Hell On Heels (Novel)

Hell On Heels
Hell On Heels Book Cover, written by Julie Kenner, Kathleen O'Reilly and Dee Davis
Author(s)	Julie Kenner Kathleen O'Reilly Dee Davis
Publisher	Berkley Trade
Publication date	June 5, 2007
Media type	Paperback
Length	320 Pages
ISBN	978-0425215272

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

Hell On Heels is an anthology book written by Julie Kenner, Kathleen O'Reilly and Dee Davis. In this work the characters Lucia, Jezebel and Lola each have powers and abilities similar to that of Succubi.

Overview

• Title: Hell On Heels
• Authors: Julie Kenner, Kathleen O'Reilly and Dee Davis
• Published By: Berkley Trade
• Length: 320 Pages
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN-10: 042521527X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425215272
• Publishing Date: June 5, 2007

Plot Summary

The daughters of Satan do their best to make daddy proud in three all-new sexy novellas from the authors of Hell with the Ladies.

What's a devil to do? Satan's desperate to retire. He needs an heir, and he's turning to the promise of his three beautiful, bold, smart, and irresistibly sexy daughters. All they have to do is prove themselves by successfully completing the tricky tasks he sets before them. Surely one of them will win the Keys to the Kingdom-of Hell! Will it be Lucia, the assassin? Jezebel, the half-demon? Or Lola, the soulstealing baby of the family? The challenge is on and one must prevail-unless they're thwarted by that powerful human emotion called love.

Book Review

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

This book is a collection of three stories about three daughters of satan who are offered the opportunity to take over from him if they can complete a task. His three sons have already failed these tasks (in the previous book "Hell with the Ladies") and so now it's the chance for the three women Lucia, Jezebel and Lola.

• Lucia's Story by Julie Kenner: The first story follows Lucia Faucheaux, a successful assassin who just has to complete one last job for her father, satan, in order to win the keys to his kingdom. Unfortunately for Lucia she's begun to lose her touch, finding that her emotions are affecting her work. However she decides to carry out this last assassination in the hope that her future life will be better. Dante Moreau is the only son of the impossibly rich hotel and casino owner, Jacques Moreau. Although having his own security business, his father has requested that he meets with him as there is a problem. Whilst Dante awaits his father he meets a beautiful woman and they start a flirtation which leads, very quickly, to bed and then several romantic days. However, what happens when you fall in love at first sight with someone who is meant to assassinate your father? And what happens if you're an assassin but your emotions get in the way? This story looks, very quickly, at that situation and how love might win out and provide a happy ending. The shortness of the story means there's little character development and description although we learn a little about the Monte Carlo setting. Equally their instant jump into bed isn't exactly a slow-burn romance but the story is written fairly well and doesn't drag. Perhaps the overly simple plot, plus the depiction of hell and satan as rather amusing and not actually scary detract a little from its completeness but it was a reasonable read and a good start to these three short stories.

• Jezebel's Story by Dee Davis: This story was a sort-of cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Oceans 11, with Jezebel, known as Jessie, searching for a religious artefact which could destroy the world (her father satan tasked her to get it for him and then she could have the keys to hell) along with her ex-boyfriend David Bishop and a mysterious friend of her brother's, Faust. She and David had broken up over his singleminded quest to discover the man responsible for his brother's death and Jessie knows that she is secondary to this mission in his mind. The story starts very well with a setting in Berlin, well described, as Jessie first gets on the trail of the relic "The Protector". Because the romance with David is a rekindling of a previous relationship the author didn't need to spend as much time on the seduction and other scenes which meant there was more time for plot and action which worked really well in this story. Jessie is fun, tough and brave and she and David evidently worked well together as a team. David has to learn to deal with his obsession over his brother's murder and the two of them face danger when searching for the Protector. Jessie finally has to make a huge sacrifice for David, will she be able to do it, and will it work?

• Lola's Story by Kathleen O'Reilly: Lola de Medici is a playgirl, rich and impossibly beautiful who lives the jet-set life but doesn't experience love. Her 'talent' is to steal the souls of men with whom she sleeps which increases her beauty. However as the story opens she's finding the life, after four hundred-odd years, is becoming tiring. Her father, satan, asks her to take one more soul and then she can get the keys to hell and won't have to steal souls any longer. The man whose soul she must take is Christopher 'Crash' St Clair, a man who finds that trouble and problems follow him around and who always tries to help. Initially Lola isn't too successful in seducing Chris but when she finally gets his attention she finds there's more to him than she expected and she doesn't sleep with him; she likes him and doesn't want to steal his soul so hopes he'll leave her alone. Unfortunately he kidnaps her and they spend a night of passion on a desert island, but he retains his soul. Lola discovers that the one island is safe for them but satan is working behind her back to get Chris's soul and Lola may have to give up an awful lot to keep him safe. This story, like Lucia's story, has beautiful and rich people who are very focussed on looks and image. However, Chris has a lot more to him and the apparently-shallow Lola finds that attractive and it causes her to re-evaluate what is important to her. This story worked very well with insights into the characters of both people despite it being quite a short story. Satan's motivation wasn't very clear in this story and I wasn't completely convinced that Lola would be able to settle into her new life and situation at the end. However it was well written and the setting on an island with a hurricane was interesting.

External Links

• This work in Paperback Format at Amazon.com