Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Being a succubus comes down to a convincing poker face and a good sales pitch (4.5), January 8, 2008
Seattle based seductress, Georgina Kincaid, is back and she's got more balls in the air than an immortal should be able to juggle.
Author and personal idol, Seth Mortensen and Georgina are falling in love. The problem is, they cannot consummate their relationship without Georgina consuming some of Seth's lifeforce and consequently shortening his life.
Her old friend, Bastien, is in Seattle with an assignment he cannot fail. He must seduce Dana Dailey, radio hostess and right-wing family values lobbyist--or else.
Her co-worker, Doug Sato, has a new drummer in his band and they're taking off like wildfire. Well, everything Doug is doing is taking off like wildfire except when he hits a low--unfortunately, Georgina suspects that someone immortal is causing the problem and she's concerned for her friend's life.
As I stated in the first review for "Succubus Blues," I honestly never thought this would be my type of book. Richelle Mead's got a magic pen and she can pin the 'hooker with the heart of gold' tag on a succubus and make it fit. Georgina is truly likable. She's got ethics for a girl in her profession. For the most part, she only messes with bad guys. The rest of her cast is lively and interesting. I'm fascinated that her boss, the demon Jerome, hangs out in Seattle with the angel, Carter. Quite an unlikely pair.
Ms. Mead juggles more than three separate conflicts with ease and she provides resolution for enough of them to make the book satisfying. This is not a series that has 'to be continued' stamped boldly at the back. Plus, you can read "Succubus on Top" before "Succubus Blues" if you wish. There's enough backstory to explain the characters without being infodump.
I would like to see more worldbuilding in future novels. As primarily a fantasy reader, I am less interested in the romantic aspects of the story than the mythical and fantastical. I do believe Ms. Mead can strike a balance that should make most genre readers happy.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even better than the first!, December 21, 2007
The next edition in the Georgina saga is one hell of a ride. It offers much more intrigue and if it's possible, is even sexier than the first. In Succubus on Top, Georgina struggles with her no-sex relationship with author Seth Mortensen, but soon gets distracted when an old friend, Bastien, comes to town. She takes her mind off her woes by aiding the incubus in corrupting a high profile conservative. Though it seems that Bastien has things under control, Georgina soon discovers that things aren't quite what they seem. Definitely a page turner and one you won't want to miss!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as seamless as the first one, but still, it was a fun ride., October 1, 2008
Woe to the woman who can't have sex with the one man she wants to, or to the man that completely understands.
Yes, Georgina Kincaid, aka Thetis, aka Fleur, and aka Letha, among other names (which got annoying since each main character called her something different), is slaving at love and sex like the rest of us mortals. But all of that made more complicated by the fact that she has sex with other men in order to take in their life force, and condemn them to hell. Evil is as evil does, and boy, is it in a great package, right?
Maybe, and maybe not. At least, that's what our many personalitied reigning succubus believes. While Seth, who's fast becoming the love of her life, even as she knows it could do more harm than good, the whole no touch clause is becoming the third wheel in their relationship. The issue is made ever more complicated when an old time friend (literally) comes prancing around. Bastian, an incubus on the run, is in a crux. He tasted what he had not right to taste and is trying to redeem himself by nailing a hardcore radio schmoozing and very right-wing Christian evangelist, by the name of Dana Dailey. The problem? Despite his centuries of oozing talent he learned from our gal Georgie, he's hitting a dry pot. What he doesn't get, and fails to notice due to his duress of getting killed for good, is the fact that Dana's not even remotely what he thinks she is.
Meanwhile, Doug, Georgie's assistant manager friend, and lead singer for an up and coming band, begins to exhibit the signs of a drug addition. While it seemingly seems to amp his abilities, and the entire bands as well, it also has a devastating side effect. What Georgie later discovers is that it's not an ordinary drug, in fact, it's extraordinary, as in...a drug that should stay on her side of the block.
Let's get to the point here (even if I didn't in the synopsis): this is a story about Georgie's personal and emotional growth as a succubus in love with a human mortal, and a man. Everything else, from Bastian's conquest (which was not only annoying and empty, with little pull or even interest) to Doug's near-death-experience and the fact that Georgie ends up taking out a major player in the whole immortal vs immortal game (for now, it's way underdone and not very well developed, though it could be fodder for later books) all are nothing but padding around the main theme at hand. None of which pulls the story along. While it's not bad padding, it's a little tedious to get through, though Mead does make sure to tie up the loose ends well enough, there are at least one or two questions left mysteriously unanswered.
In this second book, Georgie is at a crossroads between her reality and the reality that everyone else lives by, normalcy and every day specialness. She's also trying to understand her past lives to understand the situation she's in now, with Seth. But here, while the growth and character development is done well, certain turn of events at the end of it, once which involves Georgie betraying the trust between her and Seth, the way that unfurls and is handled is unsatisfactory with a rather syrupy sweet resolution. In fact, everything, including all the wrongs from beginning and up to the end, is wrapped up in a pretty little bow and given (somewhat hurriedly) its good graces.
The great skill that Mead has always done well is blending Georgie's past with her present, as it seems best and useful to understand her and her emotions. Most cannot do this, and it's hell to read. But it's simple and never lengthy, and always relevant to the situation at hand. Mead's ability to deliver good action and disturbance as well as balancing both excitement and adventure, tongue in and cheek quips with thoughtful and enlightening introspection and the grin worthy scenes, lets this lesser effort fall onto a mid-ground level. Good, but she can do better. The wittiness and stark honestly of Georgina while refreshing, her rowdy troupe of friends were sorely missed but the solid writing ability and strong story telling, though weak here, is still present and promising, giving me the hope that there aren't just one hit wonder writers out there. Or a waste of my time.
Succubus on Top, while good, is not the same calibre as the first one, but it won't stop you from wanting to read it, and relish getting your grubby hands on the second one. Just like me.
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