Darynda Jones

Hiding from murderous hellhounds in an abandoned convent, a pregnant Charley Davidson investigates the decades-old murder of a young nun while harboring fears that Reyes is falling ill. By the RITA Award-winning author of First Grave on the Right.

Eighth Grave After Dark

Silvia

And he knew I was watching from inside. I sat at a window as he endured their attention, but the more I watched, the more flirtatious glances he shot my way. The more winks he offered. The more lopsided grins he wore. It was all quite enchanting, but the one that got me, the killer movement that almost sent me into orgasmic bliss, was when he glanced at me from across the sea of guests, gave me a long, languid once-over, then pulled his lower lip in through his teeth. To say the move was sexy would have been like calling a tsunami a ripple in the ocean.

Mélissa

** spoiler alert **
           Jamais je n'aurais penser a cette fin ci. Denise. Lucifer. Earl. La naissance de Pépin. La découverte de l'identité de Mr Wong et le fait que les chiens ne soient pas mauvais mais du côté bon. J'aime beaucoup le mariage du début qui s'oppose a la fin avec la perte de mémoire et les morts.

Cindy McKee

I love how wonderfully this series has progressed. Charley and Reyes are so very good together and the ever growing cast of characters is a joy. This story was funny, sarcastic, and sweet without sacrificing the impending peril awaiting our favorite Grim Reaper. The ending was a surprise to say the least, and I am super eager to see what happens next!

Sarah Escorsa

BR with Liz, Aly∞, Jo, Robin, Alexa & Jaime starting May 19, 2015.

 

DNF at 27%

▧ Warning #1: I'm in a very bad mood today. I've only slept for three hours. And I feel like punching someone. This is not going to go well. 

▧ Warning #2: this review contains spoiler. And I don't give a damn. I'm insensitive like that.

▧ Warning #3: this review might contain spoilers about Fever. Yes Fever. And I'm not sure I give a damn about that either at this point. Hell JZB would probably kick my ass if he knew. Actually, I think I'd rather like that. Him kicking my ass I mean. I'm digressing aren't I? Yeah, JZB tends to have that effect on a girl's two grey cells. 



►► I've always had mixed feelings about this series. Most instalments were kind of meh. Two of the books were pretty great but don't ask me which ones because I can't remember and can't be bothered to check right now, I've wasted enough time with this crap as it is. I almost gave up on the series after book 6 and its Reyes-is-a-sick-love-puppy-and-the-most-boring-Son-of-Satan-ever-fest. But I still read book 7. Don't judge. I can be stupid like that. The most surprising thing is, I LOVED it. I must have been high at the time. Or drunk. Or both. Anyway, I enjoyed book 7 so much I decided to read this lovely book right here. I should have reread Who's Holding the Baby? instead. I already told you not to judge didn't I? Thought so.

►► I should have known this wouldn't go well. I mean, Charley was pregnant by the end of book 7. Charley Davidson. Pregnant. Most ridiculous idea in the history of ridiculous ideas. And most ridiculous idea in the history of ridiculous ideas #2: she and Reyes getting married. You have got to be kidding me. The Freaking Son of Satan getting married????!!!!! I don't think so.

►► This was a disaster waiting to happen. And it did. Happen. The disaster I mean. To say it was one of Epic Proportions doesn't even begin to cover it. 



✘✘ PART I: what I read and thought was utterly pathetic ✘✘

① My husband husband husband is sexy sexy sexy hot hot hot beautiful beautiful beautiful = please kill me somebody
 
Okay. So Reyes Alexander Farrow is, in Charley's own words, sexy as fuck. We know that. Darynda Jones has been rehashing it to us STOOPID readers who don't get it since book 1. You'd think she'd get past this by book 8 wouldn't you? Hahaha you're so funny! This book right here is an ode to the Son of Satan's Glorious Body: muscular chest, broad shoulders, strong jaw, thick and dark lashes, full mouth sculpted to perfection  ← Arrrggghhhh!!!!!!! I think I just got trapped in a freaking PNR novel!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone please get me out of here!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOWWWWWW!!!!! By the way, in case you didn't know, the Son of Satan is hot. The Son of Satan is Charley's HUSBAND. The Son of Satan is sexy. The Son of Satan is Charley's HUSBAND. The Son of Satan is beautiful. The Son of Satan is Charley's HUSBAND. The Son of Satan is handsome. The Son of Satan is Charley's HUSBAND. Major swooning and sighing and fainting happen whenever he's around. Poor pathetic Charley gets weak in the knees just looking at him. Even when she's walking down the aisle at her best friend's wedding. She just stops and stares. The Freaking Son of Satan is THAT hot. And Charley's HUSBAND. And sexy as fuck. And Charley's HUSBAND. And beautiful. And Charley's HUSBAND. And handsome. And Charley's HUSBAND ← are you getting bored yet? Consider yourselves lucky, this is the decaffeinated version of the ode. A complete joke compared to what you have to go through when you read the actual book. 



② The Cheese Fest = you make me want to stab myself with a fork

Charley Davidson. Lovey Dovey Inc?!! Seriously?!! Out of character much? Did you get a personality transplant or something? Oh wait, it must be the pregnancy hormones kicking in. Because women are like that you know, they get all silly-romantic when they are pregnant. You can't blame them you know, they're only poor, pathetic females and can't help it ← hey Darynda Jones, have you ever considered writing romance novels? I can see a great future for you in that genre. I mean, there's more cheese here than in the last two romance novels I read. Quite an achievement.
 


③ Manufactured drama = the last straw

So Reyes expressly told Charley not to go and look for his adoptive parents. And what does I'm-supposed-to-be-an-adult-but-I-behave-like-a-10-year-old-Charley do? She hires a P.I. to look for Reyes' adoptive parents ← what seems to be the problem Darynda Jones? Have you no inspiration left? Did you suddenly develop early signs of Alzheimer's and completely forgot that there once was an interesting plot in this series? I'm sorry, I'm probably getting it all wrong here. Because it's obviously much more interesting to come up with pathetically manufactured sub-plots about the Son of Satan's freaking adoptive parents than to talk about what once was the series arc.


►► At this point I couldn't take it anymore and decided to DNF, because there's only so much crap I can take. But my dear friend Robin-the-Star (read her review here!) was lovely enough to send me a recap of the book when she finished reading it. And man, am I glad I DNFed this piece of crap!

✘✘ PART II: what I didn't read and thought was utterly pathetic ✘✘

① The pathetically manufactured drama collapses like a soufflé
It turns out Reyes had already contacted his adoptive parents before Charley decided to look for them ← that's like, what? 20/30 pages wasted for absolutely nothing? Pretty much yeah. Did I say pathetic already? I guess I did.

② Charley is really a god from another realm
I kid you not. Mr Wong, who's been hovering around in total silence for the last 7 instalments is actually her general from the other realm ← sorry? What did you say? A bit far-fetched? A teensy bit ridiculous? Now now, don't be so harsh. This is pure genius (view spoiler)[just in case you were wondering, YES, this is me being sarcastic (hide spoiler)].

③ The twelve hounds really are the twelve fluffy bunnies
Yes they are. They were summoned by the ever-silently-hovering-Mr-Wrong to protect Beep (Charley's delightfully named daughter) ← those of you who read the previous instalments in the series might remember the twelve hounds fluffy bunnies trying to kill Charley repeatedly. Strange isn't is? That's what I recalled as well. People, we have to stop drinking vodka while we read. It obviously alters our memories of events dramatically. 



④ Charley kind of explodes and pop outs in New York suffering from amnesia
Sigh. Do I really have to comment on this? Because this is so ridiculous I'm not sure I have the strength in me anymore. I mean, WHAT THE HELL Darynda Jones? Did you decide to put into this book every freaking STUPID idea that ever came up in that little head of yours??? Yep, it looks like you did. Great job you did of it, too. 

→ Fever spoilers dead ahead. Why the warning? Strangely enough I feel more lenient towards KMM than towards Darynda Jones. Don't know why. The woman sure doesn't deserve it ←

⑤ Darynda Jones pulls a Ryo/Dani KMM stunt on us
Yes she does. Because it turns out nearly immortal Ryo Osh is destined to be with teenager baby Dani Beep. Hey, he's immortal, he can wait for her to grow up. And if he's not patient enough (he might be immortal but he is, after all, a man) I'm pretty sure Darynda Jones can ask KMM to rent her the silvers. Throw baby Beep through one of them and tada! She comes back all hot, sexy and grown up. Ripe for the picking and all that. Cool (view spoiler)[YES, this is me being slightly sarcastic again (hide spoiler)].



►► What's left for me to say? THANK YOU Darynda Jones. Yes. THANK YOU. Because after reading 27% of this piece of crap there is no way in hell I will be continuing with this series. And do you have any idea how happy that makes my ever-expanding to-be-read shelf and my little self right now? You probably don't. Well let me tell you, we're so ecstatic I think we might have a party to celebrate. Less shelf space for crap, more shelf space for awesomeness. SO THANK YOU. From the bottom of our hearts.

Christina M Masters

I started reading the Charley Davidson series on a recommendation from a friend. When I started it I had no idea what to expect. But, since I have started I have absolutely fallen in love with the character of Charley and all her crazy antics, the series, and the insane cast of likeable characters she is involved with. And this particular book was one of my favorites. Of course, it starts where the last book left off, (view spoiler)[with Charley stuck living in a convent to stave off the hellhounds that are trying to kill her and her unborn child (hide spoiler)] and as per usual it contains a case of sorts that Charley feels compelled to help solve, but then Darynda Jones absolutely flips everything on its head and the book heads in a direction I totally wasn't expecting. And while these books always makes me laugh, this one made me cry! And seriously, I don't cry at books very often. This is a game changer book for the series and I can't wait to keep reading, but I am trying to pacing myself (and doing a horrible job) since I know #13 will be the last for this particular series at least, which makes me a bit sad, but I smell a spin-off.

Michelle Boyea

Sarah

Melissa Railey

Gwyn Dill

Martha McLendon

Miralis Davis

Rhiannon Mansfield

Vesselina

Sara Piteira 

Charley Davidson has enough to be getting on with. She is, after all, incredibly pregnant and feeling like she could pop at any moment. But, just her luck, twelve deadly beasts from hell have chosen this time to escape, and they've made Charley their target. She takes refuge at the only place they can't get to her: the grounds of an abandoned convent. Before long, Charley also has a new case to hold her attention: the decades-old murder of a newly-vowed nun she keeps seeing in the shadows of the convent. Add to that the still unsolved murder of her father, the strange behavior of her husband, and Charley's tendency to attract the, shall we say, undead, and she has her hands full . . . but also tied. While the angry hellhounds can't traverse the consecrated soil, they lurk beyond its borders like evil sentries, so Charley has been forbidden from leaving the sacred grounds and is powerless to get the answers she wants. Luckily, she has her loyal team with her, and they're a scrappy bunch. They scour the prophesies, searching for clues on the Twelve, and their presence is comforting - it's almost as though they've all been drawn to her as part of a bigger picture . . . But the good feelings don't last for long because Charley is about to get the surprise of her crazy, mixed-up, supernatural life. 'Hilarious and heartfelt, sexy and surprising...I'm begging for the next one!!' - J.R. Ward 'If you enjoy Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, you will certainly enjoy Charley Davidson.' - Suspense Magazine 'I am furiously envious of Darynda Jones and rue the day she came up with this concept, damn her eyes. First Grave on the Right kidnapped me from the first paragraph.' - Mary Janice Davidson 'Rollicking humor, sizzling sexual tension and a spine-tingling mystery.' - Kresley Cole

Eighth Grave After Dark

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