September Author Of The Month & Book Review

This is SO late, but obviously I had the intention of writing this BEFORE the first of October snuck up and bit me right in the fanny. *Shakes head* 

Anysnooch....Last month's AOTM was Hannah Jayne and for her month, I began her Underworld Detection Agency series. Under Wraps was the first of five - thus far - and I...damn it all, I enjoyed it. Despite myself.

**Spoilage**

**3 1/2 Stars**

First things first: DAT COVAAAH. Pretty awesome huh? Before you even read the blurb it kinda lets you in on what the book is about, right? You've got the Golden Gate Bridge, the full moon high in the sky; pretty indicative of wolves, IMO. Oh, and theres this redhead looking all badass with a BIG ASS sword in her hand.

Aaaand, thats where the info pretty much starts misleading you. Sophie Lawson is that redhead. She is not badass. She NEVER even holds the damn sword and the only time she even wears leather, it's a dress. 

WAIT, though! If after reading the blurb, you decide you don't want to read about a redhead in an UF setting with a Fancy Vamper as a sidekick because it's just too Rachel Morgan/Ivy Tamwood-esque for you - which by the by, is a fan-forking-tastic series. Go read that shit. - fear not! The similarities between The Hollows and the UDA series' ends there. Redheads who work/used to work in office-like settings with paranormal beings, a vampire sidekick, can be funny sometimes....and that's about it.

Where Rachel is badass, Sophie cries. Where Rachel isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, Sophie...well...she cries. Bottom line? Sophie cries. Sophie....man. What else can I say about Sophie? Well, she was not very likeable for me pretty much from the start. If she wasn't ogling a nearby man, she was crying - sometimes literally - about this or that. And for a 32 year old woman who works with denizens of the Underworld, I would expect a much higher constitution for nonsense. Alas, Sophie remained a whiner pretty much throughout all of this book. She volunteers to help the SFPD out with the case then changes her mind when she realizes that - GASP! - someone was actually murdered and she might have to get her hands dirty. She was SO obtuse, it grated on my nerves.

Nina...she was just there. I didn't really care for all her witicisms though, since her presence consisted entirely of them and them alone.But whatevs. It could've been worse.

Vlad was just a joy to read. I found his character really easy to like and the fact that he fits every single vampire sterotype out there is just giggle-worthy. In a good way, though.

Parker Hayes/Alex Grace. Meh. I didn't care for his fake Cop persona and cared even less for his big-bad-secret Fallen Angel persona. He was very cookie-cutter hero for me. He was "hot" with blue eyes, can handle a gun, has a killer smile - yadda, yadda. But there was nothing original about him. Nothing tossed in with all his hotness to make him even remotely different from the Stock-Sexy Heroes from any other book. *Shrug*

Steve the Troll - dear Gawd he had me the moment he sauntered onto a page with his gross smelling self. He. Was. DELIGHTFUL. Positively lovely.

The plot/big-bad for this book was really awesome; I've never read anything about the Sword of Bethesda. What kinda sucked was how long it took to get there. Most of the book, we're reading about Sophie drooling over Parker, Nina wearing her 1800's vintage couture, Vlad blasting his music and Parker being "Inexplicably hot" all the time. Kinda upset that this is even labeled Urban Fantasy. It should be labeled Romance with some Paranormal elements. Because that's really what it was. 

Sophie's presence in this book was so minute because everything and everyone else overshadowed her. She has no magical ability. None. She is descendant of a Seer and she has no abilities. She doesn't even develop them in any part of the book. Which was a bit depressing. How can Sophie be our MC in a world full of magical beings, where she is literally surrounded by them all day at her job and have no abilities of her own? I suppose to some, this might be a selling point so you can see exactly how she grows but I think she should be able to do something aside from being immune to all charmed items/being able to see through charms.

Its weird, because I give this three and a half stars because I really did enjoy it despite how this review reads. It was witty, the plotline was damn interesting, the characters - aside from our spotlight couple - were delightully engaging and even though Sophie drove me crazy with all her whining, I wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen next. And I'm going to be reading the rest of the series....So, I suppose it was a mission accomplished, huh?