Sometimes you wake up from a dream. Sometimes you wake up in a dream. And sometimes, every once in while, you wake up in someone else's dream. 1.21.14 BUDDY RE-READ WITH ROBIN, BAILEY AND TANDIEI almost want to up-rate this to a 5. So very different the second time around. The palpable silences, the knowing looks passed between Carter and Jerome, Carter's odd, quizzical looks at Georgie, Jerome's pregnant pauses... The book in itself was predictable the first time around, but once you've known these characters to the end, when you revisit the beginning, the experience just becomes so much different, much more enriched.Like a tree that keeps on giving.And it hasn't even been a year since I last read this one. My name is Ash Wednesday and I'm a Georgina Kincaid addict.Megan (Reading Books Like A Boss) and Nereyda (Mostly YA Books Obsessed) are doing a Georgina Kincaid Read-a-Thon on March! Click Here to Sign Up!----------------------4 STARSI've been in a perpetual snit fit for not having enough time to actually sit down and read this at uninterrupted lengths but this surprisingly held my interest well enough against hectic workdays, birthdays and a bomb threat in the mall I was having lunch in: it was a dud but this one prevented me from noticing the frantic running for a good ten minutes. Not even kidding.Okay I'm not exactly Richelle Mead's biggest fan but this one worked really well for me. The heroine, Georgina, was easily likable. I liked her dorky details and the sharp wit that held in check a painful past. Add the fact that she's a succubus with a conscience and really it's so easy to amp up the ham and cheese factor on this one. But it mostly didn't. I've gone through a phase of reading borderline campy PNRs in the past (the Demonica series comes to mind) that were a lot of fun but for completely different reasons. Swing dancing and bowling were not among them."Are you always that rough with balls?" he asked finally."Most men don't complain."This one's entertainment factor was further buoyed up by an easy to follow plot and a set of supporting characters with their own adorable quirks and quote-worthy moments. I'm still laughing at you Peter. And Hugh sound suspiciously like he could've had a fondness for chinchilla fur and fedora hats. Lannister style.But what sets it apart is where Georgina's emotional strife and discontent stems from and the loneliness her choices brings. They're not paranormal at all and easily relatable even for someone who can't shift herself out of a bad hair day. She's really one of the well-layered heroines I've read of from this genre.I had a driving need to keep up surface appearances - hence the so-called "happy face." I'd smiled and nodded through the worst times of my life, and when the reaction had not been enough, I'd finally just run - even though it cost me my soul.That and what is possibly the most original idea of a hero in Seth. While he'd probably lose in an awesome shirt collection face-off with Gabe Merrick, Seth Mortensen, the shy, socially awkward, decaffeinated writer stands to re-write the conventions of where the pinnacle of hotness really lies. And it may involve doing laundry.And yet for all the originality Succubus Blues bore for me, it did get sluggish towards the last quarter, when the whoddunit gets answered. I liked that the plot was simple but the mystery was pretty transparent early on. This took my interest wandering and when the focus shifted to addressing the resolution, it got mildly annoying at the pace with which the obvious was revealed. But then the book ended with a very intriguing twist and plot developments that almost makes it impossible not to pick up the next installment as a reflex.Almost.

I really enjoyed this book and I enjoyed that it, in a number of areas, was brave enough to break away from the stereotype that the paranormal urban romance genre is famous for.On one hand, I enjoyed the plot, story and characters. It was paced well, easy to read, enjoyable. The characters were fresh, original in some regards and likable.The great "reveal" was painfully easy to guess and I had suspected it from the beginning, but I feel that the writing style and characters made up for this lack.The character of Georgina Kincaid is on the list for one of the more likable female protagonists so far. She joins ranks just under Mac Lane from the Fever Series and Katniss Evergreen from the Hunger Games.She's not perfect. She may be beautiful and smart, but she is also vain and flawed. I enjoyed the portrayal of a woman who has made many mistakes and actually has a history. I'm sick of my female protagonists being blank cutouts who never did anything or anyone before they meet the hero.The secondary characters in this story really help it along. Carter, Seth, Jerome, Hugh, Cody and Peter give the story a much needed realistic and humorous boost.The thing is, you can get silly when dealing with a story about a Succubus. Maybe Anita Blake is getting silly now (Really, how many men can you date? How many times can you have sex a day before you start walking crooked?) But I think Georgina Kincaid allows for the reality (if you could say there was such a thing) of being a succubus. Sex becomes a monotonous job or task. It becomes meaningless and lonely.*Tips hat to Richelle Mead*

Absolut superba!