A quick and fun read that leaved me with a smile & a satisfied feeling in the end...
My past as a Buffy's addicted appreciated the references to the show (even if most of them were sarcastic) and as a dog's lover I couldn't help myself to fall in love with Fang...who wouldn't?! He's just so cute...even more so when in a let's-kiss-some-vampires-ass mode!!

For a debut was a really good one and I can't wait to read more about the Val-Lola-Dan&Fang brigade!!! ( )

Val Shapiro is eighteen years old today. She celebrates by staking a vampire or two. (It helps keep her inner demon somewhat satisfied.) Her family celebrates by kicking her out of their house for fear of that inner demon. Val is one eight succubus.

But she's soon recruited by the Special Crimes unit for her vampire killing abilities and is found by a small terrier who is one eight hell hound.

This was part Buffy the Vampire Slayer and part Lost Girl. Val is sassy and kicks ass, but also has a soft vulnerable side that worries over her family and how to control her succubus side without killing anyone.

Some of it is a little hokey, but all in all it was a fun read.

I think my favorite part of this book is that it's set in San Antonio. I spent a long time in youth thinking that San Antonio was just so far away from the cultural world. I don't think that anymore, but it's still rare to find books and TV shows/movies that are set here. ( )

This is the first book of the Demon Underground series, and it's the first book I've ever red of Parker Blue. I must say it's pretty good, I was sucked in immediately and read it very quickly. I like the writing style and the world Parker Blue created. It's similar but yet very different from other books i've read like this. I can't wait to continue on with this series and see how everything plays out. Oh what can I say I'm a sucker for books with Demons and vampires and everything paranormal. ( )

Ho… this book. Thoughts. Let’s just…

First off, what was the author THINKING? With the title? I mean, yeah. It’s a good title for a vampire book, I guess… if you’re in MIDDLE SCHOOL. It’s so juvenile. Ugh.

Plot: 3.5
There was a good plot here. There was suspense and action and a central motive and all good things plot’s require. Unfortunately… other factors clouded these elements and sort of took over. Bad characterization. Stiff writing. And also, though the BASIC plot was good, the way the author executed parts of it was just… it fell short of the mark.

Characters: 2.5
Val Shapiro: I actually liked her as a character. But things happened. Like the big reveal. That… that was not done well. Also, I did not appreciate how much time she spent refuting Buffy*.
Dan Sullivan: I hate him. I still hate him. I know the author spent the last half of the book pulling a lot a little gimmicks to try and make me forgive him, but it didn’t work. I said that he would have to do some F****** Amazing to make me forgive him, and he didn’t. He didn’t do anything. There was that weird vulcn-mind-meld-thing, which was totally not initiated by him, so that didn’t count for anything. And then he told off her mom, which COULD have qualified as that amazing thing, except it was not well-said at all. And then there was that scene after the big battle at the end. Again, in which he DIDN’T DO ANYTHING. So no. I don’t forgive him. I still hate his guts. (IT may also be in part because I am very stubborn)
Jen: Is the little sister who ineveitably gets kidnapped/in trouble. Although they never really MENTIONED Buffy around Jen, so much of the book was spent refuting Buffy, I feel entitled to make this point: Jen is Dawn. That is it. Period. There is NO difference WHATSOEVER between Jen and Dawn.
Rick: I liked him. I liked the new take on the step dad. Cuz they’re always mean/abusive/evil/etc. but Rick was nice.
Fang: I feel like the dog was probably my favorite character in the whole book.

Romance: 2/5
SO, I mentioned the Big Reveal when I was talking about Val. The Big Reveal is what happens when the Main character has been keeping a secret from the other characters, in this case, the main love interest, Dan. It was AFTER the Big Reveal that this book just tanked. It was, for the most part, all right (or at least forgivable). But then… oh man, so many things went wrong. I’ll just talk about two things that went wrong, though:
1) HOW VAL HANDLED THE BIG REVEAL: She gave away, not just her own secret, but also EVERY OTHER SECCRET WE HAD LEARNE DOVER THE COURSE OF BOOK. Meaning she told Dan about Fang, all the things that Ramirez knew, AND the secrets of the other part-demons in the story. If I had been Micah, I’d’ve been WAAAY more pissed at her.
2) Dan’s reaction: Actually, nothing was really wrong here, it was completely reasonable and everything (My brother actually agrees Dan on this point, and I happen to place a lot of trust in my brother’s decisions/feelings about things). But THIS is the part that made me hate him… so. Yeah. There’s that.

Overall Grade: 8/15. D.
I would just like to put in a not here though: I am judging this book by the standards of traditionally published books, which makes up the large percentage of what I read. But those standards, this book is really lousy.
If I were judging by the standards of indie books, though, the grade would be higher.

*More on Buffy: Buffy is my favorite fandom, of all time. It’s fine to reference it in a book, that’ll make me like it better. But spending half your book explaining all the reasons why this world is NOT like Buffy and why Buffy is NOT respected in this world… doesn’t really fly. Moreover, why would you spend half your book refuting Buffy, when your book IS EXACTL like Buffy? I am not convinced that the author (Or anyone in this world) has even seen Buffy for that matter. They just Siad. “Buffy. We’re not it.” Though they totally were. The author OBVIOUSLY had no idea what she was talking about when it came to Buffy. (And if you don’t really know what you’re talking about, than a fine suggestion is to NOT TALK ABOUT IT A LOT.) Just my opinion, folks.

Also, to answer the all-important question: will I or will not read the next one?
Since I can get the next one from the library… Yes. Most likely.
“But, Monica, you just said that this entire was shit. Why would you even want to read the next one?”
Because I’m a masochist?
No. I’m going to compare this book to substitute potato chips. They taste bad, they’re not even good for you, but you eat them anyway, especially when there’s no real potato chips around.
*For the record, in this analogy, real potato chips are other books, of which I do have quite a few laying around*
But I’ve already opened the bag of substitute potato chips, and my mom says I’m only supposed to have one bag of potato chips open at a time, so I’ll finish this bag. And then I’ll go get the real ones.
Also, I’m very forgiving, and I hope this series improves as the author’s writing style evolves.

( )

What is with this succubus thing? I feel as if I've read way too many accounts of succbus or part-succubus lately. That being said, I really enjoyed this book.

Can you say found family? Val starts out with her mother, stepfather, and half-sister Jen. Jen is obsessed with Val's vampire hunting--something she does to "take the edge off" her succubus side's desires--and because of this their mother worries Jen could get hurt. One of the surprises for me was that Val's stepfather not only knows what she is but actively helps her train and prepare to fight and kill vampires. That's why I was just as blind-sided as Val when her parents kicked her out of the house because they were afraid Jen would get hurt because of her.

Val, of course, lucks into a great job that's made for her and then lucks into a place to live. Suddenly the girl who thinks nobody loves her is surrounded by people (and Fang!) who care. Since found family is totally one of my bulletproof tropes I was so right there for this. At the end, after rescuing her sister who got into trouble without her just fine, Val's stepfather hugs "both his girls." Since daddy issues are yet another of my bulletproof tropes I was right there for that, too.

This was a very satisfying read. Enough paranormal and pop-culture references to make me happy and just the right amount of romance (which is to say not too much). ( )