Series: Kate Connor, Demon Hunter | Publication Date: July 1, 2008
From the USA Today bestselling author of Demons Are Forever— suburban warfare, demonhunting- mom style.
Between attending gala fundraisers for her husband’s political campaign, training her teenage daughter to wield a crossbow and a stiletto, pottytraining a toddler, and her increasingly complicated personal life, Kate Connor hardly has time to prepare for the impending chaos of a neighborhood Easter party that has her enslaved to dying hundreds of hard-boiled eggs.
Keeping the local kiddos in line will take all of Kate’s skills as a mother and demon hunter, just when she’ll need them the most. The High Demon Goramesh has returned to San Diablo—this time with a full-blown army of the undead and a powerful demonic ally. Once again, it’s up to Kate to save the world. Good thing she can multi-task...
Like most women, Kate Connor had too many things to do and not enough time to do them. Along with supporting her husband Stuart’s campaign for political office and planning the neighborhood Easter party, Kate has all the regular “mom” jobs. But unlike other moms, Kate is also a Level Four Demon Hunter. So when an old foe, High Demon Goramesh, returns to San Diablo with his army of the undead, Kate once again has to find time in her busy schedule to save her corner of the world. Kenner deftly serves up another captivating blend of neatly crafted characters, sharp humor, and paranormal-steeped suspense that is certain to charm readers hooked on this entertainingly original series. --John Charles
When Julie was knee-high to a grasshopper (an expression that she would like it known she has never, ever used in real life) she informed her parents that she was going to be a novelist, and proceeded to write Kitty Claws, a bestselling book about a cat as Santa. (The book sold out its entire print-run of one, so lets not split hairs about that "best-selling" thing, okay?)
After that stellar start, Julie continued to dabble in the literary arts, writing short stories on yellow pads that she forced her mother to type, scribbling poems on ruled notebook paper that she forced her mother to type, making up skits and songs that she forced her mother to watch and listen to, and diving head-first into high school journalism, at which point, mom finally got a break.
In college, she continued with the journalism thing, picking that as her major and working at The Daily Texan, the student newspaper for the University of Texas. The idea that she could actually write novels and, oh, buy food too, completely eluded her.
The journalism thing cranked along nicely for about one semester. Then Julie got a job as a production assistant on a movie originally called Splatter, but which was released as Future Kill (and can still be found in Blockbuster and through Netflix), with really great Giger poster art. Julie worked her tail off, appeared as an extra, had a great time, and promptly switched her major to film.
Graduating at the ripe old age of 19, Julie chickened out and didn't move to Los Angeles to become the next Steven Spielberg. Instead, she stayed in Austin and worked as a media assistant until she decided that perhaps law school was the better way to go because, hey, a degree in film slides so seamlessly into law. (Or, more likely, grad school was inevitable and the LSAT seemed doable.) Not one to waste time, Julie took the LSAT in December, and was admitted to Baylor Law School on a full scholarship the following February. Law school and Julie got along great, and after graduation, Julie went to work as a law clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where she had a fabulous time drafting legal opinions, preparing the judge for court, and taking regular trips to New Orleans on a government per diem. During her two year stint as a clerk, the writing bug bit again, and Julie wrote a stage play that will never, ever see the light of day. Really. So don't even ask.
After her clerkship, Julie decided she could handle moving to the Big City, and she took a job with Skadden, Arps in L.A., where she worked on a variety of cases with some very smart lawyers. After a year, she moved on to smaller and smaller firms (and had a short stint as a production exec at a small film company, thus justifying all those credit hours in college). She continued to work with very smart lawyers, one of whom introduced Julie to Julie Garwood (her books, not the woman herself), and the writing bug bit again.
Though Julie had been dabbling with writing in her limited spare time, she'd lacked focus. Now, she'd found it, and she was determined to write an historical romance. You may, after reviewing Julie's book list, note that there are no historical romances on there. Let's just say that she didn't succeed at that task. Julie did, however, discover that while she has a head for contemporary nuances, the ins-and-outs of historical detail are enough to make her head explode.
The in-progress historical was promptly shelved, and Julie turned her attention to fleshing out a contemporary romance, having decided that category romance was the way to go, since with the demands of a legal job, she'd be much more likely to finish 240 manuscript pages than 400.
Finish them she did, and though she got nice feedback on the voice, the novel didn't sell. One editor, Harlequin's Brenda Chin, returned a rejection letter with a note that the hook wasn't enough of a "sexy premise."
Always up for a challenge, Julie came up with the opening line, "You need a man," which she thought had oodles of sexy premise potential. She just had to find a story to go with the line. Eventually, she did, and Nobody Does It Better, Julie's first published novel, was born. She entered the first few chapters in contests, finaled, and was ultimately judged by that same Brenda Chin, who ended up buying the manuscript. (Which is not the reason Julie thinks Brenda is a really cool person. Truly.)
By that time, Julie had realized that 400 pages were manageable after all, and she'd almost completed a paranormal romance along the lines of The Little Mermaid about a cat who is in love with her master. The Cat's Fancy sold just a few months after the original sale. Both books came out in 2000, along with a second Temptation, and Julie has had at least 3 books hit the shelves annually every since, and now has well over twenty books to her credit, crossing over a multitude of genres, most of which are represented in some way by the clever pictures in the collage at the top of this page.
Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a "flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations," Julie's books have hit lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Locus Magazine, all of which has made Julie a happy camper. Julie is also a two-time RITA finalist, both times for books about strong women (a superhero and a demon-hunter). There's probably some deep meaning there, and if you know what it is, feel free to drop Julie a line.
Julie was also the winner of Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Contemporary Paranormal of 2001, the winner of the Reviewers International Organization's award for best romantic suspense of 2004 and best paranormal of 2005, and the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award for best mainstream book of 2005. Not that she's keeping track or anything.
Julie writes a range of stories including quirky romances, sexy contemporaries, young adult novels, suspense, paranormal mommy lit, and (soon!) darker urban fantasy.
Her initial foray into the urban fantasy mommy lit genre--Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom--proved especially successful, resulting in a Booksense pick, a Target break-out book, other accolades and honors, and a movie deal. Specifically, Carpe Demon, is in development as a feature film with Warner Brothers and 1492 Pictures. Julie frequently pounds on her battered wooden desk (Salvation Army, $25, gotta love it) in order to urge the project from development to screen. (In Hollywood, these things are never certain until you're watching the movie and eating popcorn.)
Julie and her husband moved from Southern California back to Texas in 1995, and Julie quit the practice of law to write full time in 2004. Now, she lives and writes in central Texas with her husband, two daughters, and several cats. She is an active supporter of Love Without Boundaries. Click here to learn more about the charities Julie supports.
This review is from: Deja Demon: The Days and Nights of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Kate Connor, Demon Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
Returning home after an unsuccessful demon hunt, Kate Connor is attacked at home by a demon and a zombie. She is used to fighting demons, but zombies are another matter and difficult to dispose of. When the body of the demon disappears the next morning, Kate realizes she has an even bigger mystery on her hands. Unfortunately, the zombie is still there. And between the Easter party planning madness and business dinner parties at the house, Kate will need to rely on her friends and family to help keep her sanity and San Diablo's demon population at bay.
To make matters worse, Kate is still trying to keep her demon hunting a secret from her husband. Her former husband wants to spend more time with their daughter. And her daughter wants nothing more than to follow in her mother's footsteps as a demon hunter. Poor Kate has to deal with more drama than anyone should. This series is still one of my favorites. Even if I don't always agree with Kate's decisions regarding her personal life.
Events come to a head in this installment. With plenty of action, suspense, and humor, the Demon Hunter Soccer Mom series is a wonderfully entertaining read. It has a completely different feel from any other urban paranormal or fantasy series out there. I can't get enough of it.
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This review is from: Deja Demon: The Days and Nights of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Kate Connor, Demon Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
In suburban San Diablo Demon Hunter Kate Connor is mentally exhausted on all fronts. The demons keep on coming and now she is stuck with two "feuding" husbands since she resurrected the spirit of her dead first spouse Eric, who shares the body of teacher David Long. They are driving her crazier than her blithely ignorant second husband Stuart, the demon hordes, training her teenage daughter Allie to fight and her toddler to use the bathroom.
Realizing she cannot retire from demon hunting as she had done once before to become a soccer mom following Eric's death, Kate knows she must confess the full truth to Stuart; before he figures out that demons keep attacking her. She is not sure what these malevolent beings hen they mention the One and the Sword of Caelum, but they assume she does; on top of that an enemy from her first war has come to town with one hell of a horde.
The latest demon fighting soccer mom tale retains the biting jocularity of the previous encounters, but the opponent turns the storyline much grittier and personal. Still Kate is as kick butt tough as ever; Allie is getting proficient at demon slaying; David-Eric is at her side; and Stuart proves to have greater depth and guts than readers and his wife realize. Fans of Julie Kenner's suburban fantasy will appreciate DEJA DEMON.
Harriet Klausner
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This review is from: Deja Demon: The Days and Nights of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Kate Connor, Demon Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
I love this series.
Book #4 in the Soccer Mom series. This book rehashes many of the previous storylines so you would be lost if you don't start this series at the beginning.
Kate's life is busy enough with a toddler, a teenage daughter and a husband running for political office - what she doesn't need are two angry demons joining forces to take her off the planet. There is just no reasoning with Abaddon and Goramesh - you would think that demons would have a better sense of humor. But, no, it's up to Kate, with a little help from her friends, to save San Diablo from the infestation of Demons and Zombies. But how do you do that while still trying to find a giant rabbit for the neighborhood Easter Party?
So while Kate is patrolling at night with David who isn't only David, Kate must finally come to terms with her husband Stuart and put all of her hunting paraphernalia on the table and come clean about who she really is and if he wants to stay married to a level 5 demon hunter.
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