Judith’s review of Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles.
Jackie Brighton woke up in a dumpster this morning and her day has only gotten weirder. Her familiar B-cups have somehow become double D’s, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one night stand ever . . . with a fallen angel. All she remembers is gorgeous Noah’s oddly hypnotic blue eyes, and then a dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a sexy itch. With help from Noah, Jackie begins to adapt to her new lifestyle–until she accidentally sends Noah into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands herself in a fierce battle for an ancient halo with the queen’s wickedly hot right-hand man, who just happens to be the vampire who originally bit her. How’s a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy is so hard to resist?
This is Jill Myles’ very first novel and if this were the Kentucky Derby, she would be coming out of the gate at full gallop. This novel is a wild and wooly look-see into the world of the immortals–fallen angels called Sirem, vampires, and succubi–women who live between these two races, who never sleep, who feed on sexual pleasure and must be “fed” every few days.
Jackie Brighton is a museum docent, the last on the docent list, but to her way of thinking, it is a “foot in the door” of the archeological world, a world of which she longs to be a part. She is passed over for promotion, goes to a bar to drown her sorrows, ends up being bitten and “drained” by a vampire, after having been picked up by a fallen angel. She then wakes up two days later in a dumpster, madder than a march hare, not having very much memory of what has occurred, only to find out that she is now immortal with a whole list of needs and some rather awesome powers. She is nurtured by Noah and the only other succubus in her little town–a porn star named Remy Sommore. And from that point it is fun, fun, fun. Noah is more than happy to see to Jackie’s needs, while Remy constantly counsels her to just “pick a stud” and go with the flow. Oddly enough, Jackie is afflicted with a left-over conscience from her human days, and she still thinks sex and emotional attachment go together. So she gets caught in some uncomfortable circumstances. As she is a very new and unschooled succubus, she gets into all kinds of trouble. She is a woman of strong opinion, and now that she has an eye-popping figure and a bosum that is difficult to contain, she is really upset that the only part of her physique that seems to ever get noticed is her beautiful hair and her bustline. She is really a very funny lady.
You have to love Noah–a 4,000 year old fallen angel who has never met anyone like Jackie. He is truly like a “deer caught in the headlights.” He is always trying to “be there” for Jackie, although it seems that her lack of knowledge of the immortal world keeps getting her and her friends in deep trouble, thus causing Noah to become a hostage to the vampire queen. Jackie must find and turn over the halo of the original fallen angel Joachim. The Archangel Uriel also wants that halo as well. It seems that the one who possesses it has the power to control Heaven and Earth. Her companion in her search is Zane, first lieutenant to the queen, and a charmer if ever there was one. Jackie doesn’t trust him at all, and possibly for good reason. He, too, is more than willing to ease her “Itch” but she just can’t seem to let him into her life or her bed.
The action and fun begin on the very first page and they never let up. The characters are a kick and a half, and just experiencing Jackie’s “learning curve” is hilarious. She is sooooo not happy with the way her life has turned out, and all through this series of adventures she is still worrying about losing her job at the museum. Behind all the fun is the slow but steady growth and development of Jackie into her own person, someone who must find a way to be comfortable in her own-albeit itchy-skin, and who begins to discover that she can use her mind as well as her succubus powers to bring order out of chaos, even if that chaos is of her own making. There is a great balance between the erotic and the humorous here. The plot is very creative and the storyline just keeps unfolding without a hitch. I would be very surprised if this writer does not become one of romance fans’ favorites before very long. I know that I am already excited about reading the next books in this series.
I give this novel a rating of 4.75 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Pocket Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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