Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead


Some days, a girl just can't catch a break...especially when the girl in question is Georgina Kincaid, a shape-shifting succubus who gets her energy from seducing men.

First there's her relationship with gorgeous best-selling writer Seth Mortensen, which is unsatisfying on a number of levels. It's not just that they can't have sex, in case Georgina inadvertently kills him (generally a turn-off for most guys). Lately, even spending time together is a challenge. Seth's obsessed with finishing his latest novel, and Georgina's under demonic orders to mentor the new (and surprisingly inept) succubus on the block.

Then there are the dreams. Someone, or something, is preying on Georgina at night, draining her energy and supplying eerie visions of her future. Georgina seeks answers from Dante, a dream interpreter with ties to the underworld, but his flirtatious charm only leaves her more confused - especially as the situation with Seth reaches a crisis point.

Now Georgina faces a double challenge: rein in her out-of-control love life, and go toe-to-toe with an enemy capable of wreaking serious havoc among mankind. Otherwise, Georgina, and the entire mortal world, may never sleep easy again.

Spend some more time with succubus Georgina Kincaid...if you dare.


Where to Buy



After coasting through most of Succubus on Top with all of its world and character building, this book starts to pick up the pace storywise again. That's not to say that there's no development here, for there is plenty of it, it's just that the stakes have been raised once more, and real danger threatens Georgina again. How she deals with that danger and the personal temptations and yearnings it awakes in her, along with how she handles the various crises that are erupting in her life is a heartwrenching tale. By the time it's all over, nothing will be the same again, and it's unclear as yet whether this is a good thing or a bad one.



Georgina and Seth had been pulling closer together and their once fragile and tenuous relationship seems to be fairly firmly rooted now. It's about to be put to the test, however, as forces both from without and from within try to pull them apart. Some of this is from Georgina's demon friends who are mostly well-intentioned, but some of the pressure also comes from those who mostly seem to be trying to make trouble for her. Their reasons for doing so aren't entirely clear, though we are given various tantalizing hints, and learn a great deal more about Georgina's history in the process.

One of the main conflicts in this book concerns the imp who brokered Georgina's demonic contract. He shows up in town with the newbie succubus that is to be Georgina's trainee in tow and it's clear from the beginning that there is quite a bit of enmity between them. We never really learn why though, and I can only surmise (and hope) that it's a point that will be addressed again in later books. Given some of the things we learn and some of the questions that are raised, I'm fairly certain that we'll be seeing him again in the future. At the very least, I'm sure the issues that his presence raised will come gain greater relevance to the greater story arc before it's all done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite, or perhaps because, of the emotional roller coaster it takes you on. Where in the earlier books we've gotten to see Georgina at some of her highest and happiest points, in this book we get to see her at her lowest. Will she recover from it? The jury's still out on that one. I definitely look forward to continuing the series to find out the answer and to see where things go from here for all of the characters involved. The more we learn about Georgina and her world, the more fascinating it becomes until you can't wait to learn even more. 4½ stars to an excellent entry in a very strong series.

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