Title: Getting
Familiar With Your Demon
(That Old Black Magick, Book 4)
Author: Jodi Redford
Release Date: February
28, 2012
Publisher: Samhain
Category: Paranormal
Romance
Type: Kindle
Book Blurb:
He should push her away…but he’d rather have his wicked way with her.
That Old Black Magic, Book 4
After too many years learning death from the inside out as the familiar of a
voodoo queen, soul collector Samael Gorasola betrayed his boss, which landed
him on demon death row.
He should have known not even his punishment would come easy, but the deal
he’s offered to escape his fate stinks. Become the indentured servant to his
despised enemy? No thanks, he’d rather be six feet under. With that in mind, he
picks a deadly fight with two demon hunters, only to be rescued by one
misguided, deliciously innocent white witch.
Marabella hasn’t a clue what possessed her to help Sam, particularly since
he’s not the least bit grateful. She blames it on her overwhelming attraction
to the dark, dangerous demon, and her exasperating quest to rid herself of the
stubborn curse that guards her virginity. If the guild finds out, though, she
can kiss her white-witch status goodbye.
A kiss is exactly what she gets, followed by a consuming hunger that breaks
down all heavenly and earthly barriers…and leaves Sam saddled with the one
thing he never wanted, a
conscience, and a connection to Marabella that
puts her soul on the line.
Warning: This book contains torturous use of disco music, one sinfully sexy
demon who revels in being bad, a virgin witch whose innocence runs more than
skin deep, and plenty of wicked, forbidden sex with explosive side
effects—literally.
Book Excerpt:
Grumbling, she reached for her
Cosmopolitan and took a fortifying sip. She immediately choked on the swallow
as an unexpected wave of dark, intense energy wafted across her. She shivered,
a colony of goose bumps dotting her skin.
There weren’t many times she’d
encountered this kind of energy, but she knew well enough what was responsible
for it. Trying not to draw attention to her actions, she carefully scooted
closer to the edge of the bench seat and peered at the patrons congregated
around the bar.
Where are you…?
An enormous guy wearing a navy-blue
tracksuit shuffled out of Marabella’s vision, and her attention fell on the
tall, sexy and decidedly dangerous individual striding toward the bank of
stools adjacent to her. A harsh breath lodged in her esophagus. With his
carelessly tousled midnight-black hair and strong, beard- stubbled jaw, the
stranger was the living definition of bad boy. The fact he was a demon only
made his off-the-charts sex appeal that much more alluring to any unsuspecting
female.
Fortunately, she was more than
aware of what he was, which made her reaction to him incredibly disturbing.
Jerking her focus from his sinfully gorgeous features, she squeezed her thighs
together, desperately willing away the hot, decadent arousal beating deep in
her core. She sucked in a shaky inhalation. What the hell is wrong with me?
She’d been attracted to her fair
share of men before, but none of them came close to inspiring the same
breathless excitement as the too-scrumptious-for-words demon standing across
from her. If she pressed a hand between her legs, she was half terrified she’d
find out just how dripping wet she truly was. For him.
Lusting after a demon—it was the
pinnacle of wrongness. The cardinal sin topping all others.
She struggled against the
overwhelming urge to peek at the demon before finally giving up the battle. Mr.
Tall, Dark and Deadly stopped beside a scruffy-looking dude wearing denim
coveralls and a battered baseball cap. The man took one look at the demon and
quickly vacated his spot. Apparently used to strangers giving up seats to him,
the demon straddled the stool and snapped his fingers at the stressed-out
bartender.
Marabella tried not to notice the
intriguing flex of muscles beneath the demon’s snug black T-shirt as he leaned
toward the bar, but failed miserably. When she imagined sliding her hands
beneath the cotton to feel the sinuous ripple of those muscles for herself, she
grasped the delicate stem of her martini glass and slammed two large gulps of
her Cosmo. The fruity alcohol provoked an unladylike sputter from her, but at
least she had something else to concentrate on other than her traitorous
attraction to the demon.
I
should absolutely get out of here before I do something stupid. Her mind
was on
the right track. Too bad her body refused to obey. She
plunked her glass down with trembling fingers and fumbled for her purse. As she
lifted it toward her lap, her attention locked on the two men farther down the
bar who were staring at the demon with bloodlust glinting in their narrowed
eyes.
Oh. Shit.
Dialogue
Highlight:
She licked her lips, and his gaze
became hooded. Sultry. Her damn traitorous nipples tightened. “I—I mean it. I
want you to leave.”
“Not until I get what I came for.”
“But…there’s nothing here for you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, sweet
little Bella.”
The only person who’d ever called
her by the shortened version of her name had been her first-grade teacher, Mrs.
Davies. But the velvety way Sam said it was infinitely sexier. His face inched
closer, filling her frame of vision. She stared at the beard scruff shadowing
his chin and jaw, remembering the delicious rasp of it on her skin while he’d
kissed her, and wondered what it’d feel like on other parts of her body. No,
she definitely didn’t need that thought in her head, damn it.
“What do you want?”
Those skillful, tempting lips
crooked upward. “To get laid.”
She blinked. “Pardon?”
“You heard me.”
“But…why?”
He chuckled, the sound dark and
smoky, just like him. “Because I’m horny.”
Heat crawled beneath her skin. “I
figured that part out. What I don’t get is why in the world you would seek out
someone here.”
“Variety is the spice of life.”
The teasing way he was looking at
her was just as distracting as the nearness of his mouth. She swallowed. “So
you’re saying if you find a willing bed partner, you’ll leave?”
“Why? Are you putting yourself on
the offering block, sweet Bella?”
The thundering of her heart was so
loud she feared he’d be able to hear it. Could she actually go along with this
insane proposal? Of course, the curse meant she really wouldn’t have to go
along with it at all. But Samael didn’t need to know that. As long as he
thought he was going to get lucky, she’d be able to get him away from the mansion
and potential chaos.
This
could work. Keeping her expression bland to hide her inner triumph, she nodded.
“Okay. I’ll do it then.”
His devious grin slipped. “What?”
“You want to get laid? Fine. I’m
your girl.”
Eyes narrowing, he stared at her
for a long moment as if she were yanking his chain. “You’d honestly sleep with
me just to get me to leave?”
“Yes.” Well, at least that wasn’t a
lie.
A considering gleam dancing in his
irises, he moved back, granting her some much-needed space. “If that’s the
case, then we can go upstairs right now.”
She gaped at him. “Are you nuts?
I’m not sleeping with you here.”
“How convenient.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
One of his dark eyebrows cocked
upward in challenge. “Like I don’t know you intend to ditch me the minute we
step outside.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve got
some serious trust issues.”
“Hell, darlin’. You don’t know the
half of it.”
She tossed her arms up. “Look,
we’ll compromise then. You come with me in my car, but this is going down on my
turf, capisce?”
Wickedness once again flashed
across his features. “Don’t worry your pretty head over that. I sure as hell
plan on going down on your lovely turf. Probably all night long, so prepare
yourself.”
It took a second for his meaning to
register. Once it did, a persistent throb shuttled through her clit. She
squeezed her thighs together, praying he wouldn’t notice. “Must you be so
crude?”
“Yes. Get used to it. You’re going
to hear me saying a lot worse than that tonight.”
His sinful promise was enough to
make her panties uncomfortably damp. She bit the inside of her cheek and
discreetly shuffled her feet. “Does that mean you accept my offer?”
“On one condition.”
The notion of giving him any wiggle
room in this negotiation made her nervous, but what could she do? She didn’t
want to risk him calling it off. Besides, did it make a difference? It’s not
like she’d have to go through with the ultimate deed. “W-what?”
“I get carte blanche to do any damn
thing I want to you.”
She gulped. Oh goddess. What have I gotten myself into?
Review:
Oh Sam! Sam, Sam, Sam! Where can I find my very own demon?
Where, I ask! Dang it! Now I have a crush on not one, but ALL FOUR of the Black
Magic men! It all started with Griffin,
a tiger shifter. Of course, I had to love Logan, a werewolf. Then I got my
pants charmed off my Max, my very first shark shifter. And now I am smitten
with Samael, a beyond hawt demon with a conscience. *fans self* And I am
seriously considering reading the whole series again simply because I love them
so! *nods* (Side note – I actually just did practically read all of That Voodoo You Do as I was going back
over Sam’s first appearances. Ironically right after saying I was going to
re-read the series. As in just. right. now. Man do I need me a Bengal tiger shifter familiar!)
So we briefly met Sam in book 1of That Old Black Magic series, That
Voodoo You Do. Sam was the instrumental “soul” who kept popping up
unexpectedly and giving Jemma little hints here and there, ultimately aiding in
her victory; and squelching the approaching zombie apocalypse. Yay, Sam! We
also had mention of Marabella in book 1 and then met her briefly in book 2, The Seven Year Witch. I believe she was
mentioned in book 3, Maximum Witch,
though her part was insignificant to the main characters of that story. And
finally, in Getting Familiar With Your
Demon, Marabella gets to divest herself of that dang curse of virginity
with the help of the hunky demon Samael.
Sam helps save the day – and the world from, you know,
Zombies eating everyone’s brains and stuff. Cut to … a bit of time has lapsed;
about six months. Sam has been punished, tortured, and made completely
miserable by whips and blaring off-key disco music no less. The poor, poor
demon! And then this sneaky little spiotch, Priscilla, secretary to the Demon
King, prances in holding his contract. You see, she is up to no good and Sam is
the key to carrying out her warped plans. But Sam has a plan of his own. He’s
going to break his soul collector seal and he is going to use Marabella to get
it done. In a pleasurable way of course. Easy peasy, right? Whatevs! Nothing
ever goes off exactly as planned. Pfft! What kind of book would that be? So Sam-O
ends up with a conscience, feelings toward Marabella he has zero wish to dig
into, and – oh, yeah – despite breaking his seal, he is probably going to end
up bonded to someone else again anyway. Way to get that monkey off your back,
Sam.
Marabella, on the other hand, falls fast for the forbidden
demon. Hey! Don’t we all go for the forbidden ones? Mark ‘em with forbidden and
we gravitate straight to ‘em. Yes? I know! Well, Samael is no different. Pair
her overwhelming lust with this frickin curse that dooms her to virginity for
life and Sam becomes more and more tempting as the minutes tick by. One word. Devastating!
Because Sam has the potential to completely devastate Marabella in every
conceivable way; both good and bad. But Marabella knows her restrictions and
limitations. Much of what Sam is asking of her is going against the very fiber
of her existence. She has to make a decision – take a stand, or lose Sam, and
do nothing to save humanity from imminent demise at Priscilla’s whakado clutches.
No matter that Sam doesn’t want her in the same way. He could come around …
maybe.
I. Lurved. This. Book! Ms. Redford just keeps getting
better. The sex is amazing between the characters, their struggles to get to an
HEA are exciting and entertaining, and her writing style is infectious.
Infectious in a way that makes me want to find the next book, like, yesterday.
Her voice is consistent in this series and I never fail to enjoy my time spent
with the characters. I absolutely love her humor as well. Some of the lines in
the book are phenomenal! One of my favorites is “waxing poetic”. Come to think
of it, I may have used that a few times since I first read it. The other that I
loved was after Sam and Marabella hook up, Sam notices that she’s altered the
décor somewhat. It goes like this:
Ooh, he was so damn irritating. Which
only made it all the more frustrating when she caught herself ogling his ass as
he sauntered toward the bathroom. Her grumble leaking free, she turned and
stormed down to the store.
She managed to distract herself
from Sam’s presence for a whopping ten minutes while she finished unpacking and
pricing the remaining suncatchers. Her composure slipped when he strode into
the small room where their illicit rendezvous had occurred. His gaze
immediately trekked to the brass daybed. “You changed the pillows.”
“And the sheets and comforter. I
couldn’t exactly leave it after…”
His hot, smoldering scrutiny
returned to her. “After we burned the sheets fantastic?”
She blushed. “I wasn’t going to
phrase it that way, but yes.”
Sam’s focus dipped to her mouth and
lingered there for an endless moment. “How were you going to phrase it, sweet
Bella?” he asked in that silky-smooth tone that provoked tingles in
inappropriate places. “The way I see it, you can’t get more accurate than that.”
I also liked that Ms. Redford veered slightly off track with
this book. In the previous novels, the main characters acknowledge their
desires and feelings. Maybe not directly to each other, but they seem to place
obstacles in front of their possible relationships purposely as an excuse to
deny themselves. This time, the obstacles are very much there. And while
Marabella knows she has fallen, Sam refuses to acknowledge anything deeper than
intoxicating lust. No judgment. He is a demon after all. Happily-ever-after
doesn’t exist in his world. The issue this time is not whether they will
acknowledge their own imperfections that block the way to happiness as with the
previous books; but whether they are willing to buck the system in its
entirety, the world they embrace and accept and have never questioned until now,
for a chance to be together which could ultimately crumble anyway.
I found this book entertaining, beyond stimulating, and an
altogether enjoyable read. Ms. Redford keeps it coming with the fourth
installment of the That Old Black Magic
series, Getting Familiar With Your Demon.
I eagerly await the next installment. And although this is book four in the
series, it can be read as a stand-alone. The series is absolutely enhanced
reading in order, but not necessary for this particular book. Readers of
paranormal romance with inclinations toward snark and sizzling smut are sure to
enjoy this book.
(Digital ARC copy provided by
author for review.)
