Book #108: Succubus Blues

Title: Succubus Blues (book #1 of the Georgina Kincaid Series)

Author: Richelle Mead

Date started reading: Aug. 25, 2012
Date finished reading:  Aug. 29, 2012

Publish date: August 2010
ISBN: 978-0821780770
Number of pages: 320

Official summary: "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 get-up 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..." (http://www.richellemead.com)

How I obtained the book: Got through Listia.com (It's like eBay without the money being exchanged)

My commentary:

• I decided to read this series because I love Mead's writing in the Vampire Academy series and Bloodlines series, but I wasn't sure what to expect because this was an "adult" series instead of a "young adult" series. And, obviously, I knew there'd be some sex scenes in it since Georgina is a succubus. I was really hoping that she couldn't go all cheesy romance novel writer on me, and ultimately she didn't. I was able to overlook my distaste for sex scenes because Mead made her scenes non-tacky. I'm pleasantly amazed by the book overall and looking forward to the rest of the series. Back on the "cheesy" sex scenes I was afraid of... Some writers remind me too much of the guidance counselor from the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" (as you can see in the movie clip below...

• As far as narrators go, I found Georgina to be a very strong one. I like her much more than Syndney in the Bloodlines series and almost as much as Rose in Vampire Academy. 
• I seem to keep stumbling into books that include fallen angels and nephilim. I obviously knew what I was getting into when I read the Fallen saga by Lauren Kate, Unearthly/Hallowed by Cynthia Hand, and the Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick, but I didn't expect to see them in The Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare, the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz or in this series by Richelle Mead. It's weird how they keep popping up everywhere in my reading.

Memorable quotes:

• "Statistics show that most mortals sell their souls for five reasons: sex, money, power, revenge, and love. In that order. I suppose I should have been reassured, then, that I was out here assisting with numero uno, but the whole situation just made me feel ... well, sleazy. And coming from me, that was something." ~ Georgina 
• "Demons weren't big on small talk." ~ Georgina
• "I worship the ground this guy walks on. I'm excited to meet him tonight. I'm dying to meet him tonight. If he wanted to carry me off and make me his love slave, I'd do it, so long as I got advance copies of his books." ~ Georgina about Seth
• "Hell hath no fury like a pissed-off demon." ~ Georgina
• "I guess some people write the stories, and others live them." ~ Seth
• "I only read five pages a day. ... Because it's so good, and because there's only one chance to read a book for the first time, and I want it to last. That experience. I'd finish it in a day otherwise, and that'd be like eating a carton of ice cream in one sitting. Too much richness over too quickly. This way, I can draw it out. Make the book last longer. Savor it. I have to since they don't come out that often." ~ Georgina
• "In the last twenty-four hours, I"d had to endure virgins, scary vampires, murder, accusation, and humiliation in front of my favorite author. I really didn't think coming home to a quiet apartment was too much to ask for." ~ Georgina
• "You are the most uncharming succubus I've ever met." ~ Peter to Georgina
• "I loved used bookstores but always felt a little guilty walking into them. Like I was cheating. After all, I worked around bright, crisp books all the time. I could obtain a reprint of almost anything I wanted, brand new. It seemed wrong to take such visceral pleasure from being around old books, from the smell of aged paper, mildew, and dust. Such collections of knowledge, some quite old, always reminded me of times long past and places I'd seen, triggering a tidal wave of nostalgia. These emotions made me feel both old and young. The books aged while I did not." ~ Georgina
• "Being with a woman like you is generally the sort of thing that only happens in a man's dreams." ~ Erik to Georgina
• "Books were a lot less messy than orgasms." ~ Georgina
• "The worlds and people in my head are so alive to me that I lose track of the real world." ~ Georgina
• "I don't suppose there's a Georgina Kincaid Instruction Manual around here somewhere to help me avoid these embarrassing blunders in the future." ~ Roman
• "Even new vampire hunters wise up eventually." ~ Carter
• "Vampires. Honestly, they're like children sometimes." ~ Georgina
• "Georgina, sometimes I think you might be worth following around, just to hear what you'll say next." ~ Carter
• "Relationships suck. This is why I don't date. You just hurt people." ~ Georgina
  "Most good things come with the risk of something bad." ~ Seth
• "Sometimes you wake up from a dream. And sometimes, every once in a while, you wake up in a dream." ~ Georgina
• "I forget, Georgina rushes in where angels fear to tread." ~ Carter
• "Love doesn't make angels fall, Georgina. If anything, love can have quite the opposite effect." ~ Carter
• "Eternity doesn't seem so bad with you in my arms." ~ Roman to Georgina
• "No one is beyond being loved." ~ Carter
• "Love is rarely flawless. Humans delude themselves by thinking it has to be. It is the imperfections that makes love perfect." ~ Carter

Buy on Amazon.com: Succubus Blues