Chip on Her Shoulder (Magical Romantic Comedies #11) by R.J. Blain
We received an advanced reader copy of this book.
Published: September 1st 2020 by Pen & Page Publishing
Myth: 2/5
This book has events that occur prior to the events in Whatever for Hire. It gives a starting point as to how Lucifer ended up wanting to adopt Kanika, but it’s mostly focused on Lucifer finding a wife.
The book starts off strong with the “chip on her shoulder” theme. Darlene seems angry about everything, and we don’t get a great understanding of how much her life has warranted having this chip on her shoulder. Of course it’s clear that her brother is a handful, but Darlene’s character seems overly exasperated with things she can’t control.
Next she finds her way into hell. She needs help from the devil and decides that the best way to handle him is with a strong hand. This is the majority of the story. Though there are other plot elements, including getting revenge for her brother (which seems to be a driving motivation for the story) they are very supplementary to Darlene’s handling of the devil. She started very clearly on the no mixing business and pleasure angle, but as soon as he got her a few iced coffees and showed her his angelic side, she was ready to blur the lines.
I like a good romance novel, but what was supposed to sexy banter felt more like repetitive dialogue.
Magic: 2/5
The mysteries and mayhem of celestial beings is always a good backdrop for a fantasy story. But though the archangels and the devil were main characters in the book, it didn’t feel like a celestial plan was in the works. We knew the plan was that Lucifer would fall in love, but it wasn’t a crafty trap where they made the devil realize his emotions. He just sort of did it on his own and all Michael did was put Darlene in his path.
Overall: 2/5
Good ideas and concepts but it didn’t seem like there was a concrete story here and I didn’t enjoy the banter between characters.
Other books in the series:
