REVIEW: Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Title: Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: March, 2007
Paperback: 343 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: 8/10

Description: Succubus. An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men. Pathetic. A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

My Thoughts: I can’t recall having read a book where the leading character is a succubus before. By the very definition, a succubus isn’t someone a guy should be getting intimate with, so there goes any chance of a happily ever after with Mr. Right for our succubus heroine, in my opinion. At any rate, Georgina manages to make her job as a succubus interesting. She has a lowlifes only policy so the souls she’s taking aren’t innocent to begin with, though her demon supervisor would rather she expand her criteria. The upside to this life that I really enjoyed is that Georgina can shape shift into anything and can become invisible. She gets to choose her body and appearance, the persona others will see. Georgina will never have to worry about having to buy larger size clothing because her craving for ice cream has gone to her butt. She can just shape shift herself into a size 4. She also works in a bookstore and seems to have access to an unlimited quantity of white chocolate mochas and free books. Not a bad arrangement at all…

I also found Georgina’s past intriguing. The reasons she became a succubus were interesting and though she seems happy with her life and choices for the most part, Georgina still mourns her old life and the people in it. I do hope she doesn’t spend a lot of time dredging up the past, though.

There are a lot of interesting characters in this book and it was a little bit overwhelming trying to keep everyone straight. Vampires, angels, and demons are among Georgina’s friends and associates. Georgina also has an attraction to a couple of mortal men, Roman and Seth, but she is trying to be careful as she doesn’t want to hurt them. The simple act of kissing can take years from their lives.

The villain in this story is a different type of character for me as well. It didn’t take me long to figure who the villain was, but finding out what the villain is came as a surprise. This kind of character in my reading is also a first for me. The villain is targeting immortal creatures and Georgina, unfortunately, is one of the victims when she is viciously attacked and beaten. Luckily, she survives and heals quickly, but other immortal creatures are not so lucky. With the help of her friends, Georgina is trying hard to solve the puzzle of who is behind the attacks and why before she loses her life or someone close to her dies. I very much enjoyed the way this story played out and learning why the villain was attacking immortal creatures proved to be very interesting. I will be looking for the next book in the series to see what Georgina and her friends get involved in next. I recommend this book if you enjoy paranormal themes but are looking for something a little bit different in your characters.