This is the 7th installment of the Charley Davidson series. It is a hell-related paranormal comedy that is a very quick read with a comedic element all throughout. While overall positive, there were some negatives to the story. The case of the week is missing/suicide investigation that Charley’s uncle is working on and he asks Charley for assistance. This case detracted from all of the other activity in the book, slowed forward progression of the story, and to me, showed Reyes in a negative light. His secrecy put several people at risk and there seemed to be no point for the secrets. While I find Charlie endearing and adorkable, even I can admit that her constant naming of everything, and making a joke out of EVERYTHING, and genuine lack of seriousness and respect in even the most serious of situations gets more than a little grating on the nerves by the end of the book. I do like that her powers are growing, but I do not like that there is no seemingly explanation for it. One minute she cannot do something, the next she can. And I did not like her new "title" by the end of the book. We find out in book six that Charlie is pregnant. In book 7 she shows a reckless disregard for this fact time after time, except for the goldfish and the coffee (a.k.a superficial filler). It gets annoying that every female under the sun is fawning over Reyes. Some kind of Alpha Male pheromone from hell makes every female want to do naughty things with him, and Charley comes across as the lucky person he falls for while all others get to just pant over him. If he is so powerful, there should be an off-switch for him to be able to project those pheromones to Charley only. Having Cookie drool over him (even respectfully) was the last straw for me on that topic. Charley and Reyes blurt out all their supernatural problems in front of any person that happens to be in front of them, and it seems as if a lot of people are becoming in the “know” with Charley’s real identity, yet oddly no one seems to really question the sanity of any of it. The side characters were one of the best elements of the book/series. The side characters are all entertaining, and all help to keep the story interesting. Angel as her investigator/little brother, Artemis as her body guard, Jessica wither her overall bitchiness, Osh with his Daeva qualities (reminded me of Magnus Bane from Mortal Instrument Series), Garrett with his protectiveness, Ubie as the father-figure, Cookie as the bestie (though Cookie in this book started to pick up Charley’s lingo and way of speaking), and even Amber and Quentin were all great aspects to the story. There did seem to be a bit of Jacob/Renesmee vibe going on, where it seemed as if Osh was romantically interested in Charley's unborn baby that became a little questionable. I am hoping that story line arcs into Garrett’s suspected son and Charley’s baby instead. While the negatives can be a little off-putting, I was able to overlook the majority of them for the greater good. The closest comparison to this series that I can think of would be the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. That series too is a comedic female private investigator that finds herself in sticky situations. I enjoyed the series very much until around book 12 when I realized that it was never going to go anywhere, and now that it is on book 20 with no end in sight, and no closer to relationship stability or character growth, I can see I was right. With this series by Darynda Jones, however, there IS forward momentum with the story, even at a week at a time, and there IS relationship progression and growth of characters with each new book. Book one Reyes was but a figment of her imagination that visited her in her dreams, and now with this book they are engaged to be married. I do like that there does seem to be an end in sight, and as long as that progression continues, because of the fast paced comedy and action, I can wait however many books it takes to get there.
