Succubus Blues

Succubus Blues
	; Succubus Blues Original Book Cover,; written by Richelle Mead
Author(s)	Richelle Mead
Series	Georgina Kincaid
Publisher	Kensington
Publication date	March 1, 2007 (Paperback); April 29, 2010 (eBook); August 1, 2010; (Mass Market Paperback); December 4, 2009 (Audiobook)
Media type	eBook; Paperback; Mass Market Paperback; Audiobook
Length	368 Pages (Paperback); 320 Pages (eBook); 320 Pages; (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN	978-0758216410 (Paperback)
ASIN	B003IYI6RE (eBook)
Followed by	Succubus on Top; aka Succubus Nights

For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).

Succubus Blues is a novel written by Richelle Mead and is part of the Georgina Kincaid book series. It is the first book of the series and was followed by five additional novels and two short stories. This work introduces the reader to Georgina Kincaid, a succubus in the Seattle area that works at a bookstore and her world.

Overview

Title: Succubus Blues
Author: Richelle Mead
Published By: Kensington
Length: 368 Pages (Paperback)
320 Pages (eBook)
320 Pages (Mass Market Paperback)
Format: Paperback, eBook, Mass Market Paperback and Audiobook
ASIN: B003IYI6RE (eBook)
ISBN-10: 0758216416 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-0758216410 (Paperback)
Publishing Date: March 1, 2007 (Paperback)

April 29, 2010 (eBook)

August 1, 2010 (Mass Market Paperback)

December 4, 2009 (Audiobook)

Other Works in this Series on SuccuWiki

Succubus on Top
Succubus Nights - This is the United Kingdom Re-release of Succubus on Top
Succubus Dreams
Succubus Heat
Succubus Shadows
Succubus Revealed
Brushstrokes - Short Story
City of Demons - Short Story
City of Demons

Plot Summary

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.

Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

Characters

Georgina Kincaid - Succubus and main character also known as Thetis and Letha.

Jerome - Local Head demon and boss of all the immortals of hell including Georgina and her friends. Father of Roman and Helena. Looks like John Cusack.

Carter - Angel Friend of Jerome, Georgina, Hugh, Peter, and Cody. Described as looking like a bum. Saved Georgina's life.

Hugh - Imp & friend of Georgina

Duane - Vampire who assaults Georgina.

Peter - Vampire, friend of Georgina and is around the same age as her.

Cody - Young vampire, apprentice of Peter, Georgina's friend and Dance partner.

Roman - Nephilim (offspring of human and angel/demon) Love interest to Georgina.

Erik - Human psychic, friend of Georgina. Runs a book store.

Paige - Pregnant manager of Georgina's bookstore.

Aubry - Georgina's cat.

Doug - Human & assistant manager at bookstore. Friend of Georgina and Lead singer in a band.

Seth - Human writer of Georgina's favorite series (Cady and O'Neill) and love interest.

Helena - Nephilim, twin sister of Roman, old boss of Erik and manager of a bookstore.

Plot

We first meet Georgina Kincaid when she is asked by her friend Hugh the imp to sleep with a virgin who has bargained to give up his soul in exchange for a hot and heavy fantasy encounter with a demoness. So as a favor to her friend she agrees to shape shift into a demonic outfit complete with wings and a tail and sleep with the 34 year old man. We are then told that she is a succubus who takes the life force from men to survive through sex. The better character the man has the more energy she gets from him. The more immoral the man the less energy she gets from him. After sex with the man she goes to her car where she is accosted by a vampire named Duane who tries to force himself on her when she fights back he is angered but when a car driven by it allows her a distraction to get away. She gets a call from her demon boss Jerome who got a call from Duane saying she attacked him and threatened him, which she did in self defense.

We then learn that she works at a book store and has a crush on the writer of her favorite series who is going to have a book signing at the store. While working we meet her co assistant manager Doug and a man who she flirts with while working and talking to him about the book signing for Seth Mortensen. She tells him that she thinks they should come up with new and exciting questions for the author because he probably always gets the same questions and wants to impale himself when he always has to answer them. She assures him that she is an avid fan who would agree to be his sex slave if she was able to get advance copies of his book.

After work she gets home to find that her boss Jerome and his angel friend Carter are at her house and they think she killed Duane. When she assures them she didn’t and Carter agrees that she is telling the truth they tell her to be careful because someone is killing local immortals.

She returns to the store for the book signing to find the man she was flirting with earlier and she finds his nervousness and awkwardness adorable and starts to flirt with him again only to be interrupted by Paige her boss when she comes looking for Seth Mortensen and grabs the man. Georgina is embarrassed so she tries to avoid and ignore Seth because of her earlier flirting and comments but Paige volunteers her to show Seth around the city the next day. The same night the owner of the store wants to have sex with her in his office but she refuses due to a ‘date’. She then beckons a stranger over to her and passes him off as her date. They walk out of the store together and the stranger, named Roman, asks her out while he walks her home. She is attracted to him. But since she doesn’t like corrupting good men she refuses.

When her friend Hugh is beat up during the day time she goes to try and do research on who could be killing immortals she looks for a psychic Erik at another book store but they tell her that he has left and opened his own store. However she has a run in with the store’s manager Helena who is trying to sell the ideas of new age crystals and psychic knowledge. When an angel is killed and Georgina finds that the killer is leaving her notes she goes to Erik again. He gives her the idea of Nephilim. However she gets attacked by an invisible immortal and she is saved by carter the angel but they don’t find the Nephilim. So Carter stays with her because the Nephilim has some kind of obsession with her and they think she is still in danger.

Meanwhile Roman is still persistent and she agrees to go on a date. One date at a time she finds that she is really drawn to him and has a hard time keeping her self control with him. They go on several dates and she really likes him and they both enjoy dancing. Meanwhile she is also growing fond of Seth the writer although he isn’t very good at expressing himself through speech but they bond over emails which Georgina finds great because it’s like reading books he wrote just to her. However it all comes to a turning point when she gets drunk on a date with Roman at a concert for Doug’s band. The bookstore workers are there along with Seth who has become their in store writer. In a moment of week self control and intoxication she allows herself to kiss Roman. When he says that he felt something weird she realizes she just took some of his life force so she runs off but is followed by Seth who takes her back to his house. He helps hold her hair while throwing up and breaking down and nursing her hangover the next morning. In light of her low self control she breaks up with Roman and tells him to stay away from her. He is hurt and confused and she is hurt because she really likes him so she turns to Seth for comfort and they become even more tender towards each other.

Then Georgina finds out that the Nephilim is the child of Jerome from a human. She also find out that the Nephilim is sending notes to Jerome as well and that the killing of lesser immortals was just the beginning. They think this means that Jerome is the next target. So Carter goes to stay with Jerome and leaves her.

She gets a note from the Nephilim at work saying that she must prove she really care for her mortal friends and that they are not just a entertainment in her life. If she can take care of her boyfriend and keep him safe until the end of her shift then they will be allowed to live if not then the Nephilim will kill him. But Georgina does know what guy the Nephilim is talking about so she tries to get in touch with Roman through a phone call because she doesn’t know where he works, she also takes Seth with her to check on the safety of Doug and tell him to stay with a crowd and cover her night shift. She then checks to make sure that Warren will be in meetings until the end of the day.

When she thinks everyone is safe she goes home and finds Roman at her door. He is touched that she cares about him but is confused by her off and on vibes. He goes to kiss her and when she tries to reject him he tells her that she won’t do anything bad to him she can. Then she realizes that he is the Nephilim he tells her that he loves her and her fight against the demonic system she belongs to. He is taken with her and loves that she is a succubus that doesn’t want to take peoples life force. He tells her that he killed the immortals that hurt her and stopped himself from killing Hugh. She then wants to know why her hurt she but she finds out that he has a twin sister and that she was the one who attacked Georgina. He tells her that after he kills Carter the high Angel in the area they can run off and be together. She considers it and really wants to but when he won’t agree to leave before he kills Carter she decides that she can’t be with him and sit back while Carter dies so she tricks him into believing that she has agreed and they make love over and over all night. In the morning she tells him that she needs to call in sick to work but instead calls in her immortal friends and bosses. But then Roman tells her that he has decided she is all he needs and they can leave together now and he won’t kill Carter but it is too late because Seth shows up with coffee and doughnuts for her day off and Roman realizes that she called her bosses not her store job. So he calls his sister who ends up being Helena who already hates Georgina and a battle of power starts, one that sucks away all Georgina’s life energy. As she is dying Carter and Jerome show up and battle Roman and Helena. Georgina tries to save Seth but in her weakened state she kisses Seth and drains almost all his life while she sees the thoughts in his head and she realizes that Seth loves her in a worshiping wonderful way and she realizes she really cares for him. All their feelings flash by as she drains him but when she and he are pulled apart she realizes what she did and feels awful for almost killing him so when Jerome tries to wipe his memory of all he saw including knowing Georgina she makes a deal with Jerome to be his number one employee if he lets Seth keep his memories. The angel and the demon killed Helena but Roman got away injured.

When Seth has recovered a week later she tells him everything about her immortal life and those around her. He is tOo shocked and stunned to say anything so she leaves and cries into Carter's shoulder because she realizes how deeply she cares for Seth and she doesn’t want him to hate her. She arrives to work to find that Seth has written her a note in a copy of his book. It says ...

“To Thetis, Long overdue, I know, but very often the things we most desire come only after much patience and struggle. That is a human truth, I think. Even Peleus knew that. – Seth “

After finding out that the story of Thetis and Peleus was one where a mortal loved a shape shifting sea nymph so much he tamed her and they lived together and loved one another eventually leading to the birth of Achilles she finds that he has hope for the future.

Book Review

The following review can be found in the External Links below:

Honestly, when "Succubus Blues" arrived on my review stack, I was worried. It looked good, but it also raised a few warning flags; this could, I thought, be another lascivious sex romp disguised as urban fantasy/horror, proving little more than an excuse to have demons and other supernatural creatures get naked and sweaty with lustful mortals.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find relatively little graphic sex -- apart from a few torrid scenes here and there, and one opening encounter that will bring joy and hope to basement-dwelling ubergeeks everywhere. "Succubus Blues" is a very good novel, featuring (obviously) an "alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men." In exchange for their souls, of course, but Georginia Kincaid apparently makes that little trade quite worthwhile in her Seattle stomping grounds.

Georgina's life is troubled, because she can get all the sex she wants but love and romance are largely denied her. Carnal acts -- even really good kisses -- steal life force away, and while Georgina is immortal, it doesn't serve well to deplete and kill the men she loves. So she leads an emotionally vacant life, supplementing her nocturnal duties with a more mundane job as an assistant bookstore manager, hanging out when time allows with a couple of vampire pals, a demon or two and even the occasional angel. Technically, succubi are evil, but Georgina doesn't get too involved with the politics of her job.

But then someone starts killing the people around her, and Georgina finds bigger issues to deal with than romance. Is it an amateur vampire slayer, inspired by the exploits of a popular TV heroine, or is something more sinister at work? And what's a poor succubus to do when the doors of both Heaven and Hell close on her cries for assistance?

Figures that Georgina would suddenly find, not one, but two romantic possibilities in her life.

"Succubus Blues" is a damn fine first book, and Mead can be proud to make such a bold stride into the market. Her protagonist is sexy, appealing, smart and resourceful, but amped-up sensuality isn't much use against the thing stalking the streets of Seattle.

The book is hardly action-packed; Mead moves the story along slowly, spending more time on characters than plot, so adrenaline junkies may be bored. That's a shame, because the characters are extremely well-developed, and the action she provides is certainly worth the wait. Sexaholics may want to avoid this one, too; the sex in this book is mostly of the "tease and titillate" variety, not the graphic stuff you'd expect if Georgina's cleavage-baring dress on the cover was cut just a little lower. The denouement, while not too hard to spot well in advance, is still grist for one good read with plenty left over for a sequel.