Review: Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles

Back Cover Blurb:

Who knew an angel could get a girl in so much devilish trouble?

Jackie Brighton woke up in a dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her breasts grew overnight, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one-night stand ever . . . with a fallen angel.

Of course, she only remembers gorgeous Noah’s enormous, er, package. And their steamy shower sex. Hmm . . . and the dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a seductive Itch.

With help from Noah and fellow succubus Remy Summore, Jackie adapts to her new lifestyle—until she accidentally strikes a deal that sends her lover into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands Jackie, Remy, and the queen’s wickedly hot right-hand man into the middle of a fierce battle for an ancient halo.

But how’s a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy’s so hard to resist?

For fans of: Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

Ever since I started following the blog Odd Shots, I’ve been looking forward to reading this book. Jill Myles has a great sense of humor, and I was looking forward to seeing it translate into her first full length novel. After a slight mishap at my local bookstore involving misplaced books and forty minutes spent searching the shelves, I finally got a copy and immediately took it home to read.

I wasn’t disappointed. The humor is fantastic. The main character, museum-tour-guide-turned-succubus Jackie, does wonderful things with sarcasm and self-deprecation that had me laughing out loud and causing my family to look at me like I was nuts. And the leading men in the love triangle, oh la la! They’re both fatally good looking. I’ve decided I’m more of a Zane fan (Zane being the vampire queen’s hot right-hand man). He’s one of the kindest (and sexiest) bad boys I’ve ever read about; what he says (think rude jerk-isms) doesn’t always mesh with what he does. He does seem to genuinely care about Jackie, though, which meets one of my requirements for bad boy love interests: He shalt truly care about the female lead and protect her from all other dastardly villains though he may behave abominably in the process. While Noah is protective and sexy, I got the feeling that he’s just interested in Jackie in a carnal way and isn’t too keen on an actual relationship. And yes, the sex scenes are all steamy and well written and definitely yummy. ;D

Remy, Jackie’s new mentor and friend, is another interesting character. Remy has a questionable job, questionable taste in clothes (and men), and a potty mouth. Remy’s saving graces are her loyalty to Jackie and her friendliness from the moment we meet her, and she makes a perfect foil to Jackie, who is clueless about men, pretty naïve, and slightly prudish. The contrast between Remy and Jackie leads to some funnily awkward moments between the two of them.

And this brings me to Jackie. I was disappointed by Jackie. I love her humor and was excited to see that she’s intelligent (she has at least one degree and runs tours in a local museum). I like that she gets to have that Cinderella-esque makeover that every girl fantasizes about and gets the body of her dreams by becoming a succubus. I also like that she has real self-esteem issues, which any woman would have after being a size fourteen most of her life and suddenly finding herself a size six and the object of men’s desires. Those are portrayed realistically and well. My problem with Jackie is that she’s supposedly intelligent, and yet she has occasional moments where she’s just too stupid to live (TSTL). The first thing Remy does when instructing Jackie in her new way of life is to warn her not to do certain things. What does Jackie do? She manages to go out and immediately do what she was warned about. And though she’s a museum docent (her actual job description), she seems a little clueless at times when dealing some of the historical information, which I couldn’t find entirely believable since she works in a museum and has a degree, probably in Archaeology, judging by what she says about her job. Jackie is mostly believable as a normal, slightly prudish woman who just found herself turned into a succubus with an insatiable sex drive. I just wish she had evidenced her intelligence a little more consistently.

The plot was engaging. I am automatically a fan of any book that portrays ancient mythologies in a modern setting (think Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series) because I’m a history buff, so tossing in elements of Ancient Egyptian history gets a thumbs up from me. I wished the fight between good and evil was a little more pronounced; it felt slightly laissez faire and rather mellow. There weren’t any apocalyptic battle scenes, and the ending is somewhat anti-climactic, but overall, the plots flows smoothly and is interesting enough that you are curious about what happens next.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Succubi Like It Hot; hopefully, the love triangle and the action will heat up and Jackie will exhibit more common sense and intelligence. Gentlemen Prefer Succubi is a great debut by a first time author and a hilariously fun read. Would I read this book again? Probably.

My Grade: B-