Hired by a Demon, by Gypsy Madden

Hired by a Demon, the debut novel by indie author, Gypsy Madden, takes us into a paranormal reality, and entertains us well. Hired by a Demon is an action-packed adventure that bodes well for her future works. I found it to be  creative, ingenious, and a roller-coaster of adventure.

The Blurb:

Three years without a word from the magical half of the planet, and suddenly there was a demon in Vara’s bedroom. Samanith, the representative of the sinister Kendrick & Clarke Temp Agency, had come to offer her a simple baby-sitting position. What Sam neglected to mention was that the ‘baby’ was a headstrong teenage girl, heir to a fortune, the only daughter of the Agency’s most influential client, and she had been bitten by a werewolf.

Dogged by guilt over her father’s mysterious disappearance, which she suspects has been caused by the demons to keep her in line, Vara finds herself facing her brooding former boyfriend, currently working as the heiress’s bodyguard. He still harbors a grudge over their breakup and has resolved to make her job an unpleasant one.

Will Vara survive the rabid wolf instincts growing inside the teenage heiress who hungers for her magic? Or the lecherous tabloid reporter determined to turn the situation into a front page scandal? Or the pack of wolf hunters who want the heiress dead, and possibly Vara too, and all because she had been HIRED BY A DEMON.

My Review:

Vara’s charge is the daughter of an extremely wealthy, powerful man, Lord Stadler. The family is nobility, and don’t you forget it. Arrogance and privilege ooze from their pores.  Just keeping track of Laris is a trick—she does as she pleases, and those who wish to save her must somehow work around her willful misbehavior, or woe unto them.

Sam, of course, has an agenda of his own, and his meddling goes well beyond his messing with Vara’s life. But he’s a demon, so what do you expect?

The action is non-stop and the mood swings from dark to funny and back to dark, keeping the very original plot moving along. I enjoyed the attraction between Laris and Vara, and Laris and Austen, and Laris and Richard. In fact, the attraction between Laris and nearly everyone quite intense, and appears to be a fundamental part of her magic.

There are some quite hilarious moments. Can I just say that I LOVED the gargoyles?   But even with the humor, this book isn’t all fun and games by any means. There is a real, compelling dark tale here with a deep plot for the reader to sink into, and many tantalizing threads that finally come together in the end.  

I had a great time reading this book.  I highly recommend Hired by a Demon for a great weekend read!