3 out of 5 stars
Okay, as part of my usual open and honest nature – I am a member of the Angie Fox review crew. As far as I am aware, being a member is decided entirely by luck of a random draw so I was not singled out as someone who would give a positively biased review. Yes, I AM a fan of Ms Fox, but that is of her ‘Southern Ghost Hunters Mystery’ series. And, despite this being book 8 of the ‘Biker Witches Mystery’ series, it is the first book from that series that I have read.
Oh, and I did make a formal protest when first sent the book as I said I’d not read any of the others and wasn’t a huge fan of picking a series up out of order. But was assured it would be easy to follow even if I hadn’t read the other books.
And? Well…. Technically it WAS easy to follow, but with all the threads and side notes casting back to previous books that I had not read – and therefore had no real connection with – I just didn’t love this book. It wasn’t a gripping, page turning addiction into the small hours read. It was almost a struggle to get in to it by the deadline – which I missed – simply as I had other things also due, was given short notice on this book and… yeah, picking up a story at potentially its last book in the series? Not a great way to be introduced.
However, as Ms Fox is a very talented writer the book was still tolerable and readable. I did enjoy moments of it and could see myself going back to the first book (which I own – bought from Amazon) but not straight away. I am one of those annoying people who tend to remember pretty much every book she has read (if I liked it), even years after reading it. And I liked ‘What to Expect When Your Demon Slayer is Expecting’ enough to now need to take a break before restarting the series with book one. Gosh I hope that makes sense to others, it did to me! 😉
I can’t comment a heck of a lot on the characters, as this is the first book I’ve read in the series as therefore they aren’t as well described as they would have been at the beginning of the series. You can tell them apart, mostly, but they are rather one dimensional to the novice reader of the series. I am sure they make a LOT more sense to people who have read the series from the start.
And, not that I am a prude, but that sex scene, really Ms Fox? I just found it rather basic and coarse… like the outline of something you’re going to go back and put a lot more sensual and graphic details to and never got around to it. I feel it would have been better either keeping it to the suggestion level of sex… or going a little further with the descriptive text. It really came across more as a fumble of the back of the car when you were expecting so much more from how the character’s love was previously described. It was rather a fizzle than a kaboom. But! Maybe this is just the style in this series and I am expecting more due to a smutty mind? 😉 Maybe Ms Fox has been asked to tone it down in the past? But, personally, I would have left it out with leading sentences and innuendo rather than write what was there, as it just didn’t match the rest of the writing style to me.
Oh, what I horrible fan I am! This is all meant as constructive criticism and not a nasty vent and I really hope Ms Fox takes it as such. She writes well! I was just the wrong reader for this book.
Would I recommend this book to others?
Yes I would, but only to those who had read and enjoyed all the previous books in the series. Don’t read it as the first book; it is a waste of a good book and your lazy afternoon of reading.
Would I buy this book for myself?
I probably would… but only after I had bought, read and enjoyed all the previous books in the series. I am a fan of Angie Fox’s work and am always happy to buy her books… I just need to read them in order first! 🙂
In summary: A good book, but would be a lot better if I’d read the previous books in the series first.
Until next time,
Janis.
Janis's Journal 