I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Sucker Punch
by
Kristen Painter
paranormal fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by Sugar Skull Books on November 6, 2020 and has 245 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Blood Rights, Flesh and Blood, Bad Blood, Out for Blood, Last Blood, House of the Rising Sun, City of Eternal Night, Garden of Dreams and Desires, Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case, All Fired Up, "Prologue to The Vampire's Mail Order Bride", The Vampire's Mail Order Bride, The Werewolf Meets His Match, The Gargoyle Gets His Girl, The Professor Woos the Witch, The Vampire's Fake Fiancée, The Shifter Romances the Writer, "The Witch's Halloween Hero", The Dragon Finds Forever, The Vampire's Accidental Wife, The Reaper Rescues the Genie, The Detective Wins The Witch, The Vampire's Priceless Treasure, The Werewolf Dates the Deputy, "When Birdie Babysat Spider", Miss Frost Ices the Imp, Miss Frost Saves the Sandman, Miss Frost Cracks a Caper, Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard, "The Werewolf's Christmas Wish", The Vampire's Cursed Kiss, Her First Taste of Fire, The Trouble With Witches, Moody and the Beast, The Vampire's Sunny Sweetheart, Miss Frost Chills the Cheater, Lost in Las Vegas, Wrapped Up in Christmas, Mystified in Music City, Sucks To Be Me, A Sky Full of Stars, Suck It Up Buttercup, The Forgettable Miss French, The Suck Stops Here, Nixed in New Orleans
Third in the First Fangs Club paranormal fantasy series and revolving around a new vampire who fell into the job as governor of New Jersey. The focus is on Rico’s kidnapping by the fae.
My Take
Well, you know the New York pack has smarts — they hate Fitzhugh right along with the New Jersey pack.
Whoaaa, Donna learns the truth about Sister Cammie’s activities at the convent! Who’d’ve thunk!?!? Still, Cammie has Donna’s back. Then there’s Neo’s hobbies — Skynet 2020 sounds quite useful.
Hmmm, who knew a vampire could be blessed by the pope? Seems like Donna might be blessed in other ways when she’s attracted to Kace.
I like Donna’s comment: “Being kind did not make a person weak.”
I love that Donna finds so many aspects of her awful past that are coming in handy in her new role as governor. She does make a point of noting the differences between her social-climbing, suck-up past with other mobster wives and the freedom of her current “life”. And we learn all this through third person protagonist point-of-view from Donna’s perspective, so we know what she experiences, visually, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Donna and Pierce both confess the truth about their feelings, and there’s such drama about it.
There are lots of reveals about Claudette, the former governor, and her achievements as governor. There are still lousy governors out there — and Fitzhugh is THE WORST.
Hmm, William Ferris went from two daughters to three.
Nemo. Hmm, I like it. Charlie suggests it as a nickname for that cute couple.
Kidnapping, battle against the fae, poisoning, exile, charges for assault against Pierce (a human!!), a yummy addiction, the store of sweets (ah, to be a vampire who can eat, lol), and the supportive cast of characters keeps the action flowing with devastating reveals. As for the ending cliffhanger . . . wow.
Yep, part of what I love about this cozy series is how kind Donna is, how she considers how to genuinely help those she governs, well, and everyone else. Look at how she helped Meghan salvage her career! Don’t you wish more politicians were like this?? Talk about a fantasy, *laughing*.
The Story
There’s no choice but for the vampires to go to war against the fae, if they want to rescue Special Agent Rico and save Rixaline. But if they do, there’s a religious order threatening to kill all vampires and fae, especially Donna.
Then Donna is poisoned . . . with emotion and Fitzhugh responds with a selfish attack.
The Characters
Belladonna “Donna” Barrone, a day-walking vampire, is the New Jersey vampire governor, after having been a mobster’s wife. She lives in the penthouse of the Wellman Towers with Lucky, her cat. Her son, Lieutenant Joe, Jr, is in the Air Force. Her daughter, the newly pregnant Christina, is attending college. The father-to-be, Noah Miller, is working on his master’s in hospitality management. Camille “Cammie”, a.k.a. Sister Mary Lazarus Immaculata, is her sister and currently in Nicaragua on a mission. Her new job will be as a demon remover. Donna and Cammie’s dad took off when the girls were in their early teens. Joe Barrone had been her mobster husband, who had supposedly died. Their mother, Rosa, a devout Sicilian Catholic, turned her back on Donna. Noah’s father owns a barbecue restaurant, Big Dog’s. and is also the mayor of Timberville, Indiana.
Pierce Harrison is Donna’s personal assistant and life-saving attorney. Charlene “Charlie” Rollins is her administrative assistant. Temo Danielson, former Special Ops and a demigod, is her driver and head of security. Penina is Temo’s cousin and part-time security. Jerabeth Smalls, an elemental witch, is in charge of the governor’s greenhouse. Dr Fox, a gnome, is the governor’s personal doctor.
Rixaline is a teenage dhamfir who got sanctuary from Belladonna in Suck It Up Buttercup, 2, can find anything. She was told that Rix, a palace guard, was her father. Her mother had been Brielle.
The First Fangs Club is . . .
. . . a support group for new vampires. Francine, an elderly, unstoppable matriarch you can’t help but love, had thrown a party for Donna. Lionel is Francine’s roommate/sire/boyfriend who turned her. Neo is a younger, street-wise computer programmer, who is stepping up to help with Donna’s security — and falling for Temo. Bunni is a ditzy blonde who wants revenge on her boyfriend. Meghan Murphy is a supermodel sired by Claudette. LaToya is a single mom. Dr Ursula Goldberg, who had been Donna’s therapist when Donna had been human, is the empathic psychologist who runs the club.
The New Jersey Pack of . . .
. . . wolves is led by Louisa Valentina “LV” Medina, their alpha. She’s also Rico’s grandmother. Maria “Toni” Antonella is the alpha-elect and his mother. And are they angry!
The Mobsters
Big Tony is the big boss. Lucinda, Donna’s former sister-in-law, is a major pain and Big Tony’s wife.
Alvaro owns a bodega. Kace Donovan, a gargoyle, is one of Donna’s neighbors and has also worked temporary security for the New Jersey governor.
The Sisters of the Holy Rosary is . . .
. . . one of the specialized convents who train and deploy vampire hunters. A Venari is an ancient order of nuns and priests trained in the art of killing any supernatural that goes rogue.
The vampires
Hawke Fitzhugh, a power-hungry vampire, is the governor of New York and lives in Montevetro, an Upper East Side version of Donna’s building. Other governors include Joseph of Idaho and Kitka of Alaska. Astrid is thought to be a legend about an unkillable Viking shield maiden.
Queen Artemis, a pacifist, rules the vampires, and she’s Donna’s “grandmother”. Her home base is Lebanon, Kansas. Marcus is Artemis’ deputy. The Immortus Concilio rules the entire vampire nation with the Prime, the oldest known vampire in existence, as its leader. Richard D’Angelo is an emissary for the Prime. Claudette Martine had been the governor in Sucks To Be Me, 1, and Donna’s sire.
The FBI
Special Agent Rico Medina, a stand-up guy, has been Belladonna’s handler.
The Fae
The terrible King Dredward rules the fae. Their castle is in Central Park and heavily disguised. Ishalan is a fae, trained as a sacarado, a priest of ancient texts and a giver of blessings and curses, who has been tossed out due to disagreeing with too many other fae. Dr Ritter treated Ishalan.
Ferris & Coven, a family-owned business — a father, William Ferris (he’s half reaper), and his daughters, Harper, a potion maker, Daisy, a necromancer, and Reggie, whose fiancé, Abraham, was killed by the fae, who are all witches — do custom leatherwork. An FTS is a fairy-tale shifter, things not considered real by humans. Miriam Pasternak owns Beautiful Buds, a flower shop.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a good blend of gloomy and cheerful, just like the story. A blurred royal blue battle scene at the top is reflected in the bottle of elixir in front of the nicely carved tombstone with its scroll-like top that holds the title with its fancy engraved font. The stone itself is framed by ivy and fairy lights. The dark ivy gradates down into a black background with an info blurb in white that acts as a border between the stone and the author’s name below in turquoise. At the very top is the series info in yellow.
The title should really be in the plural, for there is not just one Sucker Punch, but a multitude of them!
