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
The Suck Stops Here
by
Kristen Painter
paranormal fantasy in a Kindle edition on August 6, 2021 and has 386 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, Sucker Punch
Fourth in the First Fangs Club cozy paranormal fantasy series and revolving around a new-made female vampire who became governor. The focus is on Donna’s and Pierce’s trials and that competition to be the new vampire ruler of North America.
My Take
Painter pulled me in on that first page — 37 years! It can only be Donna’s scumbag dad. With that elephant in the room, Donna has no intention of making his job easy — you go, girl! And with that, Painter establishes Donna as a woman who is her own person.
”Respect is earned.”
Painter did a nice info dump in summing up Donna’s earlier accomplishments as a vampire. Even though Painter uses third person protagonist point-of-view, it’s another character doing the recap.
Unfortunately, Fitzhugh has become a rival to Donna — and he has a chance because he has accomplished good things for his state. Hmmm, wouldn’t that be nice if good (real) achievements were how we elected politicians? Or that politicians actually cared about their constituents?? Unfortunately, the racist Fitzhugh is too like most of our politicians. Out for anything and everything he can get while he waves his power around. He’s plotting subversion and has “friends” on the council. After all, the truth is what he claims it is.
Ooh, Cammie makes an excellent point — and its one that Donna has been realizing, that she’s been preparing for her new life her whole life.
At last, the mystery of Dad’s disappearance is revealed. I kind of felt sorry for him. I feel more sorry for the swift changes in Cammie’s life, but I do appreciate her family loyalty.
That Donna, a woman after my own heart, is thinking about writing that manual for new vampires. As for Pierce, yep, he’s amazing too. He’s always thinking ahead, even on issues you’d NEVER, EVER, believe a man would consider.
That’s not the only “cozy” as Donna’s staff, friends, and late grandsire do their best to plan the “overthrow” of the racist, high-handed Fitzhugh.
The conflicts are not the usual for human characters. Although, I suppose the issue between Pierce protecting Donna from Fitzhugh is more medieval than contemporary. That idea Will comes up with to forestall that jerk of a governor was definitely unexpected. As for Kace, his frustrations with Bunnie are definitely a human conflict. Poor boy.
Another poor boy is that Noah. It seems he has a big secret he’s been terrified of springing on Christina, lol. It’s just one of the betrayals that abound. Some from the good guys and some from the bad with some resolutions too easy and others unexpected.
That Francine. Such a gift for metaphors. First she praises Donna for shining with compassion, then she explains how Fitzhugh “shines” smelling like a bag of garbage left in the sun, lol.
Not to worry about action, for it’s there in all that skulking and spying, as Donna and company plot to counter Fitzhugh.
That Donna, spreading friendship and goodwill everywhere she goes, lol, and making me laugh along the way. Sure, the story is too easy — a very beachy read *grin* but it doesn’t take itself seriously, and it sure is fun.
The Story
It’s Donna’s impressive accomplishments that have her on the short list for queen of North America. She is not ready for this next step in her life, and she’s fighting it with everything she has. This potential role isn’t the only scary undertaking, for Donna has to meet the parents of Christina’s boyfriend, keep Pierce alive, and survive her own trial.
Now, if only Donna can thwart Fitzhugh’s plans to destroy her and her friends.
The Characters
Belladonna “Donna” Barrone, the ex-wife of a scumbag mobster, Joe, is the vampire governor of New Jersey. Donna’s children are Lieutenant Joe, Jr, who is in the Air Force, and Christina, who’s at college. Cammie is Donna’s sister, a former warrior nun.
Pierce Harrison is Donna’s personal assistant and life-saving attorney. Charlene “Charlie” Rollins is her administrative assistant with some banshee blood. Temo Danielson, former Special Ops and a demigod, is her driver and head of security. Kace Donovan, a gargoyle and Donna’s neighbor, will work security on the trip.
Noah Miller is the boy the pregnant Christine wants to marry. Tom and Jeanne Miller are his parents, and they own Big Dog’s Barbecue in a small town in Indiana. Tom is also the mayor. Sarah is Noah’s sister. Denise and Cora are the Millers’ maids. Frank will be Donna and company’s driver in town.
The First Fangs Club is . . .
. . . a support group for new-made vampires. The outrageous (and much older) Francine is amazing; Lionel is Francine’s sire and much-younger looking rock-star boyfriend — his stage name is Leif Harker, and he’s front man for Bittersweet, a very popular band. Hector Garcia, a sandman, usually drives Lionel’s big rig. Meghan is a supermodel. Bunni is a ditzy blonde along for the ride. Neo, a younger, street-wise computer programmer, is in love with Temo and helping with Donna’s plans. Dr Goldberg, Donna’s therapist back in her human life, is the empathic leader of the club. Lord Raleigh is Lionel’s sire.
Ferris & Coven is . . .
. . . a family-owned business that does custom leatherwork that evolved when Reggie’s vampire fiancé, Abraham, was killed. Her father, William Ferris, half-reaper and half-vampire who’ll be driving the big rig, and Reggie’s other two witch sisters, Harper and Daisy, are all involved in the company. It seems the reaper rescues and fosters cats! Those girls are quite inventive. Clementine and Magpie had been two of Will’s best cats.
Thirty seven years ago Donna’s dad walked out on their family. Their aunt Helena had “left an inheritance” for his abandoned family.
The Vampires
Richard D’Angelo is the emissary for the Prime, the super-secret supreme leader of the Immortus Concilio, which rules the entire vampire nation.
Queen Artemis, a daughter of Zenos, had been Donna’s grandsire — she’d sired Claudette, the former New Jersey governor, who then sired Donna. Marco is/had been Artemis’ deputy. Walter St. Simons had been Artemis’ attorney.
Hawke Fitzhugh is the bullying vampire governor of New York. Quentin is his vampire admin. Martindale is governor of Connecticut. Francesca Salas Carrera is the vampire queen of Mexico. Benito appears to be Francesca’s admin. Queen Esmer was the vampire ruler of the Netherlands.
The werewolves
Special Agent Rico Medina of the FBI, outed as a werewolf, had been Donna’s handler before her life changes. LV Medina is the alpha of the New Jersey pack; she’s also Rico’s grandmother. Toni is Rico’s mother and the alpha-in-waiting.
The Fae
Ishalan is the new king of the fae. Dredward had been Ishalan’s evil brother and the previous king. Princess Rixaline is the fae to whom Donna had given sanctuary (Sucker Punch, 3). Sylan intends to be Fitzhugh’s witness.
The Venari is a hunter organization that trains nuns to hunt down vampires. Road Warriors specializes in custom RVs for vampires.
The Cover and Title
The cover is consistent with previous covers in the series with that centered tilting bluish gray headstone with its scroll-like top and the title, in black, framed in the center. The top of the cover has a royal blue night sky with the bottom half of the moon underlapping the white series info, flanked on either end by medieval-looking arrowheads. It’s the long-haired Donna in a red coat looking out across the landscape on the left. The tombstone is framed in ivy and fairy lights with a black-and-white magpie on the left. Just below the tombstone is an info blurb in white. Below that is the author’s name in a grayed turquoise.
The title plays off that well-known phrase and reflects Donna’s moral code, for The Suck Stops Here.
