As the urban fantasy/paranormal genre becomes more popular, the more all the books seem to be more of the same. I suppose this is true of all genres of writing. And while I love the urban fantasy/paranormal genre (lord do I remember people going “what you are reading a vampire romance!!! Ugh how could you!) I want something different, something with an edge of…”I am so bad but oh so good” to them. And you get that with Richelle Mead’s Georgina Kincaid in Succubus on Top.

Our oh-so-bad girl, Georgina is a succubus--once a human but now a demon whose only way to survive is feed off the life force of other humans via sexual activities. The first book Succubus Blues was a wrestling of her desires for more normal companionship, something that has nothing to do with her supernatural work. Her greatest desires are to be married and have children, something being a succubus prevents. On top of sucking the life force out of any man she interacts with sexually (even deep kissing), succubae are sterile.

By day, shape-shifting beauty Letha, aka Georgina Kincaid works at a Seattle bookstore; by night, in flagrante, she sucks the life energies of mortals. Admittedly, the shape-shifting and immortality perks are terrific, and yes, Georgina did choose to join the ranks of hell centuries ago. But now that she has found the one person that can accept her for who and what she is, she finds that she can’t do what comes naturally to her—seduction—not without risking Seth’s life. Even though Seth has agreed to a no-sex arrangement, how long will it be before he will want the one thing she can’t give him?

And it’s not just her personal life that’s in chaos. There is the added pressure of her job, with both her boss and her boss’s boss doing a disappearing act leaving Georgina in charge at the bookstore. There’s Doug, Georgina’s co-worker and friend who has been exhibiting some rather bizarre behavior, something Georgina suspects is more demonic than double espressos at work. Then there’s Bastien, her ex-partner, who wants her to help him on a case in the suburbs with corrupting an ultra-conservative talk radio star—Georgina is going to have to go it alone on this one—and fast because soon, Doug’s life won’t be the only one on the line.

One of the things that I appreciate about Succubus On Top, indeed the series, is the attention given to the supporting characters. So often, authors spend a lot of time developing the main characters, but neglect the side characters that should and could be adding depth to the world they are creating. Mead has given great thought to the world she has created and the people who inhabit that world, which more than goes a long way to making her books the must-read that they are!

No major fights, no battles against opposing armies, just Georgina trying to hold on to the threads of her life through all the trials and tribulations. Georgina, amazing as she is, even needs supernatural help in order to pull off an amazing disaster near the end of the book. Richelle Mead paces everything beautifully with plenty of depth and feeling.

As for the title… let’s just say that Georgina always winds up on top.

Our next visit to Georgina’s world will be called Succubus Dreams and is due out in October 2008.

Reviewed by Theresa
© March 2008