Kathy Love: DEVILISH SERIES

Author: Kathy Love

Series: DEVILISH SERIES

Plot Type: Soul Mate Romance (SMR), Paranormal Chick Lit (CH)
Ratings: Violence-3; Sensuality-4; Humor-4

Publisher and Titles: Kensington
          "Hot" in So I Married a Demon Slayer (prequel novella, 8/2011)

          Devilishly Hot (10/2011)

          Devilishly Sexy (5/2012)

          DevilishlyWicked (11/2013)  

     This post was revised and updated on 12/24/13 to include a review of Devilishly Wicked, the third novel in the series. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of the first two novels:

            NOVEL 3:  Devilishly Wicked           

     Tristan McIntyre has finally achieved his dearest wish: to take over as editor in chief of Hot! Magazine. In the previous book, Tristan managed to outwit his nemesis, and former boss, Finola White, and he is definitely enjoying his new powers over her. The only flaw in Tristan's life at the moment is his inexplicable attraction to his assistant, Georgia Sullivan. Tristan doesn't understand his lustful feelings for Georgia—or as he calls her, "Peaches"—because she is definitely not his usual type. Georgia is a plus-size, curvy woman who dresses in vintage funk, and her style is far from the gorgeous, svelte fashionistas to whom Tristan is usually attracted. Unfortunately, he can't help himself…he has to have her.

     Georgia has had a crush on Tristan ever since she began working for the magazine as Finola's assistant. Now that she is working directly with Tristan, she finds herself uncomfortable in his presence. Every time he seems to be flirting with her, she assumes that he's doing it for his own cruel amusement—to see how much he can embarrass her. She knows in her heart that a sexy, handsome guy like Tristan would never look twice at his chubby assistant.

     Meanwhile, down in the mail room, agents of the Demon Intelligence Agency (DIA) are on the job, getting ready to stop Satan's attempt to take over the world via the fashion industry. The DIA is "a government agency that was established decades ago to locate and counteract demonic activity." (p. 247) Eugene, a DIA agent disguised as the mail room manager, assigns Gabriel to get Georgia on their side, but Gabriel just can't seem to make a proper connection. In fact, Georgia appears to be falling for Tristan—and falling really hard and fast. To make matters worse, Tristan seems to be falling for her as well! What's going on here?

     The story follows the couple as they fall in lust and discover that love conquers all. In a second story line, Finola's life takes some twists and turns that will definitely surprise you if you've read the first two books. This book is typical of the series: paper-thin characters and a predictable story line. But if you enjoyed the first two books, you'll love this one, too.

     This may be the final book in the series; certainly, it is the final book to be set at Hot! Magazine. But never fear…Dippy, the bichon frise hellhound, is still on Satan's side, and he's looking to take a few steps up on Hell's ladder of success so perhaps a future book will take a look at Dippy's love life. 

            WORLD-BUILDING           

     Set in the fashion world of Manhattan, the plots involve the employees of Hot! Magazine, which is headed by the glamorous and totally loathsome Finola White, a demon diva who is determined to keep herself in Satan’s good graces, but who is so self-centered and arrogant that she constantly winds up on his (and everyone else's) bad side. Finola and her right-hand man, Tristan (also one of Satan's demons), run the magazine on the top floors of the Hot! building while a group of demon hunters (who call themselves the Brethren) hide away in the mail room, which is located in the sub-basement. The ongoing story arc features Satan's plans for a demonic revolution that begins with the infiltration of the fashion industry by his minions. As one character admits, "Fashion can be pretty hellish." (Devilishly Wicked, p. 248)

     Each story follows one couple as they meet, fall in love, and run afoul of Finola before eventually achieving their HEA. Throughout each story, Tristan plots against Finola in the hope that he can convince Satan to let him take over the magazine. The demon hunters are supporting characters in the stories—support, that is, for the unlucky human characters who find themselves under Finola's devilish control. 

     This series is mostly cotton-candy light and sweet, but it also has a dark edge to it, particularly when it comes to Finola’s indiscriminate killing of various humans—mostly her personal assistants. The story lines are full of illogical moments, but that shouldn’t matter too much if you enjoy this type of fluffy chick-lit paranormal romance. 

            PREQUEL NOVELLA:  "Hot"           
     Publisher's blurb: At Hot! Magazine, the devil really does wear Prada. When the CEO is an actual demon and the mailroom people are undercover demon slayers, it's not beyond the realm of possibility for an up-and-coming photographer and a model possessed by much more than a sweet tooth to fall in love.

            NOVEL 1:  Devilishly Hot           

     When Annie Lou Riddle moves to Manhattan to break into the fashion industry, she has no idea that she will accidentally sell her soul in exchange for a job at Hot! Magazine as Finola's personal assistant (aka slave). Finola killed her previous personal assistant during a hissy fit—standard operating procedure for Finola, who regularly and frequently calls upon Tristan to dispose of the poor girls' bodies. 

     After this last assistant is declared missing, Detective Nick Rossi of the NYPD investigates because so many former employees of Hot! have disappeared. Handsome, sexy Nick is immediately attracted to Annie (and vice versa), but Finola wants him for herself. The story follows Finola’s attempts to ensnare Nick, Nick’s attempts to romance Annie, and Annie’s attempts to get back her soul with the help of Nick and the demon hunters in the basement. 

            NOVEL 2:  Devilishly Sexy             

     Demon slayer Michael Archer is back on the job with the Brethren after having been frozen in place by a demon for thirty years. The on-going joke in this book is that Michael's clothing, hair, slang, and world-view all date back to the late 1970s, and his fellow hunters consider him hopelessly old-fashioned. Michael is having a hard time getting used to the fact that his colleagues rehabilitate demons now rather than just cut off their heads. After Michael violates protocol by beheading yet another demon, his Brethren boss gives him a pie chart to study: "The chart in front of him showed the percentage of demons that had been cast back to Hell. The percentage of possessed, which were now referred to as 'diabolically challenged' who had been 'rehabilitated.' Even the percentage of full-fledged demons who'd been 'rehabilitated' too. Only one tiny sliver of the pie, small and bright red, showed how many of the demons had been slain....As far as Michael was concerned, that whole damned chart should be a giant circle of bright red." (pp. 18-19) To give Michael some time to adjust to modern PC times, his boss puts him to work in the Hot! mail room. 

     When Liza McLane refused to sell her soul to the devil to get her job at Hot!, Finola took an alternate route to get Liza's cooperation—she had a demon possess Liza. So now, Liza takes massive amounts of Benadryl to force her talkative and annoying demon into submission so that she can do her job and live her life with some degree of normality. When Michael sees Liza swallow a handful of pills, he assumes that she is committing suicide and rushes to her aid. From then on, he keeps an eye on her, and mutual attraction blooms between them, even though Michael soon becomes convinced that Liza has sold her soul and must be destroyed. Once again, the mail room demon hunters rush to the rescue so that the lovers get their HEA.