WICKED MISERY
Miss Misery Series #1
by Tracey Martin
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (Oct 2013)
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Adult
Format: eBook (384 pages)
Source: Free book from author for honest review
Find It: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
It s all quasi-legal fun until somebody gets framed for murder.
Jessica Moore thrives on misery. Literally. Thanks to a goblin’s curse, she gets a magical high from humanity’s suffering. A shameful talent like that could bury a girl in guilt, so to atone, she uses her dark power to hunt murderers, rapists and other scumbags until one of them frames her for his crimes.
In desperation, Jessica seeks refuge with the one person she trusts to not turn her in, a satyr named Lucen. Like every member of his race, Lucen uses his lusty magic to control Boston’s human population, and Jessica isn’t immune to his power. But the murder victims belonged to a rival race, and when they discover Lucen is harboring Jessica, dodging the cops becomes the least of her problems.
With only five days to find the real killer, Jessica faces a danger far more serious than the brewing magical war. The danger of succumbing to Lucen’s molten seduction.
Warning: Contains a heroine with a lust for misery, creepy murders, and creepier goblins, satyrs so hot you’d sell your soul for one, and scaly sewer rats masquerading as dragons. Who said magic was all sparkles and tiaras?
At A Glance
A really exciting and unique urban fantasy, but the beginning was confusing/boring.
The Good
Wicked Misery had such a unique concept and exciting story. After the slow beginning, I was enthralled by the rest of the book to the point that I could not put it down. Stupid bathroom breaks! Anyways, I loved all the supernatural beings crammed into this story. Some you will recognize, some you may not. These creatures were all interesting and each brought something fun/scary/exciting to the table.
Jessica is a human cursed with the need to ‘feed’ on human suffering. She has tried to make due with her crappy life but it gets worse when someone frames her for murder. Jessica loved misery, and she was misery. She was not a very happy person because of her circumstances and you couldn’t help but fell bad for her. I loved how she took action and tried to solve her situation any way she could. She never sat and waited for people to fix it for her. And even though she often let fear drive her, she also would beat it down any time she could and faced the monsters head on. She was a great kickass heroine.
Lucen was both sweet and spicy. (Mmm, now I want some orange chicken) He obviously has true feelings for Jessica, even if she keeps denying them. But his way of life is scary. He feeds off lust and can addict people to his touch. I would be leery of him too, honestly. But I loved the lengths he went to help Jessica. He just kept endearing himself to me with each kind (and sexy) action so that in the end, I loved him.
The action was great, as was the suspense. Each character felt authentic and the dialogue had me laughing. I definitely want to continue this series, especially with that sorta but not really cliffhanger!
The Bad
In the beginning, I was so bored out of my mind I almost didn’t finish this book. There was so much background and world building slabbed into those first few chapters I could barely keep up. I was confused and jumbled for a good portion of the front of the book.
The Snuggly
Sexual tension galore! And oh was it yummy. But we never got the big bang. I really expected all this sexual tension to go somewhere, but no, we get a cliffhanger for that part. How cruel!
Final Thoughts
I am happy to find another fun and exciting urban fantasy series to read. I just don’t want to see confusing info-dumps in the beginnings of the other books. I can’t wait to see where Jessica and Lucen go! Very recommended.
I was wicked tempted to keep goading him to see which of us would break first. Me, no doubt. But that would be okay because I could imagine the make-up sex.
And imagine and imagine…
He kissed my forehead. ” Last time before I become the leper again.” He pried himself off me and put on his pants.
“You know that’s not it.” He didn’t answer, so I sat up. “I want to trust you, really, but the fact is you can hurt me. Easily. Badly.”
“Just because someone can do something, doesn’t mean they will.”
sherry fundin
Wickedly delightful title. I had to check this out. I am up to meeting new beings in the magical realm, but a cliff hanger – drat.
Jennifer Bielman
It wasn’t that bad of a cliffhanger. It related to the romance, not the story perse.
Braine TS
I want sweet & Spicy AND Orange Chicken too! Shiz, Jennifer, you’re making me crave for some Chinese right now!
Jennifer Bielman
I just had Chinese too. I had some Orange Shrimp, which I never had before. It was the BOMB!
Giselle
haha stupid like and peeing needs to stop us from reading! This sounds fantastic though and I actually prefer slow starts that situate the story and characters before the real action starts – but there is a point where I get bored, too! Glad it as worth it to get through the start, though! The whole feeding on human suffering premise sounds really unique and kind of freaky which is right up my alley! Lol! And now I want orange chicken too! SO HUNGRY!! *gnaws on arm*
Jennifer Bielman
Uh oh, Zombie alert!!! Here is some orange chicken *hands it over* don’t eat yourself, there is so much to live for!!!
hehe
Anyway, I think this one would be perfect for you.
kimbacaffeinate
I don’t mind if the romance is drawn out especially in UF, and I do like that it has great tension. The slow beginning was it the world-building? I may add this to my list.
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, it was the world building and some info dumps that really got on my nerves. I like that kind of stuff spread out.
Mia Searles
Goblins that feed off human misery??? Sexy satyrs??? Without even reading the book, I give the author credit for using mythological creatures that rarely make it into the romance genre. I don’t know why, but after reading your review, it kind of reminds me of the Syfy tv series Lost Girl, only Bo is a succubus.
Hopefully book 2 won’t be cursed with the info dumping. It can totally kill a book.
🙂
Mia @ The Muses Circle
Jennifer Bielman
Exactly. This author went all out on cool mythological creatures. Hmm, I never watched Lost Girl so I am not sure.
Jaclyn Canada
I love it when books have supernatural creatures that are familiar to us and throw in some that we don’t see everyday as well. BTW I love Lost Girl 😀 I saw the comment right above mine LOL I think their powers sound extremely interesting and the humor would interest me for sure. I’m glad that you warned us about the boring intro to this one. It sounds like a good thing that you continued on with it. Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven.
Jennifer Bielman
Now I really want to check out Lost Girl.
I think you would love this one. So many create creatures.
Bookworm Brandee
With the exception of the initial world building boredom/confusion, this sounds really interesting, Jennifer. The concept seems unique. I’m glad you stuck it out. Thanks for a great review!
Jennifer Bielman
Thanks so much!
Lily B
slow beginnings have been known to break a lot of books, it seems like a good thing you didn’t give up on it!
Jennifer Bielman
So true. I am thankful.