil really does ear Prada, and Lily can sport all the dazzling fashion she desires, eat all the fabulous food she craves, and hang for all eternity with her three demon girlfriends. But serving up bad boys to the fiery pits of Hell is just getting... lonely Lily gives the jerks, the creeps, and the liars the best (and last) night of their lives, but she's tired of waking up to a pile of ashes. She wants a guy who will stick around. But a mysterious man is turning up the heat.... Nathan Coleman is a devilishly handsome, laid-back P.I. who wants to ask Lily a few questions about a missing man. But someone—or something—wants Lily and her friends dead, and Nathan seems to know more than he'll admit to. Can a sweet-talking mortal and a girl from Hell find true love?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

This debut book is quite a treat, while not being exactly what I expected. I anticipated a frothy, sexy romance, and that isn't at all what I got. If you are looking for a paranormal version of Sex in the City, it is that in a way, with four close female friends, none of whom are models for angelic behavior, lots of booze and restaurants and fashion and men and a little bit of drugs, too, but it isn't a caricature in any way.

Like Sex in the City, you aren't going to find any easy resolution for these characters. There's no romantic happy ending, just a stopping point in the plot that is a bit jarring.
Lilith is the main character, a succubus and Chosen One of Satan. She was once a princess and priestess of Ancient Babylon. She's been seducing and destroying men for millennia, but she does have an out clause which could return her to mortality if the right man came along. Finally, she thinks she's met him, but there is also a secret society out to get her and her friends, and this new guy has some sort of connection to them. He's also a scholar of ancient Babylon, which both entices her and makes things worse.

I didn't zip through this book, but savored it. World building in the first few chapters slows the pace, but it picks up later. It's worth contemplation, though it is a lot of fun. I look forward to reading SUCCUBUS TAKES MANHATTAN, the second book.

Heather Hiestand