Darynda Jones

In for the Long Haul–SEVENTH GRAVE AND NO BODY–A Review and Fangirling for Darynda Jones

Hi there! Today I’m back to fangirling on Darynda Jones. I fell for Charley Davidson, her Grim Reaper PI main character of the Grave series a couple of years ago–and I especially fell for Reyes Alexander Farrow, Charley’s love interest and, well, the son of Satan.

That’s right. I love a demonspawn. If you haven’t caught any of the series, you’ll need to start at the beginning. It may seem like a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Charley is hysterical, irreverent and charming, and Reyes is all that I could have dreamed for in a male lead, supernatural being or not. Check out my reviews for FIRST GRAVE, FIFTH GRAVE and SIXTH GRAVE, to see if the books pique your interest….but today I’m gonna talk about the latest release, SEVENTH GRAVE AND NO BODY.

Seventh Grave and No Body (Charley Davidson, #7)About the book:

Twelve. Twelve of the deadliest beasts ever forged in the fires of hell have escaped onto our plane, and they want nothing more than to rip out the jugular of Charley Davidson and serve her lifeless, mangled body to Satan for dinner. So there’s that. But Charley has more on her plate than a mob of testy hellhounds. For one thing, her father has disappeared, and the more she retraces his last steps, the more she learns he was conducting an investigation of his own, one that has Charley questioning everything she’s ever known about him. Add to that an ex-BFF who is haunting her night and day, a rash of suicides that has authorities baffled, and a drop-dead sexy fiancé who has attracted the attentions of a local celebrity, and Charley is not having the best week of her life.

A tad north of hell, a hop, skip, and a jump past the realm of eternity, is a little place called Earth, and Charley Davidson, grim reaper extraordinaire, is determined to do everything in her power to protect it.

We’re doomed.

My Review:
I’m gonna try hard not to spoiler-ize.

I loved it. The end.

Just kidding! There’s so much happening in the space of the few days that the books spans. but, to sum up:

Charley is in a delicate condition, for the first time in her life. She’s being hunted by twelve hounds from Hell, and seemingly attacked by them, yet escapes twice with barely any injuries. Meanwhile, Reyes and his Deava compatriot, Osh, are brutalized. For me, it seems there’s a missing link; everybody THINKS the beasts are out to kill Charley, but I expect we will learn the opposite is true. In the effort to defend against the twelve beasts, Charley embraces even more awesome powers, leading Reyes to believe that Charley’s supernaturalness isn’t limited to reaping.

Turns out that, in addition to being the light of Reyes life, Charley is part God. And her freaktastic ability to heal the gravely injured was not a fluke.

And, Charley’s getting to be more than a bit jealous of Reyes and the way women swoon for him. (I’d like to apologize for all the gawking, Charley, really, but you know he’s too sexy for just one glance…) At the heart of this book is a semi-psycho TV reporter who dogs Reyes at every turn. Reyes, naturally, wants nothing of this attention, and is too wrapped up trying to figure out how to keep Charley safe to form the best anti-stalker strategy.

There was a cold case, five unsolved murders, that Charley solves in the first scene, which seemed to set the stage for further drama–but that was superseded by the current unsolved mystery: four seemingly unrelated people have written similar suicide notes and then disappeared, leaving no bodies. And, unfortunately, when their connections are made, well, it lands Reyes back to the police precinct for questioning. Not good. Especially as Reyes and Charley come across a credible prediction that Charley’s due to die, and soon.

That’s all I’m gonna say, except that this book ends with as much of an HEA as any of the others do. And, Reyes is totally gone over Charley, and I’m totally gone over Reyes, which makes for an uncomfortable love triangle, but I’m willing to suffer for at least seven or eight more books.

Interested? You can find SEVENTH GRAVE AND NO BODY on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, probably Target, and definitely your local library.

Darynda JonesAbout the Author:
NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. She can be found at www.daryndajones.com.

Thanks for popping by, and keep reading my friends!

 

I Love the Son of Satan–Review of Sixth Grave

Hi all! It’s Friday the 13th. I’m watching out for black cats and it’s too early in the growing season to get me a pumpkin, so I’m going to embrace the “Dark Side” for a day and wax poetic about my love for Reyes Alexander Farrow–the male lead in the Charley Davidson Series by Darynda Jones.

Sixth Grave on the Edge (Charley Davidson, #6)About the book:

Few things in life can come between a grim reaper and her coffee, but the sexy, sultry son of Satan is one of them. Now that Reyes Farrow has asked for her hand, Charley Davidson feels it’s time to learn more about his past, but Reyes is reluctant to open up. When the official FBI file of his childhood abduction lands in her lap, Charley decides to go behind her mysterious beau’s back and conduct her own investigation. Because what could go wrong?

Unfortunately, another case has fallen into her lap—one with dangerous implications. Some very insistent men want Charley to hunt down a witness who is scheduled to testify against their boss, a major player in the local crime syndicate. If Charley doesn’t come up with an address in 48 hours, the people closest to her will start to disappear.

Add to that a desperate man in search of the soul he lost in a card game, a dogged mother determined to find the ghost of her son, and a beautiful, young Deaf boy haunted by his new ability to see the departed as clearly as he sees the living, and Charley has her hands full. The fact that Reyes has caught on to her latest venture only adds fuel to the inferno that he is. Good thing for Charley she’s used to multi-tasking and always up for a challenge…especially when that challenge comes in the form of Reyes Farrow.

My Review:
In true Charley fashion, the book’s pace is set to plaid.

If you’re planning to read this book, you ought to have read the previous five installments first.

To be clear, I have a total girl crush on Charley. First Grave got me totally hooked on the ADD-suffering, grim reaper. She’s hysterical and brave and selfless and damned funny. Her brightly shining aura guides souls into the Great Beyond, each time she senses a little of that soul’s experiences–upping her empathy quotient by bazillions.

Her love interest, Reyes Farrow? Well, he’s the dark side of the coin. And by dark, I mean black. He’s the son of Satan.
image

No, no! Not that! Cripes! I’m not a freak!

Oh yes, that’s much better.
image

Don’t let his lineage fool you, however, Reyes is unequivocally, unremorsefully, totally in love with Charley. His mission was to escape Hell and kill the next Reaper. In fact, it is still his mission, he simply found Charley’s essence so awesome, he decided to be born on Earth so he could know her.

His life on Earth hasn’t been even just plain okay–he suffered horrific abuse and was jailed for a time. Still, he served Charley as a defender many times, and has built a fortune which he uses to protect Charley’s interests–oh and he wants to marry her. He’s waiting (again) on Charley–for her answer.

So, in this installment, Reyes is in constant pursuit of Charley’s answer, affection and companionship. A living man seeks Charley’s help getting his soul back from a demon. One of Charley’s “friends” has been kidnapped as a bargaining chip to get access to a WITSEC informant. And Charley’s cooked up a fool proof plan to get her Uncle Bob to finally ask her BFF Cookie out on a date. Whew! That’s a lot for a book that spans only a few days in time….

The Dealer is a new supernatural in town. He’s a Deava, the kind of demon Satan would stitch together from the remnants of dying demons. He’s on Earth’s plane, eating souls for sustenance. Charlie wants to win back the soul of his client, and makes an ally instead. A powerful one as even Reyes will admit. It seems the Dealer would like Satan defeated, and he knows that the Twelve hounds of hell have been unleashed to find Charley.

Cookie’s dating takes up a good part of the book–Charley sets her up on three fake dates to irritate Ubie enough to get the gumption to (finally) make his move. I love when a harebrained scheme falls apart spectacularly. As this one does.

Meanwhile, Charley’s reaper powers are becoming stronger. She is able to summon souls at will–and even mark them for Heaven and Hell. This becomes more important when she’s being blackmailed and tortured, by the police and a Mexican drug cartel, respectively.

Interestingly, Charley is only kidnapped for an hour in this book. To be fair, it’s a shitty hour with lots of innocent blood spilled, but usually she’s facing death a whole lot longer. Even with her newly-expanded powers, Charley’s not able to bring everyone home safely. Still there’s new life on the horizon, and it’s clearly going to get even more hectic for our coffee-swilling heroine.

As always, the overall series plot revelation is subtle. Charley gains an ally. She makes a new enemy. Her relationship with Reyes takes on a whole new level. Her father has a new mission–one Charley doesn’t know yet. We learn about the Twelve, and how Reyes may tip the balance in Charley’s favor. The cliffhanger this time was a bit heavier than usual, but also more tantalizing. The smexytimes are interesting and well-written, though I will always crave more Reyes.

Good thing I had the print edition, because I got me some bonus pages in Reyes’ POV! Yay!

Interested? You can find SIXTH GRAVE ON THE EDGE on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, your local library and probably a witches coven near you.

Darynda JonesAbout the Author:

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. She can be found at www.daryndajones.com.

Thanks for popping by, and keep reading my friends!

Cephalopod Coffeehouse November 2013–The Grave Danger of Loving Darynda Jones’s Fiction

Hi there and welcome to my review for this month’s Cephalopod Coffeehouse–a book review forum hosted by the Armchair Squid. I had a surprisingly hard time choosing a book for this month’s feature.

As usual I read a killer ton–thirty books, I think. Most I reviewed for my blog, a few for NetGalley, the others for my own guilty pleasure…

I had considered His Name is Sir by Deena Ward. This is absolutely what Pride and Prejudice would have been if Jane Austen wrote BDSM romance. I adored it–and all four books in her Power to Please Collection.

I also considered Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning–the first of her uber-steamy Sinners on Tour series–which delivers EXACTLY what the tagline of the book promises: Love, Sex and Rock-n-Roll.

Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson #5)But I think I’ll go with Darynda Jones’s FIFTH GRAVE PAST THE LIGHT. This is the newest installment of the Charley Davidson series. I reviewed First Grave on the Right last month in my Halloween Spooktacular of paranormal romance features, and the fifth book in the series is not a let down.

If anything, I’m trying to locate the lovely Ms. Jones’s net server so I can hack in for her e-galley of the next book in the series.

Why?

Because she–somehow–made a gal raised in a christian home fall in love with the son of Satan.

That’s right. I love her super-Alpha love interest Reyes Alexander Farrow. I may have some competition from Charley, but hey…

Here’s what happens. Charley is a reaper–actually the only living one in existence. Her humor is Outer Limits–I crack up reading her deadpan observations–which takes a bit of the “grimness” out of her reaper duties: being a portal through which the dead cross into the afterlife. When they pass through her, she absorbs some of their memories. Communicating with the dead is handy for Charley’s private investigator work. Especially when she helps her uncle solve crimes in his job as a Detective for the Albuquerque PD.

In this book, Charley’s longstanding attraction to Reyes Farrow is tested to the limit. See, Reyes has moved into her building–right next door. And he keeps leaving her these sexy Post-its telling her to come over. Charley would like to–but she’s nervous. First, as the son of Satan Reyes may be able to lead Lucifer’s army straight into Heaven by breaching Charley’s portal. Also, Charley suspects Reyes is behind a string of arsons that inexplicably have destroyed every dwelling Reyes ever shared with his sexually abusive step-father. Places where photographic evidence of Reyes’ molestation had been hidden in the walls…

At her core, Charley is an honest soul. She won’t hesitate to turn Reyes in if he’s a criminal. As she isn’t sure, she continues to search for evidence. In the meantime she and Reyes share some heated (read: smoking hot) encounters. Because–did I mention he makes me swoon?–he’s delicious. Intelligent, strong, virile, compassionate and head-over-heels for Charley without losing his magnetic charisma.

In the midst of her Reyes-confusion, Charley works on solving a newly-discovered serial killer case. She follows a few dead leads, and aids nearly thirty lost souls to find their eternal rest. Her discovery of the arsonist seemed more obvious (to me) but handily removes the tension betwixt herself and Reyes. It seems Charley’s life will move to the next level with Reyes into Happily Ever Land–until she’s kidnapped by a maniac.

The book ends with an arrangement I hope Charley will not refuse–even if it means the end of civilization as we know it.

These books are housed under Mystery at my library–only because they don’t have a “Smoking-Hot-Dead-Funny-Paranormal-Romance-Mystery” section in the stacks. If you’re interested, schedule some vacation time and read this series from the start. I think you’ll lose sleep. I know I have.

You can find these books at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, booksellers worldwide, or any library system worth its bricks.

If you check these out–let me know what you think in the comments.

And, as always, keep reading my friends!

Now, follow these links to check out the reviews of my fellow coffeehousers…
1. The Armchair Squid                       7. Trisha @ WORD STUFF

2. Scouring Monk                               8. Kate O’Sullivan Read, Write, Repeat 

3. mainewords                                     9. Bird’s Nest

4. Huntress                                          10. Hungry Enough to Eat Six

5. Denise C Covey                               11. The Random Book Review

6. A Creative Exercise                         12. Words Incorporated

13. Defending the Pen

FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT? Dead funny!

First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)Still running down some fave paranormal/Urban Fantasy reads for the October SPOOKTACULAR.

FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT by Darynda Jones is a gem!

Charley Davidson is a Reaper. She doesn’t actually harvest souls–she’s merely a portal–a conduit to the otherside. A Pearly Gate, if you will.

And, she’s been this way her whole life. Even brought her own mother’s soul to eternal rest when she died at Charley’s birth.

So, it’s no surprise when dead lawyers show up unwilling to ride the express to Eternity. What is shocking? The three of them are partners–and they had a really nasty client.

Can anyone say m-o-b h-i-t?

Being the gate to the afterlife doesn’t pay bills. Charley works as a PI, and also helps her uncle, a police detective, solve crimes for the Albuquerque PD. Why not? I mean, lots of murder victims could tell her exactly where to find the body and who the perp was.

Anywho…Charley’s seen it all. Except perhaps for the dream lover who continues to sex-her-up when her eyes close. He’s the absolute sex bomb. And, for good reason:  Reyes Farrow is the son of Satan. Yeah.

Uber-hot!

Oh! I see you staring down your nose at me! Who’s to say he’s pure evil? And, and, even if he is, lots of girls go for the Bad Guy, amiright?

Besides, he’s just a dream lover…which means they do the dirty dance in her head. No need for confession, folks.

Charley endeavors to solve the mystery of the Three Dead Lawyers whilst dodging a pint-sized poltergeist and commiserating with her BFF/secretary Cookie and lamenting her shitty coffee maker. It’s a rollicking time–and Charley manages to get herself beat up (twice?) and nearly shot by a client’s abusive husband. In this she would have died but a cloaked visage appears and slices her attacker down with mystical efficiency.

Here’s the thing: this book is Laugh. Out. Loud. Charley is irreverent. She’s so dead pan (pun intended) about her interactions with the departed that it stuns the reader into hilarity. In the end she does help the lawyers to crossover and finds out a bit more about the connection between Dreamy Reyes and the cloaked assassin. Oh, and it’s hawt.

FIRST GRAVE is the first in a series–and I’ve read on. They are soooo fun.

Again, it’s a trad pub title and my library stocked a couple copies.

Check it out at YOUR library, or the usual spots:    Amazon   Barnes & Noble    Goodreads

Let me know if you’ve read and of Darynda’s Jones works–and if you liked them.

And, as always: keep reading, my friends.