'Georgina Kincaid' series by Richelle MEAD

SYNOPSIS:

Georgina Kincaid is a succubus. Her job is to suck out men’s souls and shave years off their mortal lives… to be fair, these men get a pretty amazing sexual experience in the bargain. But still – Georgie is a demon succubus. She sold her soul, literally, and now it’s her job to eat souls (the more virtuous, the better). In exchange she lives forever, can shape-shift (a handy talent for when you’re having a bad-hair-day) and all that soul sucking leaves her with a healthy glow.

Georgina has been at this gig for a while now – she saw the Renaissance, black plague, WWI, WWII and bedded more men than you’ve had hot dinners. But the decades are starting to take their toll, and soul sucking doesn’t have the same appeal it once did.

These days Georgie gets her kicks as assistant manager at the Seattle bookstore she works. A big night out involves drinks with other demon denizens – vampires and incubi (one of whom looks like John Cusack). And the highlight of her month is crime fiction author Seth Mortensson coming to her store’s book signing.

But there’s a change in the air… forces of good and evil are at work and concentrated on Georgina. She may have been at this succubus gig for centuries now, but Georgina has no idea what’s in store for her….

I love this series. Love, love, love, love, love! It is definitely in my top 5 favourite Urban Fantasies, and here’s why…

This is a grown-up series. Mead explores the darker side of life through Georgina Kincaid – things like love/lust, infidelity and depression. It’s also quite a bold series, because Mead isn’t afraid to shake things up and risk upsetting fans by turning good guys bad, bad guys good and putting her female protagonist through emotional battery.

Most UF books do veer toward the darker side of life… they tend to be a mash of gruesome, gory, horror/fantasy. But most of those books are also heavily tagged as ‘paranormal romance’ – and a staple of the genre is a good dose of smut and romance. For all the shit-kicking fights in JR Ward’s ‘Blackdagger Brotherhood’ series, fans know that in each book they will get a HEA for one brother. Jeaniene Frost’s ‘Night Huntress’ series has two extremely ass-kicking protagonists, but the books are most famous for the protagonist’s steamy romance (and a certain chapter 32…).

With Richelle Mead’s ‘Georgina Kincaid’ series, readers are genuinely unsure of the HEA. Mead keeps fans guessing and doubting. It makes for exhausting, emotional reading but it’s also a more fulfilling journey – strange as that sounds. In each book fans go on an emotional rollercoaster with Georgina - there are up’s, and plenty of down’s. It makes for ‘robust’ reading, because Mead is so good at characterization and getting fans to invest in her characters and storyline. You really do feel every emotional punch and plot curveball and it becomes exhilarating to be sitting on the edge of your seat while you read. To be so emotionally invested and constantly on your toes… Mead leaves you feeling very energized.

If it sounds depressing, it can be. But that’s just a by-product of a series that is all about a woman who sold her soul to have sex with men for the rest of her immortal life. Georgina is pretty much a glorified demon prostitute. And when we meet her, she’s at a stage in her life when she’s had enough and asking; “what’s the point?”.

Mead counter-balances the naturally morose plot by making Georgina an infectiously charismatic protagonist. She is a hoot – she has a very dark and sarcastic sense of humour. Her wit is at its driest when she’s talking about her sexual conquests – there is plenty of opportunity for Georgina to joke when some of her ‘clients’ are desperate, dateless and living at home with mum:

Turning from the taunting mirror, I stared down the hall at my destination: a closed door with a yellow ‘Men at Work’ sign attached to it. I thought I could hear the faint sounds of a video game bleeping from beyond, though such noises silenced immediately when I knocked.

A moment later, the door opened, and I stood facing a 5’8” guy with shoulder-length, dirty blond hair rapidly receding on top. A large, hairy belly peeped out from underneath his Homer Simpson tee shirt, and he held a bag of potato chips in one hand.

The bag dropped to the floor when he saw me.

“Martin Miller?”

“Y-yes,” he gasped out.

I cracked the whip. “You ready to play with me?”

Exactly six minutes later, I left the Miller residence. Apparently thirty-four years doesn’t do much for one’s stamina.

A series about a succubus has to have smut – and Mead delivers, tenfold. She’s just as good at writing pathetic sexual encounters as she is at sensual and steamy ones. Throughout the series we see Georgina in a variety of positions. Playing sexy seductress, whip-cracking Dominatrix, naughty schoolgirl… there’s a lot of ground to cover, and Mead does most of it.

I love this series. Georgina is one of my favourite UF protagonists and even though it’s been a rollercoaster ride, her romance is one of my favourite (maybe) HEA’s.

There’s only one book left until Mead concludes the series, and it’s coming out 2011. I’ll be sad when it’s all done and dusted, but this is one series I will definitely re-read for years to come.

If you haven’t read the ‘Georgina Kincaid’ series already, why the heck not?

5/5