Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

When Kate Conner, an average stay-at-home-mom with a husband, two kids, and a mortgage, finds a real demon in her neighborhood Wal-Mart, all hell breaks loose. What the demon doesn’t realize that Kate is a retired demon hunter and while she’s a little out of practice, she’s still as deadly as ever. Unfortunately her family doesn’t know about her past. Now Kate is on to the biggest challenge of her life (okay, second biggest challenge – coordinating the car pool is still number one ;) ), a high demon is interested in a holy relic stored in a nearby cathedral. So unless she finds a way to stop the demon and his minions, her family, her town and possibly the whole world may be destroyed.

This is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a while, but I guess it really doesn’t qualify as a romance novel, because there isn’t any romance :( . Julie painted an incredibly detailed picture of everyday life in a modern suburban community. But when you least expect it, she seamlessly drops you into a paranormal world that coexists with the one we’re familiar. For example, you’re shopping for dog food in your local Wal-Mart, and you notice a demon in a human body, shopping there too. This book is so good, it’s not going in my have-been-read-read pile, but going back in my to-be-read pile, so that when I get a copy of the sequel California Demon, I’ll read the pair together.

Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter

Mia Snow, alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department, always gets her man, uh, …alien, though she usually doesn’t bother to bring them back alive. So when a series of mysterious killings plague New Chicago, Mia follows the trail to the most powerful of race aliens, the Arcadians and to one alien in particular Kyrin en Arr. Unfortunately for Mia, Kyrin possesses powers that allow him to elude her capture. When Mia finally catches Kyrin, he manages to unleash a passion she’s never experienced before, then while she’s confused and vulnerable he reveals a secret about her past that shatters everything she believes to be true. Now it’s up to Mia to overcome her passions and her past and bring the real killer to justice.

Mia Snow is one of Gena’s most powerful characters she ever created. Think of a female version of Dirty Harry living in a SciFi version of Earth in the future where it’s legal for the police to kill aliens who break the law. While the book is somewhat dark, it will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. If you hate aliens and/or Dirty Harry characters, you should avoid this book. But if you think you can deal with the dark and grungy side of the future, you’re in for a very powerful story.

Details: Downtown Press, 2005

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy