Book rec- "Hells Belles" by Jackie Kessler
Aug. 9th, 2009 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fireunHell's Belles
Jackie Kessler
Oh, where do I start?
Infernal politics, a twisted sense of humor, a wonderfully fun take on a bureaucratic Hell complete with demonic quotas and weeks of paperwork...
oh, and did I mention a protagonist to die for?
Enter Jezebel, succubus extraordinaire, who has gotten herself into a bit of a tight spot. One bedazzled witch and new, mortal body later, and Jezebel is on her way to evading all the worst hell has to offer. Ending up in NYC, and learning about all the finer pleasures of a mortal body (and coffee) Jezebel has to sort out a way to lay low.
Strip club. Perfect....right?
Not so much on the incognito for an ex-succubus, but definitely fun.
Or it should have been, if Hell could just leave well enough alone.
The story is split between the now, and interjections of the past which work to explain just why Jezebel fled Hell when she did. Instead of being impatient as I usually am with this sort of structure, bits of an explanation being dropped until the whole is revealed, I enjoyed the pace of the book, and just how the reveal was carried out. It was honestly neat to get little peeks into Jezebel the demon's mind, while being intereted in Jezebel the mortal's antics and adventures.
Hells Belles is technically a romance. I mean, there is a romantic interest, and the romance section is where you will find it shelved in a store, but honestly as long as you like urban fantasy, give this one a shot. there was far more plot and less porn than many of the books I have casually snagged out of the fantasy section lately. The protagonist is a succubus, a lust demon, so there is the expected amount of sex and sexual interest, but it all fits and flows splendidly.
Its a damn fun book. I couldnt put it down. I had to resist the urge to run out of the breakroom and make my employees read some of the funnier lines (of which there are far too many to quote here). I read it far too fast and now have to wander into work on a day off and snag the next two books in the trilogy.
Jackie Kessler
Oh, where do I start?
Infernal politics, a twisted sense of humor, a wonderfully fun take on a bureaucratic Hell complete with demonic quotas and weeks of paperwork...
oh, and did I mention a protagonist to die for?
Enter Jezebel, succubus extraordinaire, who has gotten herself into a bit of a tight spot. One bedazzled witch and new, mortal body later, and Jezebel is on her way to evading all the worst hell has to offer. Ending up in NYC, and learning about all the finer pleasures of a mortal body (and coffee) Jezebel has to sort out a way to lay low.
Strip club. Perfect....right?
Not so much on the incognito for an ex-succubus, but definitely fun.
Or it should have been, if Hell could just leave well enough alone.
The story is split between the now, and interjections of the past which work to explain just why Jezebel fled Hell when she did. Instead of being impatient as I usually am with this sort of structure, bits of an explanation being dropped until the whole is revealed, I enjoyed the pace of the book, and just how the reveal was carried out. It was honestly neat to get little peeks into Jezebel the demon's mind, while being intereted in Jezebel the mortal's antics and adventures.
Hells Belles is technically a romance. I mean, there is a romantic interest, and the romance section is where you will find it shelved in a store, but honestly as long as you like urban fantasy, give this one a shot. there was far more plot and less porn than many of the books I have casually snagged out of the fantasy section lately. The protagonist is a succubus, a lust demon, so there is the expected amount of sex and sexual interest, but it all fits and flows splendidly.
Its a damn fun book. I couldnt put it down. I had to resist the urge to run out of the breakroom and make my employees read some of the funnier lines (of which there are far too many to quote here). I read it far too fast and now have to wander into work on a day off and snag the next two books in the trilogy.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-09 07:02 pm (UTC)