Recommended Read!
“Devon Monk definitely has a winner on her hands. DEATH AND RELAXATION put a smile on my face and left me wanting more.”
~ Under the Covers
What a surprise this was! First of all, I’ve had Devon Monk on my Mountain TBR for YEARS! Don’t ask me why that hasn’t been remedied, but that may change soon. So anyway, fast forward to a few days ago and I saw Ilona Andrews post about this release on Facebook and …. the cover whore in me HAD to have it. And I’m so glad I took the plunge. In a time when we are facing a lack of good paranormal books, I jump for joy any time I find a gem, and this is one.
DEATH AND RELAXATION is an urban fantasy set in a small town where supernaturals live among humans that don’t know anything about them. It’s also where the Gods go take a vacation. They leave their powers at the door and pretend to be humans for a while. The Chief of Police, always in the Reed family, has control over the Gods and their powers and keeps the supernatural order as well as upholding human law and keeping the humans in the dark about it all. This concept was so much fun to read about! And yes, I say fun because there’s quite a bit of humor in this story. Humor, some romance and sexual tension, a murder investigation, and a rhubarb festival! I was hooked.
But let’s talk about the characters because that’s what kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. A great set of characters! The Chief of Police is Delaney Reed, her father passed away a year ago and she’s now in charge of the safety of the town as well as the goings on with the Gods and her deputies are her two sisters. I loved Delaney’s character and not just because she basically has a coffee IV much like I wish I could do. She’s tough but vulnerable. She doesn’t let many people close, but she also doesn’t close herself off behind a wall like a lot of UF heroines. She cares, she’s funny, she’s smart, but she’s human. Definitely a heroine I won’t mind getting to know more and going on this journey with. Her sisters were a lot of fun especially trying to keep Delaney in check. And the townspeople and the Gods? One of my favorite things about a small town setting is that tight knit community feel and this book has that. As far as the sexual tension I mentioned? Well, I’m dying to see where the next book goes with this.
Devon Monk definitely has a winner on her hands. DEATH AND RELAXATION put a smile on my face and left me wanting more. I haven’t read a solid UF in a while that wasn’t dark, didn’t take itself too seriously and didn’t just have bitchy characters mad at the world. I think you’ll enjoy this new take on supernatural concepts we’ve all seen done before. It made for something new and interesting and the author does a great job at telling their story in an engaging way. I, for one, can’t wait for the next book to come out in July!
Favorite Quotes:
“…You know I haven’t had a vacation in months?”
“Cry me a new river. Living here is your vacation, remember?”
He grinned. “No need to resort to the truth. You’ve had your look,” he said to Thanatos. “Hand over your sparkly bits to Uncle Raven.”
“My bits,” Than said icily, “never sparkle.”
“One cannot conduct a murder investigation when one is drinking with gods.”
READING ORDER & BUY LINKS
[foogallery id=”68370″]
[about-author author=”Devon Monk”]
What did you think of our review?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!
♡ Don’t want to miss any of our posts? ♡
Follow Under the Covers: Facebook | Twitter | Tsu | GoodReads | Email
We were just talking about this last night! Can’t wait to read. Thanks for the review!!!
Eeep! It’s fate then LOL Hope you enjoy it, it was such a fun read.
I absolutely loved this book. Delaney has traits of many of my favorite UF heroines, and Ryder is the hottest male lead to hit the page since Reyes Farrow. He’s also packing lots of secrets, and I can’t wait for the next book to find out what some of them are. The gods on vacation theme is fresh and amusing. I chose this book after finding it on UTC, so thanks for the recommendation. 4.9 stars!
I’m so happy to hear that! I do think that (even though very different) there is something like the feel of Darynda’s stories in this. Glad this was a winner for you as well. 😉
*adds to wishlist* Thanks for rec and review Francesca
😉
Oooh very nice! I still need to get me this one! I enjoyed Devon’s earlier books myself and was super excited to hear about her new UF series!! Glad to hear we’re getting more UF books in the world! I feel like they’re leveling off and that terrifies me because this is my genre!! LOL! There’s still that TBR mountain to get through that’s likely half UF & half YA books though! Great review!
Odd question, but did you get this as a real book? Trying to find it as a real one and I think that’s why I’ve stalled on buying it! Despite having too many physical books, I always like to have at least book 1 in real book format! 🙂
Hope you enjoy it Jessica! I got the ebook on Kindle bu I do see that Amazon sells a paperback (it’s pricey though). But that may be a choice if you want to have book 1 in print.
I completely agree about the lack of UF (and paranormal in general I think) lately. I feel like I need to start digging through that good ol’ TBR that I still have but I kind of want new and exciting series and books to come out and it doesn’t seem to be a popular genre at the moment. Which makes me sad because I love reading it and it used to be ALL I read. So fingers crossed for more.
This sounds really good, adding to my wishlist.
Yay hope you like it!
Just added to my mt tbr
hehe I know all about that mountain… mine is crazy
Ohh awesome review I absolutely love urban fantasy books and this one looks and sounds absolutely fantastic and right up my alley. Thank you for your great post.