'Demon Possessed' Megan Chase #3 by Stacia Kane

From the BLURB:

Psychologist and psychic Megan Chase has grown remarkably comfortable hanging out with demons. The demon "family" she leads is happy, her solo practice is stabilizing, and she and her steamy demon lover, Greyson Dante, are closer than ever. But when the couple books a week at a luxury hotel to attend a meeting of demon leaders, some unanticipated problems appear.

An FBI agent with an unhealthy interest in less-than-legitimate demon business practices shows up; the demon community is urging Megan to undergo the rite that will make her a real demon; and a slightly shady minister is holding one of his wildly popular "weekend exorcisms" just down the road. And oh, yes, someone with scary magical abilities is attempting to kill her.

Then, just when it seems as if things couldn't possibly get any worse, a secret comes to light that could jeopardize Megan and Greyson's future -- if Megan manages to live that long. With things heating up, it's becoming difficult for her to keep a cool head...

Megan is feeling pressured from all sides. The demon elite want her to shake off the shackles of her humanity and jump onboard the hell bandwagon. Her boyfriend, Greyson Dante, wants her to give into her demonic side for safety reasons. And the FBI are sniffing around her involvement with some shady (admittedly, demon) characters, because it seems the Feds have labelled her as a mob-girlfriend.

And right in the middle of important demon socializing, Greyson drops a bomb that could put an end to his and Megan’s romance.

‘Demon Possessed’ is the third and final book in Stacia Kane’s urban fantasy ‘Megan Chase’ series.

‘Possessed’ opens with Megan and Greyson in a very good, romantic place . . . so you just know it’s not going to last. For the first two books of this series Megan and Greyson have had a pretty laissez faire relationship – minor hurdles and a few trust issues, but for the most part their romance has been easily smoothed over. Honestly, knowing the drama that Kane put Chess and Terrible through, I feel like I've had my heart in my throat throughout ‘Megan Chase’ awaiting a similarly disastrous romantic hurdle. Well, it sprouts up in ‘Demon Possessed’ – and it’s a doozy.

Greyson has been keeping secrets and Megan will be hurt by the truth. But it’s not enough that demon politics interfered with their romance – Kane is at her best when her characters fuck up and make mistakes, case and point – Megan in ‘Possessed’. She weaves a tangled web in this book, and it’s nice that while her and Greyson’s initial romantic conundrum is demon-related, it’s Megan’s decidedly human nature that adds fuel to the fire of their burning relationship.

“You had plenty of other chances,” she snapped. Arguing with a demon was bad; arguing with a lawyer was bad. Arguing with a demon lawyer was infuriating.

But the whole book isn’t about Greyson and Megan’s melodrama. Kane’s central mystery in this third book is decidedly Biblical – a topic that has been mostly avoided in a series about hell demons. Well, Kane still keeps religion out of it (thank-God!) but she very cleverly plays around with some old-testament mythology and makes a wonderful villain out of the psalms.

This final book was a very fulfilling ending. I feel like all that pent-up frustration and avoidance between Megan and Greyson was vented with disastrous (and sexy) consequences. Kane goes out with a Biblical bang and leaves the series on a high note. It’s been fun exploring Kane’s first fantasy foray – and cements her status as an automatic-buy author for me.

5/5

'Demon Inside' Megan Chase #2 by Stacia Kane

From the BLURB:

Hanging out with demons can be hell....

It's been three months since psychologist Megan Chase made the stunning discovery that the world is filled with demons, and once more the situation is too hot to handle. Ironically, Megan -- the only person in the world without a little personal demon sitting on her shoulder -- has become the leader of a demon "family," but now some unknown arcane power is offing her demons in a particularly unpleasant fashion. And while her demon lover Greyson Dante is still driving her wild with desire, he's also acting strangely evasive.

Then there's the truth about Megan's past -- the truth she's never known. Caught between personal problems and personal demons, Megan is having one hell of a hard time. Will the help of her Cockney guard demons and her witch friend Tera be enough so that Megan can finally resolve the past, survive the present, and face the future?

Megan is experiencing some leadership problems. She has taken over a crew of ‘personal demons’ – the little lizard-like cretins who invisibly sit on people’s shoulders and encourage them to do bad things. But since becoming their ‘queen’ she has met with open hostility – her demons are unhappy with her managerial techniques, and disgruntled by her preoccupation with humanity . . . and Megan’s kinda-boyfriend, Greyson Dante, is just as unhappy with her stubborn human streak.

Meanwhile, Megan has received some disturbing news. Her estranged father has passed away and her cold-hearted mother is ordering Megan’s appearance for the reading of the will. Turns out, daddy dearest has left Megan a nice little surprise from the after life – the deed to the mental hospital where Megan spent her formative years.

In this second installment to Stacia Kane’s ‘Megan Chase’ urban fantasy series, our female heroine learns the truth about her past, and the demon inside her.

I love Stacia Kane, and I’m thoroughly enjoying her ‘Megan Chase’ series. This second book is a wonderful delve into Megan’s character. We really get an all-encompassing examination of her childhood and home life; and it’s disturbingly Freudian. No wonder Megan went on to become a psychiatrist. This is also a nice little riff on ‘personal demons’ – both literal and mental as Megan explores the myriad of ways she has suppressed her own childhood anguish.

While ‘Demon Inside’ is a wonderful Megan exposè, it’s not such a great book for romantic development. Since their fiery coupling in ‘Personal Demons’, this second installment sees Megan and Greyson Dante co-habiting in a strangely undefined romantic liaison. Their romance is hampered by the need to keep up appearances in the ever vigil and circumspect demon world – but Megan is also careful not to put labels or boundaries on their ‘relationship’ because she gets the feeling that Greyson isn’t permanent. She is well aware of his Lothario reputation and thinks that means they are a casual fling – for all Megan knows, she is just one of many ladies on Greyson’s current dance card.

But Megan’s blasé attitude is at odds with her outward affection for Greyson, and vice versa. They do share some very steamy and intimate scenes;

She put her hand on his arm, drawing his gaze. “This is a big deal for you, isn’t it? Not just for the prestige, but for you.”
He stopped smiling when his eyes met hers. The rest of the room seemed to fade away. “It’s what I've worked for all my life.”
Even with her heels on, she had to stand on tiptoe to kiss him. Just a quick press of her lips, nothing inappropriate for the sombre occasion, but enough to send tingles all the way down her spine. It was like kissing a live wire.
“Congratulations.”

And yet, Megan remains determined to keep up the pretence of ‘easy, breezy, casual girlfriend’. Considering she’s a psychiatrist, it seemed like a very obvious oversight for Megan to deliberately avoid talking about her romantic feelings towards Greyson. I mean, I can understand her repressing childhood memories – but being stubbornly tight-lipped about her romance status was too much of an elephant in the room. Mind you, I did appreciate the fact that Megan is just human – demon inside aside, and her psychiatrist title; it was sort of nice of Kane to show that even someone who deals with everyone else’s problems can’t quite grasp her own.

But for that reason ‘Demon Inside’ felt like it had a hole in it. Greyson takes up so much of the book that the lack of romantic context for him and Megan started to feel uncomfortable. Still, I’m enjoying this helter-skelter urban fantasy and am excited to be approaching the finale. Bring it on!

4/5

'Personal Demons' Megan Chase #1 by Stacia Kane

From the BLURB:

Megan promises listeners to her new radio call-in show that she'll "slay their personal demons," and they believe her. So do the personal demons... although she doesn't know it, Megan is the only human without a demon on her shoulder! Megan and her allies - a demon lover who both protects and seduces her with devilish intensity, a witch with poor social skills, and three cockney guard demons - have to deal not only with the personal demons, but a soul-sucker, ghosts of Megan's past, and a reporter who threatens to destroy Megan's career!

Megan Chase is on a roll. She has just made her on-air radio debut as the ‘Demon Slayer’ psychiatrist – answering calls and offering help over the airwaves. Her practice is doing well and while she has no social life to speak of, she’s happy. Her radio show is sure to be a smash-hit, and not just because of Megan’s charming on-air voice – you see, Megan has the added psychiatric benefit of being a telepath. She is able to read other people’s minds, even able to pick up on images and emotions over the telephone. Her radio show is going to be a ratings-bonanza!

So it makes sense that everything should come crashing down around her.

A local reporter called Brian is writing a ‘week in the life of’ article. But Megan’s stardom is quickly doused when an anonymous note points Brian in the direction of Megan’s horrific childhood secret . . .

Then a mysterious (and sexy) man called Greyson Dante starts popping up everywhere. He’s suave and sophisticated, no doubt a lawyer, and he is hell-bent on getting to know Megan and persuading her not to accept any offers or deals that come her way. . .

But Greyson isn’t just interested in Megan for legal purposes. Greyson has much more nefarious purposes . . . like convincing Megan that her catchy ‘Demon Slayer’ radio show has attracted the wrong kinds of attention from the denizens of hell.

“Demons.”

“Excuse me?”

“Demons.” He made another right turn. They were already in her neighbourhood.

Megan thought carefully about how to phrase her next sentence. “You’re telling me you believe you’re a demon.”

“I don’t believe anything,” he said. “And I’m not one of your patients. Don’t speak to me as if I am.”

“You might want to consider getting some psychiatric help, if you think you’re a demon.”

“I don’t think I am, I know I am. And you need to know it too.”

This should be good. “Why?”

“Because a considerable number of us are after you.”

‘Personal Demons’ is the first book in Stacia Kane’s first paranormal series, ‘Megan Chase’.

Sine reading (and falling in love with) Kane’s ‘Downside’ series, it only made sense that I back-track and read her first forays into the supernatural. ‘Personal Demons’ was first published in 2008, and is a trilogy that concluded last year.

The universe of ‘Megan Chase’ is a psychedelic/supernatural one. Megan is a humble psychiatrist, becoming a rising star in the radio world. All well and normal, except that Megan is no ordinary shrink . . . she has the added benefit of being able to read her patient’s minds. Megan is of the belief that her abilities are the strangest thing in the universe . . . until Greyson Dante enters her life and informs her that demons exist, and are none too impressed with her ‘Demon Slayer’ radio gimmick.

I loved Kane’s blend of normal/paranormal. She writes a wonderfully slow-seeping of the weird and wacky . . . it’s only once Megan is informed of demon existence that she starts seeing them everywhere. Little bald reptilian-like creatures that sit perched on people’s shoulders – encouraging them to do bad, nefarious things. It puts a whole new spin on Megan’s psychiatry background, and has her questioning everyone’s motives and free will when ‘personal demons’ are whispering in their ears.

There is a larger plot working throughout the story . . . regarding an all-powerful demonic Hell reject who has taken a special interest in Megan and her abilities. I wasn’t overly impressed with this storyline, mostly because it seemed messy and convenient. On the one hand, there’s an event from Megan’s childhood which is only just impacting her now . . . and it seems to have all (randomly?) come to the fore because some PR person dreamt up the ‘Demon Slayer’ title for her radio show. If these flimsy connections were ever explained, I must have blinked and missed it . . . otherwise it seemed like sloppy connect-the-dots. But that was my only complaint about this otherwise lovely book.

Of course, being a big Chess and Terrible fan, I had high-hopes for a similarly steamy coupling in her original supernatural series. Thankfully, Kane delivers. Greyson Dante is a fire demon sent to protect Megan for (as yet) unknown reasons. He’s gorgeous and tempting, with protruding black scales and a smile to die for. He and Megan steam up the page and banter like crazy. A lot of their tension-filled lust comes from Megan being uneasy about Greyson’s demon-status. Megan (like readers) knows only of the traditional, Biblical demons – the religious villains of Hellish stories. Kane plays around with traditional demon-mythology, bending the rules and making Megan question her black and white ideas of ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

Kane also continues her tradition of complicated love affairs – Greyson and Megan will no doubt be put through the ringer in the next two books, for a variety of fiery reasons. I can’t wait to read the lust, the tension and the sizzling sex scenes!

I read ‘Personal Demons’ with a conscious effort to not expect a series that was as brilliant as ‘Downside’ . . . but honestly, I should have known to have more faith in Stacia Kane. Her original supernatural series is fun and flirty; putting the outlandish in the everyday and writing a hellishly sexy couple in Megan Chase and Greyson Dante. I can’t wait to finish this series and cement Kane as an automatic-buy author for me.

4/5