Books Make Me Happy

Secrets! SECRETS? Three books in… we were right there… RIGHT THERE… and wham!… the book ended.Secrets of the Demon continues to follow police detective and demon summoner Kara Gillian as she tries to balance her natural and supernatural abilities to solve crimes in Beaulac, LA. Kara’s been through a lot the last two books. She’s hunted killers, accidentally summoned a sexy, dangerous demonic lord, learned unsettling things about the aunt who raised her, got sent to, and returned from the demonic realm, developed a teeny-weeny-not-so-professional crush on her talented and hunky FBI partner, became tied to the previously mentioned sexy demonic lord as his personal summoner to save the previously mentioned hunky FBI partner, and earned herself a spot on a discreet government task force that investigates crimes with “unusual” characteristics. All this and she still had time to catch the bad guy and swap fantastically snarky barbs with her fellow detectives. In this book, she adds a crash course in the music industry, more creepy killers, and more questions than answers.This newest part of Kara’s story starts out with her and Ryan, her FBI partner who is also gifted with a degree of “othersight”, staking out a concert to follow up on threats to the group’s lead singer. Within the first few pages we go from jammin’ to the the music, to flying demons and fishing people out of the river! Diana tends to start her stories out with a bang, and this was no different. The case evolves from one new band trying to make it big, into a web of sneaky deals and lots of dangerously misplaced trust.The trust issue comes up in more ways than one for Kara. Not only are there relationships to investigate related to murders involving the band, but she is forced to look closer at her own personal relationships. Her connection with her aunt has been strained since she was revived from her “coma”. And her professional, and hopefully-more-than-professional, relationship with Ryan hasn’t been the same since she pledged herself for three years to Rhyzkahl. Kara struggles with how to mend those strained ties at the same time she needs to rely on them to help solve her current case. I love the newest addition to her slowly growing circle of friends. Jill makes the perfect comic counterpart when things start to get too tense, or when Kara needs a jolt of girl time to figure out what to do with the men in her life.Speaking of the men in her life. What do you do about a demonic lord that you think might actually have feelings for you? Can you trust that he’s not just playing you to have sexy earth times? And what about your best friend who you’ve fallen for, but who can’t see past your decision? Can there be an acceptable balance? Yeah… I don’t know either. Welcome to Kara’s world.I love that the people closest to her know about the supernatural elements in their world, and know at least a little about what Kara’s abilities are. It can be frustrating when the main characters in a story are hiding the arcane from everyone else. I think that having that group of people who know, understand, and respect her for her gifts makes the story stronger. I also think the person who knows, but kinda wishes he didn’t, makes the story hilarious and adds a little jolt of reality.The thing that really got me with this particular part of the series, is the sneaky way Diana has started giving us information. There are a few questions we readers have had for a while, and I have a feeling we’re getting right to the heart of everything. Diana’s website FAQ page says she’d like this to be an 8 or 9 book series, putting the next book right in the middle of that story arc. I can tell we’re getting there because the backstories of the characters are really starting to fill themselves in. It’s both brilliant and completely frustrating. The actual reveal of information is so well written, and flows right in with the rest of the current case’s storyline. HOWEVER, it’s absolutely maddening that we’ve got the hint of what’s going on, but not enough information to make it all make sense! And I’m oh, so certain that what I THINK is happening, is only the tip of the iceberg.Overall, Secrets of the Demon was exactly what I thought it would be, what I hoped for. Fast paced, exciting, funny, sometimes sweet, sometimes sexy, sometimes creepy, and all the time fantastic. I’m such a sucker for this series. If you haven’t started it yet… go… now… buy… read.