I heard about this one from a fellow reviewer, and being a big fan of Darynda Jones' other work in paranormal stories, I bent so far as to buy the ebook, I was so eager to read it.
This is an easy to read, fun, well-written story of no immense depth, full of the wonderful narrative snark that Jones is brilliant at. If you've read her before and didn't care for the snark, this one won't endear her to you, but it's a lot of fun to read.
At its heart is the friendship between the main character Defiance and her BFF, Annette. And, of course, the romantic interest that is Roane. Jones tries really hard to make Roane not be Reyes from glorious Grim Reaper series, but while she succeeds at making him look different, a rose by any other name would still be Reyes. The author definitely has a type. Fortunately it works.
While book one is light on plot, focusing mostly on world and character building, I didn't feel the lack. These are characters I genuinely enjoyed reading about and their new life was interesting in itself. The only complaint I had was the dangling storyline of the Ex. His brief re-appearance was unnecessary, made more so by the complete lack of follow up. It feels like something an editor forgot to take out.
The book ends on a definitely lead in to the next book; not a cliffhanger, but definitely a dangling carrot of sorts. If you find yourself enjoying this book, you'll likely want to jump right into the next one.