That Old Black Magic....hello humpday!

Humpday hello, greetings and salutations! Old man winter has us in his grip...it's cold, rainy and everyone has decided to get sick and come to our hospital! It's crazy, I tell ya! Stay home, make a pot of chicken noodle soup and stay warm. Don't leave unless you have to - just read and eat! Yeah, it's a fantasy but it isn't necessarily bad advice either! It's what I'd be doing if I thought I stood a chance of getting away with it! Speaking of fantasies...check out this little eye candy snack! Good enough to eat, no?

We Guilty Indulgent bloggers had a productive monthly bookclub meeting last week - not sure we kept you in the loop. Since we have SO MUCH going on, we actually did some blog housekeeping, set up our calendar for the next couple months - stay tuned, we have some AWESOME books, author postings and contests! But like they say in Vegas, you have to stay to play, so please keep coming back - we appreciate it and hope you get some ideas for good times and great books! Oh, and we set a challenge for one another - each member had a "new-to-them-series" chosen and will be keeping you posted on the challenge as it progresses throughout the year (no one wanted to take on the entire Anita Blake series in a month challenge....funny, can't imagine why. Oh, that's right - I did that two summers ago, nearly lost my flippin mind but I did manage all 20 books - didn't socialize for the entire month of July! They missed me!)

So this week I caught up on the latest installment in Michelle Rowen's Living in Eden series, That Old Black Magic! Man, I just love my snarky paranormal chick lit! It keeps me chuckling and toe curling all at the same time - my dream combination!

That Old Black Magic (Living in Eden #3), Michelle Rowen, Berkeley Publishing, December 2011

Reluctant witch Eden Riley knows that codependent relationships aren't good, especially when you're possessed by a sexy but trouble making demon. Darrak's physical form makes good girl Eden want to go bad, but the constant itch to use the soul-destroying black magic she's recently acquired might force Eden to explore her dark side in an entirely different way.

And when her magic starts manifesting itself without conscious effort, both Eden's life and the possibility of a future with Darrak are threatened-since only one of them might be able to survive this...

I am not a girl who likes first installments of series....usually. I don't know if it was a combination of having read this author and just enjoying her writing style or her gift with words, characters and dialogue that hooked me from the start, but I absolutely adored this series from the start with The Demon In Me! The plot line of a "psychic consultant" inheriting the 300 year old wandering spirit of an arch demon from hell displaced from his physical form by a curse was amusing. Having said spirit be a total hunk who can take corporeal form and knock your socks off during the day and possessing your body at night, downright comical. And hot, did I mention hot?

In this third installment, That Old Black Magic, Eden and Darrack have come to some realizations. Darrack has truly developed feelings for Eden, something a demon shouldn't be able to do. Eden doesn't want to examine her feelings in kind and spends much of her time trying to finagle ways to break the curse and separate her body from Darrack's - without killing him, or herself. Her nerdy neighbor Lucas, aka Lucifer, manages to throw her jobs from time to time that may or may not be expediting her transition to truly black witch and the loss of her immortal soul. Her business partner at the detective agency is going to turn into a werewolf for the first time in a matter of days after a were attack and is in total denial. Her dead mother's spirit has possessed a barbie doll lookalike in order to return and save her soul from her current demonic possession. Oh, and her ex-cop partner has joined with a misguided and possibly evil organization planning on killing her, Darrack, the angel they're holding hostage who may be her father and any other Others they lay their hands on. Business as usual.

Michelle Rowen's talents lie in her ability to blend humor and romance, balance paranormal with mystery and concoct a seriously entertaining story. Her characters are a melange of crafty, kooky, sexy and sometimes pitiful, and they reminds us often that good and bad aren't always black and white. Readers will fly through the pages to get from one action scene to another, interspersed with moments of sweet romance and sexy, witty banter. Never has a demon been made so appealing, the perfect mix of cocky and vulnerable. And who doesn't sigh over a good sacrifice for love....saps that we all are!

I give this highly entertaining series a major must read and That Old Black Magic four chocolate dipped strawberries (mostly because I am pissed I have to wait so long for the next installment of Eden and Darrack, refusing to believe that's all she wrote!)

Check it out! And stay warm!!!!!