Still seems directionless to me; Second Grave On The Left (Charley Davidson Series Book 2) by Darynda Jones...

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper Extraordinaire, is back in this sexy, suspenseful novel of supernatural shenanigans...

☠☠☠/☠☠☠☠☠

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

So frustrating; I love the mysteries and exploring Charley's relationships with her friends and family. However the bad boy/anti hero/alpha combo of the male 'romantic' interest is such a boring turn-off to me, and the entire romance that has quickly become a big part of this series is so shallow - the man threatens people with death etc, but flash the heroine some flesh and all is forgiven. Plus, so far at least, the attraction seems purely based on looks - the author is telling when she should be showing...


I want to love this series, but the whole anti-hero angle and the whole tragic romance the author is aiming for isn't capturing my interest, and it just distracts me from the other subplots. I'd only recommend this to readers who are primary looking for that Bad Boy romance, rather then those of us who are looking for a gritty urban based fantasy series.

A shame; the ingredients for a fantastic series are all here, but the author seems unsure of what kind of series she actually wants to write, so she is trying to cram everything into the book, creating an uneasy balance, that is actually distracting.

***

Paperback: £6.39

Kindle: £5.49