Jezebel is a 4,000 year old succubus (a demon) whose job is to entice people into hell through horizontal means. However when she goes AWOL from Hell, tricks a witch into making her human (and stealing that witch's form and credit cards/ID) she sets out on life as a newly born human in New York. The author writes her first experiences of being human, drinking coffee, eating muffins, being in public spaces etc excellently - these were really enjoyable parts of the book.
Jezebel, or Jessie, isn't at all a sympathetic character to start with. She steals the witch's identity, doesn't care about other people and seems largely amoral. However her new human nature is clearly changing that part of her character and she starts to care for people and to change. She gets a job as a stripper in a club, Hell's Belles, which suits her skills from her former career admirably. However she's already bumped into Paul and he is about to cause another big change in her life. On the run from other demons who are trying to drag her back to hell, protected merely by her humanity and with the amulet she wears round her neck, can Jessie keep herself safe and out of hell? And what is it that caused her to leave Hell in the first place?
Rather confusingly a few chapters into this book Jessie seemed to be back working as a succubus and leading a man to hell. It became clear eventually that this was a flashback and there were other examples of this in the book - it might have been helpful for the fact this was backstory to be more clear. However these sections, where Jessie is in Hell, were fascinating; somehow the author has written her description of the different levels in Hell and some of the characters in a lighthearted and yet scary way with definite overtones of Dante.
This is a fairly earthy book with fairly explicit descriptions and a woman who is certainly at home with her feminine side. However there is more to this story than just sex as there's an interesting plot and some significant characterisation of Jessie. Paul, the hero, is rather more of a cipher and we almost learn more about the Satyr Daunuan but there are many good side characters in this story which lift it above the average paranormal romance and made it an easy and fun read.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007
