Soul Stripper by Katana Collins (Soul Stripper #1)
May 25, 2013
Urban Fantasy
Kensington

Reviewed by Mandi

I can’t remember the last succubus book I read, but now I remember why I avoid them. They rarely work for me (exception for The Succubus Diaries by Jill Myles which I loved). I know that they have to have sex, lots of sex, to have power and stay alive and all of that. But I think there is a tricky balance between letting their inner succubus out while also building a genuine romance. I’m all for succubi hos, but in a romance book I need some true emotions to surface, and we miss that in Soul Stripper.

Monica was once an angel, now a succubus  who works at a coffee shop. She has a crush on her boss Drew, but has never accepted his advances because she doesn’t want to suck his pretty little soul away. She also works at a strip club, where she can have sex with that cliental, because they are more tainted and it doesn’t weigh on her conscious as much (although they don’t give her as much power as someone more pure). Monica becomes aware that some succubi are being stripped of their powers (regenerating, knowing when other immortals are nearby etc), and then being murdered (because they are no longer immortal). And when Monica wakes up one day and realizes she is bleeding and feels hunger, she knows it is happening to her. Her boss at the club and other friends want to keep her safe.

That is the gist of the plot, although many characters are introduced. Wills, a former lover of Monica’s from long ago comes back in demon form. Others she has slept with all become suspect for possibly putting a spell on her to drain her of her powers. This story never really came together for me. It is set up as Drew is this wonderful, sexy, church-going guy who Monica can only look at from afar because of her succubus nature. It felt like she loved him, or at least loved the idea of him. But as the story goes on, their chemistry never hits its stride. I guess the author wants to draw it out since there is another book out in this series, but it didn’t feel genuine. It always felt like she was using him for something – so she became selfish rather than truly in love with him.

Wills, her former lover is back and sort of makes this love triangle – actually, with Julian her guardian angel dude around  (whom Monica also feels an attraction to) it’s a love square. There are just too many sides to this relationship. Yes, I know she needs sex to have power but I think I would have been more apt to root for her had she slept with the low-lifes and tried her best to develop a relationship with a man she truly cares for. Not with four men. Drew felt used and abused and I didn’t care for Wills, Julian and the other men she played with.

Rating: C-

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