Hotter Than Hell (Hell on Earth, Book 3) (Paperback)

~ Jackie Kessler (Author)
Key Phrases: bloody hell, flesh puppet, little succubus, Jackie Kessler, Prince of Lust, Lady Envy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Kessler's newest, Daunuan, master seducer and incubus, returns badder than ever. Pan, the new king of lust, wants to appoint Daunuan his second in command, but Daunuan must first prove himself by seducing a woman destined for heaven, claiming her soul for hell. Daunuan thinks this will be an easy assignment, but he doesn't expect to fall in love with Virginia, his target, and be willing to give up hell to ensure that she doesn't get damned for all eternity. Complicating his mission is that someone in hell has it in for him and has sicced a crew of demons on him. Daunuan also cannot come to terms with his feelings for Jezebel, a succubus. The plot is sexy and bold, and the atypical ending—a happily ever after pairing is not in the cards—is satisfying, even if the unconventional conclusion may rub some readers the wrong way. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

In HELL'S BELLES and THE ROAD TO HELL, Jackie Kessler brought readers into an unforgettable Underworld populated by alluring demons and sexy devils. Now Daunuan, the most irresistible incubus of all, is facing one Hell of a challenge...

So whose soul do you have to damn to get a promotion around here?

Daunuan was never the ambitious type. There's so much to love about his job just the way it is--mind-blowing sexual prowess, the power to seduce any human, excellent dental plan. But now Pan, the King of Lust, has offered to make Daun his right-hand incubus--a position other demons would give their left horn for. All he has to do is entice a soul destined for heaven into a damnable act of lust. Should take, oh, seven minutes, tops.

Then he meets his target, Virginia Reed. She's cute. Funny. Smart. Unfathomably resistant to his charms. He can't understand it. But Daun has centuries of seduction to his credit. He's the best there is. Sooner or later he'll transform this polar icecap of a female into a pool of molten desire, and every instinct tells him she'll be worth the effort.

Meanwhile, he has to deal with a plague of rogue demons Hell-bent on taking him down, sent by an unknown enemy with a serious grudge. And one other problem: the dawning realization that he's falling in love--that unholiest of four-letter words--with the woman he's about to doom for all eternity...

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821781049
• ISBN-13: 978-0821781043
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #290,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Hell on Earth Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sexy, sassy, edgy, and undeniable bold, August 27, 2008

By	Kelley Hartsell "Kelley" (Irving, TX) - See all my reviews

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Fans of Jackie Kessler's Hell on Earth series who love that sexy incubus Daunuan are in for a treat now that he gets his own story.

Daun loves his job as an incubus. Who can resist the chance to have earth shattering sex all the time and steal a few souls for Hell while you're at it? He's happy exactly where he is and has no aspirations to rise up in the demon food chain. However, now Pan, King of Lust has decided he wants Daun at his right hand and he won't take no for an answer. The only hitch? Daun has to prove his ability by seducing a woman of purest soul, destined for Heaven, into lust, damning her forever. Sounds easy, right?

Unfortunately for Daun, this assignment proves his greatest challenge. When he meets Virginia Reed, she is nothing like he expected. There could not be a more perfect person on Earth than Virginia and soon Daun finds he's none too eager to finish the job. Then there's the fact that Virginia looks an awful lot like former succubus, now human Jezebel, "Jesse" whom Daun could never resist.

Things get complicated even more when every single lesser demon minion from the Underworld has shown up on Earth, bound and determined to kill Daun. Trying to save his own hide, and Virginia's, becomes a priority for Daun. Especially when... could it be possible Daun is falling in love? Of course not! After all, demons don't know the meaning of love. Or do they?

I've loved the Hell on Earth series since the first book, Hell's Belles, was released and I am thrilled to see the story continuing. As much as I love Jesse's character, Daun has fascinated me since his first appearance so I was especially excited to see him playing the starring role in Hotter than Hell. I enjoyed seeing him meet his match in the beautiful, inside and out, Virginia. None of the usual rules apply and I adored the humor in seeing Daun realize the only way to attract her eye was by making himself *gasp* ordinary. As he discovers who Virginia really is, we see just how much Daun has changed from the early days, represented through a series of flashbacks to different eras.

The addition of the mystery as to who is trying to destroy Daun adds to the tension. He has to protect himself and Virginia from the danger if he ever hopes to finish his job. We also get to see a little more about Virginia through the battle scenes, discovering just how brave and big hearted she really is. We also get to visit with some old and new friends. One of my favorites is Angel the former angel, now a succubus. The interaction between Daun and Angel adds another level to the story. I hope Angel will put in more appearances and maybe even get her own story someday.

One thing to keep in mind about Hotter than Hell is that it's difficult to classify. While it has a strong romance between Daun and Virginia, it is very non-traditional and therefore I can't really call it a paranormal romance. This is further shown through the conclusion to their tale. It's not at all what I expected but suits the characters perfectly. It also leaves a few openings for further adventures in the life of Daun.

Jackie Kessler manages to pack enough heat into her books that they challenge the Lake of Fire for intensity. After all, in a series about incubi and succubae, you just now the sexual quota is through the roof! What's especially nice is exploring the romantic relationship between Virginia and Daun. The forced abstinence on Daun's part sends the tension through the roof. It's all about the seduction and not the follow-through, since actually engaging in sex is what will kill Virginia. Hotter than Hell is sexy, sassy, edgy, and undeniable bold, clinching Jackie Kessler's position as a true rising star of the genre.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, August 2008. All rights reserved.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not enough stars in heaven or hell to rate this book, August 29, 2008

By	Renee C. Mulhare "matrixrefugee77" (MA United States) - See all my reviews

Confession time: as a former theology student, paranormal romance novels featuring sexy demons (incubi and succubae) are a major league guilty pleasure for me, and this third installment of Jackie Kessler's "Hell on Earth" series is a prime example, like a dive into a bathtub-sized hot fudge sundae or getting a massage from a barely-dressed Jude Law-lookalike.

Daunaun (pronounced something like -- yep! -- don-wan), a lord of Lust, has a promotion to Prince of Lust pending, if he can succeed in seducing and claiming the soul of Virginia, a lonely woman with a pure heart. And all the while, he must dodge the demons sent to try his mettle at every step of the way. But his relationship with Virginia takes an unexpected turn and he finds himself faced with confrontations and decisions that will change him and Virginia forever and rock hell to its very core...

I love the intricate details of this story, from the chilling yet fascinating horrors of hell and its denizens, to the by-contrast simple, refreshingly ordinary things of Virginia's life. And I especially love how Ms. Kessler made the heroine a full-figured thirty-something instead of the usual willowy twenty-somethings you see as the female leads in romance novels. The climax and ending are definately much darker than you'd normally find in books like this, but to end it differently, with the kind of happy ending found in many other books, would have cheapened the story and the characters. It's a bittersweet ending, but it ended the way it needed to end, with the characters where they need -- and want -- to be...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kessler scores again...and so does her incubus. A lot., August 2, 2008

By	Kayla - See all my reviews

Jackie Kessler continues her Hell on Earth series with this latest installment--only this time, she's switched things up. The first two books in the series were told from the point of view of runaway-succubus Jezebel. This third book is narrated by Daun, the devilishly sexy incubus we've met earlier in the series.

Daun's on a mission to seduce a pure-souled woman, and things get complicated both when she proves resistant and when he realizes he's falling for her. Like in her other books, Kessler's prose is clean and spot-on--and infused with that wicked humor that makes her such a good writer. What's particularly remarkable in this book is how well she writes a first person male voice. Cross-gender writing can be a disaster sometimes, but Kessler rocks it and makes it convincing--even in the sex scenes, which are quite possibly even hotter than in previous books!

If you like urban fantasy and paranormal romance, you want to read this. Liking sex and humor wouldn't hurt either.